Introduction

In Hinduism all living things are considered sacred in a

way. But there are certain plants that have a significant
importance in Hinduism. Some of these plants have a lot
of medicinal values and thats why they were given
religious important so that people would save them and
take care of them. Others have gained importance
because of being linked to a god or goddess in Hindu
mythology. Here are just a few plants that are religiously
important to Hindus. Humans have long understood the
medicinal properties of plants and have imbued trees, plants and
flowers with spiritual properties. In a cave in northern Iraq dating
to 60,000 80,000 BP lay a neatly buried Neanderthal strewn
with medicinal flowers (including yarrow, cornflower and grape
hyacinth). This person may have been a shaman or healer.
Archeologists found remains of garlands strung with gold in
burials unearthed in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor in Egypt.
In ancient Egypt, garlands were worn by loved ones of the
deceased and left at the gravesite, just as we do today. And in the
Alpine region on the border of present-day Austria and Italy, a
3,000 year old mummy (the Iceman or Oetzi) was found with
tattoos. There is evidence that his tattoos were therapeutic since
they were filled with a mixture of burned herbs and applied to
acupuncture points.

In India, the Indus Valley civilization thrived from 2,600 1,900

BP with cities, agriculture, organized religion and sophisticated
art and architecture. Some researchers believe that the Vedic
culture and early Sanskrit civilization (with early elements of
Hinduism) arose from this Indus Valley civilization. Since ancient
times, trees and plants have been considered sacred for a variety
of reasons: a close association with a deity (neem and tulsi with
Lord Krishna); sheltering an object of worship; belief that the
plant was created from body of a god (the Flame of the Forest
from the body of Lord Brahma); proximity to a sacred act
(Buddhas enlightenment under the peepal tree); and finally, a
major role in the local ecology or economy.

Early Vedic texts describe the energies within plants and their use
as medicine. The Rig Veda describes plants and their actions. The
Atharva Veda mentions the therapeutic uses of plant medicines in
greater detail. Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita, the two
classic Ayurvedic texts classified all medicinal substances into
three groups: vegetable, animal and mineral origin. Astanga
Hrdaya and Astanga Samgraha deal with Ayurveda material
medica.
According to the Atharva Veda, all of creation is a part of the
cosmic web. This web was created by the one Supreme Spirit and
is beyond all relative creation. The Supreme Spirit is within each
person, so humans have the capacity to remold the web into a
divine life on earth. Humans as well as devas/gods affect the web
through their actions. Humans, societies, animals, and nature are
all interdependent. When the energies are in balance, we have
health and when they fall out of balance, we experience disease.
This is true at both the individual and societal level.

Ayurveda texts describe a set of specific plants, alone or in

combination as rasayana (nourishing the essence of life). Each
herb embodies energies/vibrations that match an
energy/vibration in the human body. Nature uses the same
materials when creating plants, minerals, mantras, and human
bodies. According to the Vedic sages, the building blocks of nature
(subtle vibrations) are universal. Due to this belief in the likeness
within all of nature, herbs, sounds, gemstones, colors, aromas,
and foods all act as medicine when used properly.
For this paper, I selected the following seven medicinal plants:
amalaki, champaka, jasmine, neem, sandalwood, tulsi, and
vetvier. For each plant, I listed their sacred associations, dosha
effects, energetics, indications, actions and included a brief
description of the plant, its distribution and uses. I plan to
continue studying herbs and their sacred associations. Another
goal is to study native Northwest plants and apply Ayurvedic
concepts to their use.

Peepal Tree(Ficus religiosa)

Ficus religiosa or sacred fig is a species of fig native to the Indian
subcontinent,[2]and Indochina.[3] It belongs to the Moraceae, the fig or mulberry
family. It is also known as the bodhi tree,[4] pippala tree, peepul tree,[2] peepal
tree or ashwattha tree (in India and Nepal)

Description
Ficus religiosa is a large dry season-deciduous or semi-evergreen tree up to 30
metres (98 ft) tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 3 metres (9.8 ft).
The leaves are cordate in shape with a distinctive extended drip tip; they are 10
17 cm long and 812 cm broad, with a 610 cm petiole. The fruits are small figs
11.5 cm in diameter, green ripening to purple. The leaves of this tree move
continuously even when the air around is still and no perceptible wind is blowing.
This phenomenon can be explained due to the long leaf stalk and the broad leaf
structure. However, religious minded people in Hindu/Buddhist religion attribute
this movement of the leaves to the fact that "devas" or "gods" reside on these
leaves and make it move continuously.

In religion
The Ficus religiosa tree is considered sacred by the followers
of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, "I am
the Peepal tree among the trees, Narada among the sages, Chitraaratha among
the Gandharvas, And sage Kapila among the Siddhas."[6]
Buddhism

Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment (bodhi) while meditating underneath

a Ficus religiosa. The site is in present-day Bodh Gaya in Bihar, India. The
original tree was destroyed, and has been replaced several times. A branch of
the original tree was rooted in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka in 288 BCE and is known
as Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi; it is the oldest flowering plant (angiosperm) in the world.
[7]

In Theravada Buddhist Southeast Asia, the tree's massive trunk is often the site
of Buddhist or animist shrines. Not all Ficus religiosa can be called a Bodhi Tree.
A Bodhi Tree must be able to trace its parent to another Bodhi Tree and the line
goes on until the first Bodhi Tree under which Gautama is said to have gained
enlightenment.

Hinduism

Sadhus (Hindu ascetics) still meditate beneath sacred fig trees, and Hindus
do pradakshina (circumambulation, or meditative pacing) around the sacred fig
tree as a mark of worship. Usually seven pradakshinas are done around the tree
in the morning time chanting "vriksha rajaya namah", meaning "salutation to the
king of trees." It claimed that the 27 stars (constellations) constituting 12 houses
(rasis) and 9 planets are specifically represented precisely by 27 treesone for
each star. The Bodhi Tree is said to represent Pushya (Western star name ,
and Cancri in the Cancer constellation).

Plaksa is a possible Sanskrit term for Ficus religiosa. However, according

to Macdonell and Keith (1912), it denotes the wavy-leaved fig tree (Ficus
infectoria) instead. In Hindu texts, the Plaksa tree is associated with the source of
the Sarasvati River. The Skanda Purana states that the Sarasvati originates from
the water pot of Brahma flows from Plaksa on the Himalayas. According
to Vamana Purana 32.1-4, the Sarasvati was rising from the Plaksa tree (Pipal
tree).[9] Plaksa Pra-sravana denotes the place where the Sarasvati appears.[10] In
the Rigveda Sutras, Plaksa Pra-sravana refers to the source of the Sarasvati.[11]

Vernacular names
The Ficus religiosa tree is known by a wide range of vernacular names,
including:
 in Indic languages:

Sanskrit avatthah vr k sha, pippala vr ksha v( rksha

means "tree")

Hindi - Peepal -

Bengali language , i.e. ashwath, , i.e. pipul

Tamil , arasa maram (Literally "king" or "king's

tree"; arasu or arasan is Tamil for "king")

Telugu
raavi chettu

Kannada araLi mara

Konkani pimpalla rook/jhadd

Malayalam arayaal

Gujarati (pipdo)

Punjabi Pippal - /

Bhojpuri pippar

Maithili () (peepar)

Marathi pimpaL (where L is as in for example Nagold)

Mahal ( avati gas)

Odia (ashwatth)

Pali assattha; rukkha

Nepali () (peepal or pipal)

Sinhala esathu
 Thai (pho)

Burmese (Bodhi nyaung pin), (Bodhi pin)

Vietnamese b-

Urdu peepal

Cuban Spanish - alamo

Tagalog - ballete

Cultivation
Ficus religiosa is grown by specialty tree plant nurseries for use as
an ornamental tree, in gardens and parks in tropical and subtropical climates.
Peepal trees are native to India and thrive in hot, humid weather. They prefer full
sunlight and can grow in most soil types, though loam is the best. When planting,
use soil with a pH of 7 or below. While it is possible for the plant to grow indoors
in a pot, it grows best outside. Young peepal needs proper nourishment. It
requires full sunlight and proper watering.

