Coconut water (also coconut juice) is the clear liquid inside coconuts (fruits of the coconut palm). In early development, it serves as a suspension for the endosperm of the coconut during the nuclear phase of development. As growth continues, the endosperm matures into its cellular phase and deposits into the rind of the coconut

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

. The liquid inside young coconuts is often preferred to the liquid of a ripened coconut. Coconut water from young green coconuts is also known specifically as buko juice in

Philippine English Philippine English (similar and related to American English) is any variety of English native to the Philippines, including those used by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos and English learners in the Philippines from adj ...

Harvesting

Fresh coconuts are typically harvested from the tree while they are green. A hole may be bored into the coconut to provide access to the "meat" (liquid and pulp). In young coconuts, the liquid and air may be under some pressure and may spray slightly when the inner husk is first penetrated. Coconuts that have fallen to the ground are susceptible to rot and damage from insects or other animals.

Products

Plain coconut water has long been a popular drink in tropical countries, where it is available fresh, canned, or bottled. Coconuts for drinking are served chilled, fresh, or packaged. They are often sold by street vendors who cut them open with

machete Older machete from Latin America Gerber machete/saw combo Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...

s or similar implements in front of customers. Coconut water for retail can be found in ordinary

aluminum can An Aluminum can (British English: Tin can) is a single-use container for packaging made primarily of aluminum. It is commonly used for food and beverages such as milk and soup but also for products such as oil, chemicals, and other liquids. Glob ...

Tetra Pak Tetra Pak is a Swedish–Swiss multinational food packaging and processing company with head offices in Lund, Sweden, and Pully, Switzerland. The company offers packaging, filling machines and processing for dairy, beverages, cheese, ice crea ...

glass bottles A glass bottle is a bottle made from glass. Glass bottles can vary in size considerably, but are most commonly found in sizes ranging between about 200 millilitres and 1.5 litres. Common uses for glass bottles include food condiments, soda, liq ...

plastic bottles A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, and ink. The size ranges from v ...

, sometimes with coconut pulp or coconut jelly included. Coconut water can be

fermented Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...

to produce

coconut vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to et ...

. It is also used to make ''

nata de coco ''Nata de coco'', also marketed as coconut gel, is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food produced by the fermentation of coconut water, which gels through the production of microbial cellulose by '' Komagataeibacter xylinus''. Originating ...

'', a jelly-like food.

Nutritional value

Providing of

food energy Food energy is chemical energy that animals (including humans) derive from their food to sustain their metabolism, including their muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohy ...

in a amount, coconut water is 95% water and 4% carbohydrates, with

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

and total fat content under 1% each (see the table). Coconut water contains small amounts of

vitamin A vitamin is an organic molecule (or a set of molecules closely related chemically, i.e. vitamers) that is an essential micronutrient that an organism needs in small quantities for the proper functioning of its metabolism. Essential nutrie ...

s and

dietary minerals In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element required as an essential nutrient by organisms to perform functions necessary for life. However, the four major structural elements in the human body by weight (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, ...

, all under 10% of the

Daily Value The Reference Daily Intake (RDI) used in nutrition labeling on food and dietary supplement products in the U.S. and Canada is the daily intake level of a nutrient that is considered to be sufficient to meet the requirements of 97–98% of healthy ...

(DV).

Risks

One potential (but apparently quite rare) health risk arising from excessive consumption of coconut water is an overabundance of

potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosph ...

in the blood (

hyperkalemia Hyperkalemia is an elevated level of potassium (K+) in the blood. Normal potassium levels are between 3.5 and 5.0mmol/L (3.5 and 5.0mEq/L) with levels above 5.5mmol/L defined as hyperkalemia. Typically hyperkalemia does not cause symptoms. Occasi ...

), inducing

acute kidney failure Acute kidney injury (AKI), previously called acute renal failure (ARF), is a sudden decrease in kidney function that develops within 7 days, as shown by an increase in serum creatinine or a decrease in urine output, or both. Causes of AKI are c ...

heart arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adult ...

, loss of

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

and eventually death. Hyperkalemia and

loss of consciousness Loss may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Loss'' (Bass Communion album) (2006) * ''Loss'' (Mull Historical Society album) (2001) *"Loss", a song by God Is an Astronaut from their self-titled album (2008) * Losses "(Lil Tjay son ...

after the consumption of several liters of coconut water were reported only as a clinical

case study A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular fi ...

in association with one individual's use of a commercial product following

physical exertion Exertion is the physical or perceived use of energy.Newton's Third Law, Elert, Glenn. “Forces.” ''Viscosity – The Physics Hypertextbook'', physics.info/newton-first/. Exertion traditionally connotes a strenuous or costly ''effort'', resultin ...

. The

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

has identified a risk of bacterial contamination in coconut water sold as "raw". Anecdotal sources describe coconut water being used in southern part of India for

senicide Senicide, or geronticide, is the killing of the elderly, or their abandonment to death. Philosophical views Pythagorean doctrine held that all creatures were being punished by the gods who imprisoned the creatures' souls in a body. Thus, any ...

, the killing of elderly people, a procedure known as ''

thalaikoothal Thalaikoothal ( ta, தலைக்கூத்தல், lit. showering) is the traditional practice of senicide (killing of the elderly) or involuntary euthanasia, by their own family members, observed in some parts of southern districts of Tam ...

''. In this custom, the elderly person is made to drink an excessive amount of coconut water, eventually resulting in fever and death, the exact causes of which were not determined.

Commercialization

Since the early 21st century, coconut water has been marketed in

Western countries The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

as a natural

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

sports drink Sports drinks, also known as electrolyte drinks, are functional beverages whose stated purpose is to help athletes replace water, electrolytes, and energy before, during and especially after training or competition. There are many perceived bene ...

having low levels of fat, carbohydrates, and calories, and significant electrolyte content.

False advertising

Marketing claim Advertising slogans are short phrases used in advertising campaigns to generate publicity and unify a company's marketing strategy. The phrases may be used to attract attention to a distinctive product feature or reinforce a company's brand. Etym ...

s attributing health benefits to coconut water are not based on science and are disallowed by certain regulatory agencies like the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

which warned producers about misleading marketing claims that coconut water is

antiviral Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Unlike most antibiotics, antiviral drugs do no ...

, can lower

cholesterol Cholesterol is any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids. It is a sterol (or modified steroid), a type of lipid. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell mem ...

, can regulate

blood glucose Glycaemia, also known as blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, or blood glucose level is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood of humans or other animals. Approximately 4 grams of glucose, a simple sugar, is present in the blo ...

levels, and other false claims, as inappropriate for the product. Some companies have faced

class-action lawsuit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

s over false advertising claims that the product was "super-hydrating", "nutrient-packed", and "mega-electrolyte". The

plaintiffs A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

also alleged that one company, Vita Coco, falsely claimed that its product had "15 times the electrolytes found in sports drinks" and misrepresented the levels of sodium and magnesium as advertised. The company denied any wrongdoing and

settled A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

the lawsuit for US$10 million in April 2012.

Medical use in Cambodia

Although substituting coconut water for saline is not recommended by physicians today, it was a common practice during the Khmer Rouge regime in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

from 1975 to 1979. The

Documentation Center of Cambodia The Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) is a Cambodian non-governmental organization whose mission is to research and record the era of Democratic Kampuchea (April 17, 1975 – January 7, 1979) for the purposes of ''memory'' and ''justice'' ...

cited the practice of allowing untrained

nurses Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

to administer green coconut water during the Pol Pot regime as a

crime against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

References

External links

{{Fruit juice Coconut drinks Foods containing coconut Fruit juice 2010s in food