Coco López is a Puerto Rican coconut product which is used in many popular drinks, most well known for its use in

piña colada The piña colada (; es, piña , "pineapple", and , "strained") is a cocktail made with rum, cream of coconut or coconut milk, and pineapple juice, usually served either blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with either a pineapple we ...

. "Coco López" was invented by

Ramón López Irizarry Ramón Lopez-Irizarry (July 25, 1897 – October 8, 1982) was an educator and scientist who invented an easier way to extract the cream from the coconut pulp and developed the original formula of Coco López. Early years Ramón López-Irizarry, ...

, a World War I veteran who was an agricultural professor for the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

. López left the university and commercialized his product, which eventually found its way into the island's supermarkets. It is made of coconut cream with the addition of sugar to sweeten,

xanthan gum Xanthan gum () is a polysaccharide with many industrial uses, including as a common food additive. It is an effective thickening agent, emulsifier, and stabilizer that prevents ingredients from separating. It can be produced from simple sugars ...

as a stabilizer and

citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in ...

as a flavoring and preservative agent. The sugar content in Coco López can make it unsuitable to be used as a substitute for simple

coconut cream Coconut milk is an opaque, milky-white liquid extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food in ...

in the cooking of savory food.

See also