Uses
Ficus religiosa is used in traditional medicine for about 50 types of disorders
including asthma, diabetes, diarrhea, epilepsy, gastric problems, inflammatory
disorders, infectious and sexual disorders.[12][13]
Fig. Peepal
Neem(Azadirachta indica)
Azadirachta indica, also known as Neem,[2] Nimtree,[2] Ineem and Indian
Lilac[2]is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the
genus Azadirachta, and is native to India and the Indian
subcontinent including Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It typically is
grown in tropical and semi-tropical regions. Neem trees now also grow in islands
located in the southern part of Iran. Its fruits and seeds are the source of neem
oil.

Description

Neem is a fast-growing tree that can reach a height of 1520 metres (4966 ft),
and rarely 3540 metres (115131 ft). It is evergreen, but in severe drought it
may shed most or nearly all of its leaves. The branches are wide and spreading.
The fairly dense crown is roundish and may reach a diameter of 1520 metres
(4966 ft) in old, free-standing specimens. The neem tree is very similar in
appearance to its relative, the Chinaberry (Melia azedarach).

The opposite, pinnate leaves are 2040 centimetres (7.915.7 in) long, with 20 to
31 medium to dark green leaflets about 38 centimetres (1.23.1 in) long. The
terminal leaflet often is missing. The petioles are short.

The (white and fragrant) flowers are arranged in more-or-less

drooping axillary panicles which are up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long.
The inflorescences, which branch up to the third degree, bear from 150 to 250
flowers. An individual flower is 56 millimetres (0.200.24 in) long and 811
millimetres (0.310.43 in) wide. Protandrous, bisexual flowers and male flowers
exist on the same individual tree.

The fruit is a smooth (glabrous), olive-like drupe which varies in shape from
elongate oval to nearly roundish, and when ripe is 1.42.8 centimetres (0.55
1.10 in) by 1.01.5 centimetres (0.390.59 in). The fruit skin (exocarp) is thin and
the bitter-sweet pulp (mesocarp) is yellowish-white and very fibrous. The
mesocarp is 0.30.5 centimetres (0.120.20 in) thick. The white, hard inner shell
(endocarp) of the fruit encloses one, rarely two, or three,
elongated seeds (kernels) having a brown seed coat.

Etymology[edit]

Neem () is a Hindi noun derived from Sanskrit Nimba and Ineem (). in
Gujarati.[3][4][5]

Vernacular names[edit]

Names for this plant in various languages include;[6]

Arabic - Neeb, Azad-darakhul-hind, Shajarat Alnnim

Assamese - Neem ()

Bengali - Nim ()

English - Margosa, Neem Tree

French - Azadirac de l'Inde, margosier, margousier

German - Indischer zedrach, Grossblaettiger zedrach

Gujarati - Dhanujhada (), Limbda

Hausa - Darbejiya, Dogonyaro, Bedi

Hindi - Neem ()

Kannada - Bevu ()

Kiswahili - Muarubaini

Khmer - Sdau ()

Malay - Mambu ()
 Malayalam - Aryaveppu ()

Manipuri - Neem ()

Marathi - Kadunimba ( )

Myanmar - Burma- Tamar

Nepal - Neem ()

Nigerian - Dongoyaro

Odiya - Neem ()

Persian - Azad Darakth e hind, neeb, nib

Portuguese - Nimbo, Margosa, Amargoseira

Punjabi - Nimmh ()

Sanskrit - Arishta, Pakvakrita, Nimbaka ()

Sinhala - Kohomba ()

Sindhi - Nimm ()

Somali - Geed Hindi

Tamil - Vembu (), Sengumaru , Ineem

Telugu - Vepa ()

Thai - Sadao ()

tulu-besappu

Urdu - Ineem ()
Ecology[edit]

The neem tree is noted for its drought resistance. Normally it thrives in areas with
sub-arid to sub-humid conditions, with an annual rainfall of 4001,200 millimetres
(1647 in). It can grow in regions with an annual rainfall below 400 mm, but in
such cases it depends largely on ground water levels. Neem can grow in many
different types of soil, but it thrives best on well drained deep and sandy soils. It
is a typical tropical to subtropical tree and exists at annual mean temperatures of
2132 C (7090 F). It can tolerate high to very high temperatures and does not
tolerate temperature below 4 C (39 F). Neem is one of a very few shade-giving
trees that thrive in drought-prone areas e.g. the dry coastal, southern districts of
India, and Pakistan. The trees are not at all delicate about water quality and
thrive on the merest trickle of water, whatever the quality. In India and tropical
countries where the Indian diaspora has reached, it is very common to see neem
trees used for shade lining streets, around temples, schools and other such
public buildings or in most people's back yards. In very dry areas the trees are
planted on large tracts of land.

Weed status[edit]

Neem is considered a weed in many areas, including some parts of the Middle
East, most of Sub-Saharan Africa including West Africa and Indian Ocean states,
and some parts of Australia. Ecologically, it survives well in similar environments
to its own, but its weed potential has not been fully assessed.[7]

In April 2015, A. indica was declared a class B and C weed in the Northern
Territory, Australia, meaning its growth and spread must be controlled and plants
or propagules are not allowed to be brought into the NT. It is illegal to buy, sell, or
transport the plants or seeds. Its declaration as a weed came in response to its
invasion of waterways in the "Top End" of the territory.[8]

After being introduced into Australia, possibly in the 1940s, A. indica was
originally planted in the Northern Territory to provide shade for cattle. Trial
plantations were established between the 1960s and 1980s
in Darwin, Queensland, and Western Australia, but the Australian neem industry
did not prove viable. The tree has now spread into the savanna, particularly
around waterways, and naturalised populations exist in several areas.[9]
Uses
Neem leaves are dried in India and placed in cupboards to prevent insects eating
the clothes, and also in tins where rice is stored.[10] Neem leaves are dried and
burnt in the tropical regions to keep away mosquitoes.[citation needed] These flowers are
also used in many Indian festivals like Ugadi. See below: #Association with
Hindu festivals in India. As an ayurvedic herb, neem is also used in baths.

As a vegetable[edit]

The tender shoots and flowers of the neem tree are eaten as a vegetable in
India. A souplike dish called Veppampoo charu (Tamil) (translated as "neem
flower rasam") made of the flower of neem is prepared in Tamil Nadu. In West
Bengal, young neem leaves are fried in oil with tiny pieces of eggplant (brinjal).
The dish is called nim begun and is the first item during a Bengali meal that acts
as an appetizer. It is eaten with rice.[11]

Neem is used in parts of mainland Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia aka

sdov,[12] Laos (where it is called kadao), Thailand (where it is known
as sadao or sdao), Myanmar (where it is known as tamar) and Vietnam (where it
is known as su u and is used to cook the salad gi su u). Even lightly
cooked, the flavour is quite bitter and the food is not enjoyed by all inhabitants of
these nations, though it is believed to be good for one's health. Neem gum is a
rich source of protein. In Myanmar, young neem leaves and flower buds are
boiled with tamarind fruit to soften its bitterness and eaten as a vegetable.
Pickled neem leaves are also eaten with tomato and fish paste sauce in
Myanmar.

