Coconut

Coconuts are the fruit of the coconut palm, a tropical tree, and are highly versatile, used for food, drink, oil, and other purposes. They are known for their thick fibrous husk, hard shell, and the presence of both liquid and flesh inside. Coconuts are not actually nuts but are botanically classified as drupes, similar to peaches.

The coconut tree provides food, fuel, cosmetics, folk medicine and building materials, among many other uses. The inner flesh of the mature seed, as well as the coconut milk extracted from it, forms a regular part of the diets of many people in the tropics and subtropics.

Coconut is primarily grown in the coastal subtropical zones of Asia and Oceania, its region of origin, on small family farms. The nuts, which are available all year round, are consumed in the region in the form of coconut milk. They are also used to produce copra and its by-product, copra oil.