1.0Introduction
The coconut palm and its fruit are regarded as one of the most important crops of thetropics (Child 1974). Among its most important uses coconut is a food source, which provides supplements for body fluids and minerals, and acts as an antihelminthic. Theliquid endosperm is also a media for invitro storage of semen and a growth regulator of plants (Woodroof 1970). Copra, the dehydrated endosperm of the nut, is a source of oilfor food. Coconut oil is also used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The material thatremains after the oil is pressed from copra is called oilcake and is used as animal feed(Woodroof 1970). The coconut shell is used directly as fuel, filler and extender in thesynthesis of plastic, to make activated charcoal, household articles, and to producevarious distillation products, such as tar, woodspirit and pitch. Coir, a course fiber fromthe husk of the nut, has various domestic and industrial uses. Coconut root is brewed andused in folk medicine, for example, as a cure for dysentery (Woodroof 1970). The possibility of utilizing the coconut palm wood on a commercial scale has been recognizedonly in the last decade or so, although usage of wood from palm species has been known by people in the villages since time immemorial. In more recent times, coconut palmwood has been successfully utilized in a number of coconut growing countries such as thePhilippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Fiji, the Tonga Islands and many others (Arancon,1996). In Kerala state (India) coconut is the major industry. In Africa and Tanzania in particular, poles and leaves are used for building materials and making furniture.Coconut trees are grown in tropical countries mainly for the high oil content of theendosperm (copra), which is widely used in both food and non-food industries. However,a
against saturated fats in general, and the tropical oils in particular,led to most food manufacturers abandoning coconut oil in recent years in favour of hydrogenated polyunsaturated oils that come from the main cash crops in the US, particularly soy, and contain trans fatty acids. Studies done on native diets high incoconut consumption show that these populations are generally in good health, and don'tsuffer as much from many of the modern diseases of western nations(
). Large coconut production areas, in particular,are found along the coastal regions in the wet tropical areas of Asia in the Philippines,1
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