Traditional medicinal use[edit]

Products made from neem trees have been used in India for over two millennia
for their medicinal properties.[10] Neem products are believed by Siddha
and Ayurvedic practitioners to
be Anthelmintic, antifungal, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiviral, contraceptive,
and sedative.[13] It is considered a major component in siddha medicine and
Ayurvedic and Unani medicine and is particularly prescribed for skin diseases.
[14]
Neem oil is also used for healthy hair, to improve liver function, detoxify the
blood, and balance blood sugar levels.[15] Neem leaves have also been used to
treat skin diseases like eczema, psoriasis, etc.[10]

Insufficient research has been done to assess the purported benefits of neem,
however.[16] In adults, short-term use of neem is safe, while long-term use may
harm the kidneys or liver; in small children, neem oil is toxic and can lead to
death.[16] Neem may also cause miscarriages, infertility, and low blood sugar.[16]

Safety issues[edit]

Neem oil can cause some forms of toxic encephalopathy and ophthalmopathy if
consumed in large quantities.[17]

Pest and disease control[edit]

Neem (Ineem) is a key ingredient in non-pesticidal management (NPM),

providing a natural alternative to synthetic pesticides. Neem seeds are ground
into a powder that is soaked overnight in water and sprayed onto the crop. To be
effective, it must be applied repeatedly, at least every ten days. Neem does not
directly kill insects on the crop. It acts as an anti-feedant, repellent, and egg-
laying deterrent, protecting the crop from damage. The insects starve and die
within a few days. Neem also suppresses the hatching of pest insects from their
eggs. Neem cake is often sold as a fertilizer.[18]

Neem oil has been shown to avert termite attack as an ecofriendly and
economical agent.[19]

Neem oil for polymeric resins[edit]

Applications of neem oil in the preparation of polymeric resins have been

documented in the recent reports. The synthesis of various alkyd resins from
neem oil is reported using a monoglyceride (MG) route and their utilization for the
preparation of PU coatings.[20] The alkyds are prepared from reaction of
conventional divalent acid materials like phthalic and maleic anhydrides with MG
of neem oil. In other reports, different routes for preparation of polymeric resins
from neem oil also are reported.[21]
Construction[edit]

The juice of this plant is a potent ingredent for a mixture of wall plaster, according
to the Samargana Stradhra, which is a Sanskrit treatise dealing with
ilpastra (Hindu science of art and construction).[22]

Other uses[edit]

Toiletries: Neem oil is used for preparing cosmetics such as soap,

shampoo, balms, and creams as well as toothpaste

Animal Treatment: Used to treat sweet itch and mud fever in horses

Toothbrush: Traditionally, slender neem twigs (called datun) are first

chewed as a toothbrush and then split as a tongue cleaner.[23] This practice
has been in use in India, Africa, and the Middle East for centuries. Many of
India's 80% rural population still start their day with the chewing stick, while in
urban areas neem toothpaste is preferred. Neem twigs are still collected and
sold in markets for this use, and in rural India one often sees youngsters in
the streets chewing on neem twigs. It has been found to be as effective as a
toothbrush in reducing plaque and gingival inflammation.[24][25]

Tree: Besides its use in traditional Indian medicine, the neem tree is of
great importance for its anti-desertification properties and possibly as a
good carbon dioxide sink.[26][27][28]

Neem gum is used as a bulking agent and for the preparation of special
purpose foods.

Neem blossoms are used in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,

and Karnataka to prepare Ugadi pachhadi. A mixture of neem flowers
and jaggery (or unrefined brown sugar) is prepared and offered to friends and
relatives, symbolic of sweet and bitter events in the upcoming new
year, Ugadi. "Bevina hoovina gojju" (a type of curry prepared with neem
blossoms) is common in Karnataka throughout the year. Dried blossoms are
used when fresh blossoms are not available. In Tamil Nadu, a rasam (veppam
poo rasam) made with neem blossoms is a culinary specialty.

Cosmetics : Neem is perceived in India as a beauty aid. Powdered leaves

are a major component of at least one widely used facial cream. Purified
neem oil is also used in nail polish and other cosmetics.
 Bird repellent: Neem leaf boiled in water can be used as a very cost-
effective bird repellent, especially for sparrows.

Lubricant : Neem oil is non-drying and it resists degradation better than

most vegetable oils. In rural India, it is commonly used to grease cart wheels.

Fertilizer : Neem has demonstrated considerable potential as a fertilizer.

Neem cake is widely used to fertilize cash crops, particularly sugarcane and
vegetables.

Plant protectant : Ploughed into the soil, it protects plant roots

from nematodes and white ants, probably as it contains the
residual limonoids.[citation needed] In Karnataka, people grow the tree mainly for its
green leaves and twigs, which they puddle into flooded rice fields before the
rice seedlings are transplanted.

Resin : An exudate can be tapped from the trunk by wounding the bark.
This high protein material is not a substitute for polysaccharide gum, such
as gum arabic. It may, however, have a potential as a food additive, and it is
widely used in South Asia as "Neem glue".

Bark : Neem bark contains 14% tannin, an amount similar to that in

conventional tannin-yielding trees (such as Acacia decurrens). Moreover, it
yields a strong, coarse fibre commonly woven into ropes in the villages of
India.

Honey : In parts of Asia neem honey commands premium prices, and

people promote apiculture by planting neem trees.

Soap : 80% of India's supply of neem oil now is used by neem oil soap
manufacturers.[29] Although much of it goes to small-scale speciality soaps,
often using cold-pressed oil, large-scale producers also use it, mainly
because it is cheap. Additionally it is antibacterial and antifungal, soothing,
and moisturising. It can be made with up to 40% neem oil.[29]Generally, the
crude oil is used to produce coarse laundry soaps.

Against pox viruses : In India, people who are affected with pox
viruses are generally made to lie in bed made of neem leaves and branches.
[citation needed]
The belief is that it prevents the spreading of pox virus to others[citation
needed]
and has been in practice since early centuries.[citation needed]
Association with Hindu festivals in India[edit]

Neem leaf or bark is considered an effective pitta pacifier because of its bitter
taste. Hence, it is traditionally recommended during early summer in Ayurveda
(that is, the month of Chaitra as per the Hindu Calendar which usually falls in the
month of March April).

In the Indian states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Neem flowers
are very popular for their use in 'Ugadi Pachhadi' (soup-like pickle), which is
made on Ugadi day. In Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, a small
amount of Neem and Jaggery (Bevu-Bella) is consumed on Ugadi day,
the Telugu and Kannada new year, indicating that one should take both bitter and
sweet things in life, joy and sorrow.

During Gudi Padva, which is the New Year in the state of Maharashtra, the
ancient practice of drinking a small quantity of neem juice or paste on that day,
before starting festivities, is found. As in many Hindu festivals and their
association with some food to avoid negative side-effects of the season or
change of seasons, neem juice is associated with Gudi Padva to remind people
to use it during that particular month or season to pacify summer pitta.

In Tamil Nadu during the summer months of April to June, the Mariamman temple
festival is a thousand-year-old tradition. The Neem leaves and flowers are the
most important part of the Mariamman festival. The statue of the goddess
Mariamman will be garlanded with Neem leaves and flowers. During most
occasions of celebrations and weddings the people of Tamil Nadu adorn their
surroundings with the Neem leaves and flowers as a form of decoration and also
to ward off evil spirits and infections.

In the eastern coastal state of Odisha the famous Jagannath temple deities are
made up of Neem heart wood along with some other essential oils and powders.
Native of Chhattisgarh with Neem branches and leaves for Hareli Festival

Chemical compounds[edit]

Ayurveda was the first to bring the anthelmintic, antifungal, antibacterial,

and antiviral constituents of the Neem tree to the attention of natural
products chemists. The process of extracting neem oil involves extracting the
water-insoluble components with ether, petrol ether, ethyl acetate, and
dilute alcohol. The provisional naming was nimbin (sulphur-
free crystalline product with melting point at 205 C, empirical composition
C7H10O2), nimbinin (with similar principle, melting at 192 C), and nimbidin (cream-
coloured containing amorphous sulphur, melting at 90100 C). Siddiqui
identified nimbidin as the main active antibacterial ingredient, and the highest
yielding bitter component in the neem oil.[30][full citation needed] These compounds are
stable and found in substantial quantities in the Neem. They also serve as
natural insecticides.[31][full citation needed]

Neem-coated urea is being used an alternate to plain urea fertilizer in India. It

reduces pollution, improves fertilizer's efficacy and soil health.[32][33]

Genome and transcriptomes[edit]

Neem genome and transcriptomes from various organs have been sequenced,
analyzed, and published by Ganit Labs in Bangalore, India.[34][35][36]

ESTs were identify by generation of subtractive hybridization libraries of neem

fruit, leaf, fruit mesocarp, and fruit endocarp by CSIR-CIMAP Lucknow.[37] [38]
Cultural and social impact[edit]

In Theravada Buddhism, the neem tree is said to have been used to achieve
enlightenment (bodhi) by Tissa, the twentieth Lord Buddha.[citation needed] Some
sources claim, however, that Terminalia tomentosa was the Bodhi tree used.[citation
needed]

In 1995, the European Patent Office (EPO) granted a patent on an anti-fungal

product derived from neem to the United States Department of
Agriculture and W. R. Grace and Company.[39] The Indian government challenged
the patent when it was granted, claiming that the process for which the patent
had been granted had been in use in India for more than 2,000 years. In 2000,
the EPO ruled in India's favour, but W. R. Grace appealed, claiming that prior
art about the product had never been published in a scientific journal. On
8 March 2005, that appeal was lost and the EPO revoked the Neem patent.[39]

Symbolism[edit]

Previously, neem had been declared as the national tree of the

former Hyderabad State, now defunct.

Biotechnology[edit]

The biopesticide produced by extraction from the tree seeds contains limonoids.
Currently, the extraction process has disadvantages such as contamination with
fungi and heterogeneity in the content of limonoids due to genetic, climatic, and
geographical variations.[40][41] To overcome these problems, production of
limonoids from plant cell suspension and hairy root cultures in bioreactors has
been studied,[42][43] including the development of a two-stage bioreactor process
that enhances growth and production of limonoids with cell suspension cultures
of A. indica.[44]
Tulsi
Tulsi or Tulasi (Ocimum tenuiflorum) or Holy basil is a sacred plant
in Hindu belief. Hindus regard it as an earthly manifestation of the goddess Tulsi;
she is regarded as a great worshipper of the god Vishnu. The offering of its
leaves is mandatory in ritualistic worship of Vishnu and his forms
like Krishna and Vithoba.

Many Hindus have tulsi plants growing in front of or near their home, often in
special pots or a special masonry structure known as Tulsi Vrindavan.
Traditionally, Tulsi is planted in the center of the central courtyard of Hindu
houses.[1] The plant is cultivated for religious and medicinal purposes, and for its
essential oil.

Names[edit]

In Myanmar it is known as "Pan Sein"or"noon"in Rakhine State

In Hindu mythology, Tulsi ("matchless") is known

as Vaishnavi ("belonging to Vishnu"), Vishnu Vallabha ("beloved of
Vishnu"),[2] Haripriya ("beloved of Vishnu"), Vishnu Tulsi. The Tulsi with
green leaves is called Shri-Tulsi ("fortunate Tulsi"); also Shri is a
synonym for Lakshmi, the principal consort of Vishnu. This variety is
also known as Rama-Tulsi ("bright Tulsi"); Rama is also one of the
principal avatars of Vishnu. The Tulsi with dark green or purple leaves
and purple stem is called Shyama-Tulsi ("dark Tulsi") or Krishna-
Tulsi ("dark Tulsi"); Krishna is also a prominent avatar of Vishnu. This
variety is considered esspecially sacred to Krishna, as its purple
colour is similar to Krishna's dark complexion.[2][3]

Legend[edit]
An altar with tulsi plant for daily worship in a courtyard in India

The Devi Bhagavata Purana regards Tulsi as an manifestation

of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and principal consort of Vishnu. It
narrates that Vishnu had three wives: Lakshmi, Saraswati and Ganga.
Once, Ganga was flirting with Vishnu, when a jealous Saraswati
noticed her and dragged her to the ground. Lakshmi ran to save
Ganga. An infuriated Saraswati then curses Lakshmi to be born on
earth as a plant. Ganga (the Ganges river) and Saraswati
(the Saraswati River) also curse each other to be born as rivers.
Vishnu comforts Lakshmi that she will be born on earth as Tulsi, but
only part of her will stay there as a plant and she will return to him. At
the same time on earth, King Vrishadhvajaa devotee of the
god Shivabanned worship all other deities except his patron god. An
agitated sun god Surya cursed him that Lakshmi will abandon him. In
turn, Shiva pursued Surya, who fled, finally arriving in shelter of
Vishnu. Vishnu said to the deities that years had passed on earth,
Vrishadhvaja and also his heir-son were dead and that then the
grandchildren of VrishadhvajaDharmadhvaja and Kushadhvaja
were worshipping Lakshmi to gain her favour. Lakshmi rewards by
being born as daughters Tulsi (literally "matchless") and Vedavati to
Dharmadhvaja and Kushadhvaja respectively. Tulsi gave up all her
royal comfort and went to Badrinath to perform penance to gain
Vishnu as her husband. The god Brahma pleased with her penance
told her that she will have to marry the demon Shankhachuda before
she marries Vishnu. Sudama, a part-incarnation
of Krishna (an avatar of Vishnu) was born on earth as the demon due
to a curse. Shankhachuda, who also pleased Brahma with his
penance, was granted the Vishnu-Kavacha (armour of Vishnu) and
blessed that until his wife's chastity was retained and Vishnu-Kavacha
was on his body, no one could slay him. Shankhachuda and Tulsi
were soon married. Shankhachuda was filled with pride and terrorized
the beings of the universe. To rescue the universe, Shiva challenged
Shankhachuda to war, while Vishnu went to Tulsi to break her chastity.
Vishnu assumed the form of Shankhachuda and compelled Tulsi to
have coitus. With her chastity broken, Shankhachuda was killed and
Sudama was freed of his curse. In middle of the sexual act, Tulsi
recognized the impersonator. Vishnu appeared in his true form and
told Tulsi to abandon her earthly body and return to his celestial abode
as Lakshmi, his wife. Tulsi's mortal remains decayed and became
the Gandaki River, while her hair transformed into the sacred Tulsi
plant.[4][5]

A variant of the legend replaces Shankhachuda with Jalandhara and

the name Tulsi with Vrinda (a synonym of the Tulsi plant). It
concentrates on the tale of Vishnu destroying Vrinda's chastity to lead
to the death of Jalandhara by Shiva. In this legend, Tulsi is distinct
from Lakshmi. The legend ends with Vrinda cursing Vishnu to become
a stone, turning him the Shaligram stone (which are found only in the
Kali Gandaki River of Nepal) and Vishnu transforming Vrinda into the
Tulsi plant. In a variant, Vrinda immolated herself in her husband's
funeral pyre (see sati) but Vishnu ensured that she got incarnated in
the form of tulsi plant on the earth. In both versions, she gain the
status of a goddess named Tulsi, while his earthly form is the Tulsi
plant.[6][7]

A Vaishnava legend relates Tulsi to the Samudra Manthana, the

churning of the cosmic ocean by the gods and asuras (demons). At
the end of the churning, Dhanvantari rose from the ocean
with Amrita (the elixir of immortality). Vishnu procured it for the gods,
when the demons tried to steal it. Vishnu shed happy tears, the first of
which fell in Amrita and formed the Tulsi.[5]
Worship[edit]

Left: An idol of Goddess Tulsi. Right: A Tulsi-vrindavan in a courtyard in India

While tree worship is not uncommon in Hinduism, the Tulsi plant is

regarded the holiest of all plants.[8] The Tulsi plant is regarded as a
threshold point between heaven and earth. A traditional prayer tells
that the creator-god Brahma resides in its branches, all Hindu
pilgrimage centres reside in its roots, the Ganges flows through its
roots, all deities in its stem and its leaves and the Hindu scriptures -
the Vedas in the upper part of its branches.[9][6] It is considered as
household god particularly referred as a "Women's deity". It is called
as "the central sectarian symbol of Hinduism" and Vaishavas consider
it as "the manifestation of god in the vegetable kingdom. [10][5]

The Tulsi plant is grown in or near almost every Hindu house,

especially by Brahmins and Vaishnavas. A house with a Tulsi plant is
sometimes considered a place of pilgrimage.[11]Sacred places where
they are grown are also known as Vrindavan (grove of Tulsi).
Vrindavan is a raised cuboid stone or brick structure often in middle of
the house's courtyard or in front of the house.[12]

A person who waters and cares for the Tulsi daily is believed to
gain moksha (salvation) and the divine grace of Vishnu, even if he
does not worship it. Traditionally, the daily worship and care of the
plant is the responsibility of the women of the household. The plant is
regarded as a "women's deity" and a "symbol of ideal wifehood and
motherhood". Though daily worship is prescribed, Tuesdays and
Fridays are considered especially sacred for Tulsi worship. Rituals
involve watering the plant, cleaning the area near the plant with water
and cow dung (considered sacred) and making offerings of food,
flowers, incense, Ganges water etc. Rangoli (decorative designs) of
deities and saints are drawn near its foot. Devotees pray to Tulsi
and circumbulate it,chanting mantras. The Tulsi plant is often
worshipped twice in a day: in the morning and in the evening, when a
lamp or candle is lit near the plant.[13]

In the 19th century, some families in Bengal regarded the plant as

their guardian or family deity. In a British Indian census, North-
Western Provinces recorded themselves as Tulsi worshippers and not
belonging to Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs.[8][6]

Festivals

Tulsi vivah
A ceremony known as Tulsi Vivah is performed by the Hindus
between Prabodhini Ekadashi (eleventh lunar day of the waxing moon
of Kartika) to Kartik Poornima (full moon in Kartika), usually on the
eleventh or the twelfth lunar day. It is the ceremonial wedding of the
Tulsi plant to Vishnu, in the form of his image, Shaligram or a Krishna
or Rama image. Both the bride and the groom are ritually worshipped
and then married as per traditional Hindu wedding rituals. It marks the
end of the four-month Chaturmas period, which corresponds to the
monsoon and is considered inauspicious for weddings and other
rituals, so the day inaugurates the annual marriage season in India.[14]
[15]

In Orissa, on the first day of the Hindu month Vaishakha (April - May),
a small vessel with hole at the bottom is filled with water and
suspended over the Tulsi plant with a steady stream of water, for the
entire month. In this period, when a hot summer reigns, one who
offers cool water to Tulsi or an umbrella to shelter it from the intense
heat is believed to be cleansed of all sin. The stream of water also
conveys wishes for a good monsoon.[16]

In worship of other deities[edit]

Set of Japa mala, made from Tulasi wood, with head bead in foreground.

Tulsi is especially sacred in the worship of Vishnu and his

forms Krishna and Vithoba and other related Vaishnava deities.[10]
[5]
Garlands made of 10000 tulsi leaves, water mixed with tulsi, food
items sprinkled with Tulsi are offered in veneration to Vishnu or
Krishna.

Vaishnavas traditionally use japa malas (a string of Hindu prayer

beads) made from Tulsi stems or roots called Tulsi malas, which are
an important symbol of the initiation. Tulsi malas are considered to be
auspicious for the wearer, and believed to connect him with Vishnu or
Krishna and confer the protection of the deity. They are worn as a
necklace or garland or held in the hand and used as a rosary. Tulsi's
great connection with Vaishnavas is communicated with the fact that
Vaishnavas are known as "those who bear the tulsi round the neck".
[17]
Some pilgrims carry tulsi plants in their hands throughout their
pilgrimage to Dwarka, the legendary capital of Krishna and one of the
seven most sacred Hindu cities.[2]

There are conflicting accounts about Tulsi leaves being used in the
worship of the god Shiva, a rival sect (Shaiva) god to the Vaishnava
Vishnu. While Bael leaves are often offered to Shiva, some authors
note that Tulsi may also be offered to him. Tulsi worship is sometimes
regarded the worship of Shiva, conveying the deity's omnipresence.
Shiva's aniconic symbol - the linga - is sometimes prescribed to have
made from the black soil from the roots of the Tulsi plant. However,
Tulsi is taboo in worship of the Devi - the Hindu Divine Mother as the
pungent aroma of the Tulsi plant angers her.[11] It is also important for
the worship of Hanuman.[3] In Orissa, the Tulsi plant represents all
local deities and rituals to propitiate them are offered in front of the
plant. The Nayars of Malabar offer Tulsi plants to pacify evil spirits.[18]
Importance in Hinduism[edit]

Tulsi plant

Every part of the Tulsi plant is revered and considered sacred. Even
the soil around the plant is holy. The Padma Purana declares a person
who is cremated with Tulsi twigs in his funeral pyre gains moksha and
a place in Vishnu's abode Vaikuntha. If a Tulsi stick is used to burn a
lamp for Vishnu, it is like offering the gods lakhs of lamps. If one
makes a paste of dried Tulsi wood (from a plant that died naturally)
and smears it over his body and worships Vishnu, it is worth several
ordinary pujas and lakhs of Godan (donation of cows). [19] Water mixed
with the Tulsi leaves is given to the dying to raise their departing souls
to heaven.[5]

Just as Tulsi respect is rewarding, her contempt attracts the wrath of

Vishnu. Precautions are taken to avoid this. It is taboo to urinate,
excrete or throw waste water near the plant. Uprooting and cutting
branches of the plant is prohibited.[20]When the plant withers, the dry
plant is immersed in a water body with due religious rites as is the
custom for broken divine images, which are unworthy for worship.
[5]
Though Tulsi leaves are necessary for Hindu worship, there are strict
rules for it. Only a male must cut them and only in the daylight. A
prayer of forgiveness may also be offered to Tulsi before the act. [20]
The word Tulsi is used in many place names and family names.[8]
Banana
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about sweet bananas. For the genus to which banana plants belong, see Musa
(genus). For starchier bananas used in cooking, see Cooking banana. For other uses, see Banana
(disambiguation).

Fruits of four different banana cultivars

The banana is an edible fruit botanically a berry[1][2] produced by several kinds of

large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa.[3] In some countries, bananas used for
cooking may be called plantains, in contrast to dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color
and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind
which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow in clusters hanging
from the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible parthenocarpic (seedless) bananas come from
two wild species Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. The scientific names of most cultivated
bananas are Musa acuminata, Musa balbisiana, and Musa paradisiaca for the hybrid Musa
acuminata M. balbisiana, depending on their genomic constitution. The old scientific name Musa
sapientum is no longer used.

Musa species are native to tropical Indomalaya and Australia, and are likely to have been first
domesticated in Papua New Guinea.[4][5] They are grown in 135 countries,[6] primarily for their fruit,
and to a lesser extent to make fiber, banana wine and banana beer and as ornamental plants.

Worldwide, there is no sharp distinction between "bananas" and "plantains". Especially in the
Americas and Europe, "banana" usually refers to soft, sweet, dessert bananas, particularly those of
the Cavendish group, which are the main exports from banana-growing countries. By
contrast, Musa cultivars with firmer, starchier fruit are called "plantains". In other regions, such
as Southeast Asia, many more kinds of banana are grown and eaten, so the simple two-fold
distinction is not useful and is not made in local languages.

The term "banana" is also used as the common name for the plants which produce the fruit. [3] This
can extend to other members of the genus Musa like the scarlet banana (Musa coccinea), pink
banana (Musa velutina) and the Fe'i bananas. It can also refer to members of the genus Ensete, like
the snow banana (Ensete glaucum) and the economically important false banana (Ensete
ventricosum). Both genera are classified under the banana family, Musaceae.

Description

The banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant.[7] All the above-ground parts of a banana
plant grow from a structure usually called a "corm".[8] Plants are normally tall and fairly sturdy, and
are often mistaken for trees, but what appears to be a trunk is actually a "false stem" or pseudostem.
Bananas grow in a wide variety of soils, as long as the soil is at least 60 cm deep, has good
drainage and is not compacted.[9] The leaves of banana plants are composed of a "stalk" (petiole)
and a blade (lamina). The base of the petiole widens to form a sheath; the tightly packed sheaths
make up the pseudostem, which is all that supports the plant. The edges of the sheath meet when it
is first produced, making it tubular. As new growth occurs in the centre of the pseudostem the edges
are forced apart.[10] Cultivated banana plants vary in height depending on the variety and growing
conditions. Most are around 5 m (16 ft) tall, with a range from 'Dwarf Cavendish' plants at around
3 m (10 ft) to 'Gros Michel' at 7 m (23 ft) or more.[11][12] Leaves are spirally arranged and may grow
2.7 metres (8.9 ft) long and 60 cm (2.0 ft) wide.[1] They are easily torn by the wind, resulting in the
familiar frond look.[13]

When a banana plant is mature, the corm stops producing new leaves and begins to form a flower
spike or inflorescence. A stem develops which grows up inside the pseudostem, carrying the
immature inflorescence until eventually it emerges at the top.[14] Each pseudostem normally
produces a single inflorescence, also known as the "banana heart". (More are sometimes produced;
an exceptional plant in the Philippines produced five.[15]) After fruiting, the pseudostem dies, but
offshoots will normally have developed from the base, so that the plant as a whole is perennial. In
the plantation system of cultivation, only one of the offshoots will be allowed to develop in order to
maintain spacing.[16] The inflorescence contains many bracts (sometimes incorrectly referred to as
petals) between rows of flowers. The female flowers (which can develop into fruit) appear in rows
further up the stem (closer to the leaves) from the rows of male flowers. The ovary is inferior,
meaning that the tiny petals and other flower parts appear at the tip of the ovary.[17]

The banana fruits develop from the banana heart, in a large hanging cluster, made up of tiers (called
"hands"), with up to 20 fruit to a tier. The hanging cluster is known as a bunch, comprising 320 tiers,
or commercially as a "banana stem", and can weigh 3050 kilograms (66110 lb). Individual banana
fruits (commonly known as a banana or "finger") average 125 grams (0.276 lb), of which
approximately 75% is water and 25% dry matter (nutrient table, lower right).

The fruit has been described as a "leathery berry".[18] There is a protective outer layer (a peel or skin)
with numerous long, thin strings (the phloem bundles), which run lengthwise between the skin and
the edible inner portion. The inner part of the common yellow dessert variety can be split lengthwise
into three sections that correspond to the inner portions of the three carpels by manually deforming
the unopened fruit.[19] In cultivated varieties, the seeds are diminished nearly to non-existence; their
remnants are tiny black specks in the interior of the fruit. [20]
Bananas are naturally slightly radioactive,[21] more so than most other fruits, because of their
potassium content and the small amounts of the isotope potassium-40 found in naturally occurring
potassium.[22] The banana equivalent dose of radiation is sometimes used in nuclear communication
to compare radiation levels and exposures.[23]

Etymology
The word banana is thought to be of West African origin, possibly from the Wolof word banaana, and
passed into English via Spanish or Portuguese.[24]

Taxonomy

The genus Musa was created by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[25] The name may be derived from Antonius
Musa, physician to the Emperor Augustus, or Linnaeus may have adapted the Arabic word for
banana, mauz.[26] The old biological name Musa sapientum = "Muse of the wise" arose because of
homophony in Latin with the classical Muses.

Musa is in the family Musaceae. The APG III system assigns Musaceae to the order Zingiberales,
part of the commelinid clade of the monocotyledonous flowering plants. Some 70 species
of Musa were recognized by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as of January 2013;
[25]
several produce edible fruit, while others are cultivated as ornamentals. [27]

The classification of cultivated bananas has long been a problematic issue for taxonomists. Linnaeus
originally placed bananas into two species based only on their uses as food: Musa sapientum for
dessert bananas and Musa paradisiaca for plantains. Subsequently, further species names were
added. However, this approach proved inadequate to address the sheer number of cultivars existing
in the primary center of diversity of the genus, Southeast Asia. Many of these cultivars were given
names which proved to be synonyms.[28]

In a series of papers published from 1947 onwards, Ernest Cheesman showed that Linnaeus' Musa
sapientum and Musa paradisiaca were actually cultivars and descendants of two wild seed-
producing species, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, both first described by Luigi Aloysius
Colla.[29] He recommended the abolition of Linnaeus's species in favor of reclassifying bananas
according to three morphologically distinct groups of cultivars those primarily exhibiting the
botanical characteristics of Musa balbisiana, those primarily exhibiting the botanical characteristics
of Musa acuminata, and those with characteristics that are the combination of the two.
[28]
Researchers Norman Simmonds and Ken Shepherd proposed a genome-based nomenclature
system in 1955. This system eliminated almost all the difficulties and inconsistencies of the earlier
classification of bananas based on assigning scientific names to cultivated varieties. Despite this, the
original names are still recognized by some authorities today, leading to confusion. [29][30]
The currently accepted scientific names for most groups of cultivated bananas are Musa
acuminata Colla and Musa balbisiana Colla for the ancestral species,
and Musa paradisiaca L. for the hybrid M. acuminata M. balbisiana.[31]

Synonyms of M. paradisica include:

A large number of subspecific and varietial names of M. paradisiaca, including M.

p. subsp. sapientum (L.) Kuntze

Musa dacca Horan.

Musa sapidisiaca K.C.Jacob, nom. superfl.

Musa sapientum L., and a large number of its varietal names,

including M. sapientum var. paradisiaca (L.) Baker, nom. illeg.

Generally, modern classifications of banana cultivars follow Simmonds and Shepherd's system.
Cultivars are placed in groups based on the number of chromosomes they have and which species
they are derived from. Thus the Latundan banana is placed in the AAB Group, showing that it is a
triploid derived from both M. acuminata (A) and M. balbisiana (B). For a list of the cultivars classified
under this system see List of banana cultivars.

In 2012, a team of scientists announced they had achieved a draft sequence of the genome of Musa
acuminata.[32]

Bananas and plantains

In regions such as North America and Europe, Musa fruits offered for sale can be divided into
"bananas" and "plantains", based on their intended use as food. Thus the banana producer and
distributor Chiquita produces publicity material for the American market which says that "a plantain is
not a banana". The stated differences are that plantains are more starchy and less sweet; they are
eaten cooked rather than raw; they have thicker skin, which may be green, yellow or black; and they
can be used at any stage of ripeness.[33] Linnaeus made the same distinction between plantains and
bananas when first naming two "species" of Musa.[34] Members of the "plantain subgroup" of banana
cultivars, most important as food in West Africa and Latin America, correspond to the Chiquita
description, having long pointed fruit. They are described by Ploetz et al. as "true" plantains, distinct
from other cooking bananas.[35] The cooking bananas of East Africa belong to a different group,
the East African Highland bananas,[12] so would not qualify as "true" plantains on this definition.

An alternative approach divides bananas into dessert bananas and cooking bananas, with plantains
being one of the subgroups of cooking bananas. [36] Triploid cultivars derived solely
from M. acuminata are examples of "dessert bananas", whereas triploid cultivars derived from the
hybrid between M. acuminata and M. balbinosa (in particular the plantain subgroup of the AAB
Group) are "plantains".[37][38] Small farmers in Colombia grow a much wider range of cultivars than
large commercial plantations. A study of these cultivars showed that they could be placed into at
least three groups based on their characteristics: dessert bananas, non-plantain cooking bananas,
and plantains, although there were overlaps between dessert and cooking bananas. [39]

In Southeast Asia the center of diversity for bananas, both wild and cultivated the distinction
between "bananas" and "plantains" does not work, according to Valmayor et al. Many bananas are
used both raw and cooked. There are starchy cooking bananas which are smaller than those eaten
raw. The range of colors, sizes and shapes is far wider than in those grown or sold in Africa, Europe
or the Americas.[34] Southeast Asian languages do not make the distinction between "bananas" and
"plantains" that is made in English (and Spanish). Thus both Cavendish cultivars, the classic yellow
dessert bananas, and Saba cultivars, used mainly for cooking, are
called pisang in Malaysia and Indonesia, kluai in Thailand and chuoi in Vietnam.[40] Fe'i bananas,
grown and eaten in the islands of the Pacific, are derived from entirely different wild species than
traditional bananas and plantains. Most Fe'i bananas are cooked, but Karat bananas, which are
short and squat with bright red skins, very different from the usual yellow dessert bananas, are eaten
raw.[41]

In summary, in commerce in Europe and the Americas (although not in small-scale cultivation), it is
possible to distinguish between "bananas", which are eaten raw, and "plantains", which are cooked.
In other regions of the world, particularly India, Southeast Asia and the islands of the Pacific, there
are many more kinds of banana and the two-fold distinction is not useful and not made in local
languages. Plantains are one of many kinds of cooking bananas, which are not always distinct from
dessert bananas.

Historical cultivation
Early cultivation

Farmers in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea first domesticated bananas.
Recent archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence at Kuk Swamp in the Western Highlands
Province of Papua New Guinea suggests that banana cultivation there goes back to at least
5000 BCE, and possibly to 8000 BCE.[4][43] It is likely that other species were later and independently
domesticated elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is the region of primary diversity of the
banana. Areas of secondary diversity are found in Africa, indicating a long history of banana
cultivation in the region.[44]

Phytolith discoveries in Cameroon dating to the first millennium BCE[46] triggered an as yet
unresolved debate about the date of first cultivation in Africa. There is linguistic evidence that
bananas were known in Madagascar around that time.[47]The earliest prior evidence indicates that
cultivation dates to no earlier than late 6th century CE.[48] It is likely, however, that bananas were
brought at least to Madagascar if not to the East African coast during the phase
of Malagasy colonization of the island from South East Asia c. 400 CE. [49]

The banana may also have been present in isolated locations elsewhere in the Middle East on the
eve of Islam. The spread of Islam was followed by far-reaching diffusion. There are numerous
references to it in Islamic texts (such as poems and hadiths) beginning in the 9th century. By the
10th century the banana appears in texts from Palestine and Egypt. From there it diffused into North
Africa and Muslim Iberia. During the medieval ages, bananas from Granada were considered among
the best in the Arab world.[45] In 650, Islamic conquerors brought the banana to Palestine. Today,
banana consumption increases significantly in Islamic countries during Ramadan, the month of
daylight fasting.[50]

Bananas were certainly grown in the Christian Kingdom of Cyprus by the late medieval period.
Writing in 1458, the Italian traveller and writer Gabriele Capodilista wrote favourably of the extensive
farm produce of the estates at Episkopi, near modern-day Limassol, including the region's banana
plantations.[51]

Bananas were introduced to the Americas by Portuguese sailors who brought the fruits from West
Africa in the 16th century.[52]

Many wild banana species as well as cultivars exist in extraordinary diversity in India, China,
and Southeast Asia.

There are fuzzy bananas whose skins are bubblegum pink; green-and-white striped bananas with
pulp the color of orange sherbet; bananas that, when cooked, taste like strawberries. The Double
Mahoi plant can produce two bunches at once. The Chinese name of the aromatic Go San Heong
banana means 'You can smell it from the next mountain.' The fingers on one banana plant grow
fused; another produces bunches of a thousand fingers, each only an inch long.

Mike Peed, The New Yorker[53]

In 1999 archaeologists in London discovered what they believed to be the oldest banana in the UK,
in a Tudor rubbish tip.[54]

Plantation cultivation in the Caribbean, Central and South America

Main article: History of modern banana plantations in the Americas

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portuguese colonists started banana plantations in the Atlantic
Islands, Brazil, and western Africa.[55] North Americans began consuming bananas on a small scale
at very high prices shortly after the Civil War, though it was only in the 1880s that it became more
widespread.[56] As late as the Victorian Era, bananas were not widely known in Europe, although
they were available.[55] Jules Verne introduces bananas to his readers with detailed descriptions
in Around the World in Eighty Days (1872).

The earliest modern plantations originated in Jamaica and the related Western Caribbean Zone,
including most of Central America. It involved the combination of modern transportation networks of
steamships and railroads with the development of refrigeration that allowed bananas to have more
time between harvesting and ripening. North America shippers like Lorenzo Dow Baker and Andrew
Preston, the founders of the Boston Fruit Company started this process in the 1870s, but railroad
builders like Minor C Keith also participated, eventually culminating in the multi-national giant
corporations like today's Chiquita Brands International and Dole.[56] These companies were
monopolistic, vertically integrated (meaning they controlled growing, processing, shipping and
marketing) and usually used political manipulation to build enclave economies (economies that were
internally self-sufficient, virtually tax exempt, and export oriented that contribute very little to the host
economy). Their political maneuvers, which gave rise to the term Banana republic for states like
Honduras and Guatemala, included working with local elites and their rivalries to influence politics or
playing the international interests of the United States, especially during the Cold War, to keep the
political climate favorable to their interests.[57]

Peasant cultivation for export in the Caribbean

Main article: History of peasant banana production in the Americas

The vast majority of the world's bananas today are cultivated for family consumption or for sale on
local markets. India is the world leader in this sort of production, but many other Asian and African
countries where climate and soil conditions allow cultivation also host large populations of banana
growers who sell at least some of their crop.[58]

There are peasant sector banana growers who produce for the world market in the Caribbean,
however. The Windward Islands are notable for the growing, largely of Cavendish bananas, for an
international market, generally in Europe but also in North America. In the Caribbean, and especially
in Dominica where this sort of cultivation is widespread, holdings are in the 12 acre range. In many
cases the farmer earns additional money from other crops, from engaging in labor outside the farm,
and from a share of the earnings of relatives living overseas. This style of cultivation often was
popular in the islands as bananas required little labor input and brought welcome extra income. [citation
needed]
Banana crops are vulnerable to destruction by high winds, such as tropical storms or cyclones.
[59]

After the signing of the NAFTA agreements in the 1990s, however, the tide turned against peasant
producers. Their costs of production were relatively high and the ending of favorable tariff and other
supports, especially in the European Economic Community, made it difficult for peasant producers to
compete with the bananas grown on large plantations by the well capitalized firms like Chiquita and
Dole. Not only did the large companies have access to cheap labor in the areas they worked, but
they were better able to afford modern agronomic advances such as fertilization. The "dollar banana"
produced by these concerns made the profit margins for peasant bananas unsustainable. [citation needed]

Caribbean countries have sought to redress this problem by providing government supported
agronomic services and helping to organize producers' cooperatives. They have also been
supporters of the Fair Trade movement which seeks to balance the inequities in the world trade in
commodities.[citation needed]

East Africa
Main article: East African Highland bananas

Most farms supply local consumption. Cooking bananas represent a major food source and a
major income source for smallhold farmers. In east Africa, highland bananas are of greatest
importance as a staple food crop. In countries such as Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda per capita
consumption has been estimated at 45 kilograms (99 lb) per year, the highest in the world.[citation
needed]

Modern cultivation
All widely cultivated bananas today descend from the two wild bananas Musa acuminata and Musa
balbisiana. While the original wild bananas contained large seeds, diploid or polyploid cultivars
(some being hybrids) with tiny seeds are preferred for human raw fruit consumption. [60] These are
propagated asexually from offshoots. The plant is allowed to produce two shoots at a time; a larger
one for immediate fruiting and a smaller "sucker" or "follower" to produce fruit in 68 months. The life
of a banana plantation is 25 years or longer, during which time the individual stools or planting sites
may move slightly from their original positions as lateral rhizome formation dictates.[citation needed]

Cultivated bananas are parthenocarpic, i.e. the flesh of the fruit swells and ripens without its seeds
being fertilized and developing. Lacking viable seeds, propagation typically involves farmers
removing and transplanting part of the underground stem (called a corm). Usually this is done by
carefully removing a sucker (a vertical shoot that develops from the base of the banana
pseudostem) with some roots intact. However, small sympodial corms, representing not yet
elongated suckers, are easier to transplant and can be left out of the ground for up to two weeks;
they require minimal care and can be shipped in bulk. [citation needed]

It is not necessary to include the corm or root structure to propagate bananas; severed suckers
without root material can be propagated in damp sand, although this takes somewhat longer.[citation
needed]

In some countries, commercial propagation occurs by means of tissue culture. This method is
preferred since it ensures disease-free planting material. When using vegetative parts such as
suckers for propagation, there is a risk of transmitting diseases (especially the devastating Panama
disease).[citation needed]

As a non-seasonal crop, bananas are available fresh year-round. [61]

Cavendish
Main article: Cavendish bananas

In global commerce in 2009, by far the most important cultivars belonged to the
triploid AAA group of Musa acuminata, commonly referred to as Cavendish group bananas. They
accounted for the majority of banana exports,[60] despite only coming into existence in 1836.[62] The
cultivars Dwarf Cavendish and Grand Nain (Chiquita Banana) gained popularity in the 1950s after
the previous mass-produced cultivar, Gros Michel (also an AAA group cultivar), became
commercially unviable due to Panama disease, caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum which
attacks the roots of the banana plant.[60] Cavendish cultivars are resistant to the Panama Disease
but in 2013 there were fears that the Black Sigatoka fungus would in turn make Cavendish bananas
unviable.[63]

Ease of transport and shelf life rather than superior taste make the Dwarf Cavendish the main export
banana.[citation needed]

Even though it is no longer viable for large scale cultivation, Gros Michel is not extinct and is still
grown in areas where Panama disease is not found.[64] Likewise, Dwarf Cavendish and Grand Nain
are in no danger of extinction, but they may leave supermarket shelves if disease makes it
impossible to supply the global market. It is unclear if any existing cultivar can replace Cavendish
bananas, so various hybridisation and genetic engineering programs are attempting to create a
disease-resistant, mass-market banana.[60]

Ripening

Export bananas are picked green, and ripen in special rooms upon arrival in the destination country.
These rooms are air-tight and filled with ethylene gas to induce ripening. The vivid yellow color
consumers normally associate with supermarket bananas is, in fact, caused by the artificial ripening
process.[65][66] Flavor and texture are also affected by ripening temperature. Bananas are refrigerated
to between 13.5 and 15 C (56.3 and 59.0 F) during transport. At lower temperatures, ripening
permanently stalls, and the bananas turn gray as cell walls break down. The skin of ripe bananas
quickly blackens in the 4 C (39 F) environment of a domestic refrigerator, although the fruit inside
remains unaffected.

Ripened bananas (left, under sunlight) fluoresce in blue when exposed to UV

light.
"Tree-ripened" Cavendish bananas have a greenish-yellow appearance which changes to a
brownish-yellow as they ripen further. Although both flavor and texture of tree-ripened bananas is
generally regarded as superior to any type of green-picked fruit, [citation needed] this reduces shelf life to
only 710 days.[citation needed]

Bananas can be ordered by the retailer "ungassed" (i.e. not treated with ethylene), and may show up
at the supermarket fully green. Guineos verdes (green bananas) that have not been gassed will
never fully ripen before becoming rotten. Instead of fresh eating, these bananas can be used for
cooking, as seen in Jamaican cuisine.[67]

A 2008 study reported that ripe bananas fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet light. This property is
attributed to the degradation of chlorophyll leading to the accumulation of a fluorescent product in
the skin of the fruit. The chlorophyll breakdown product is stabilized by a propionate ester group.
Banana-plant leaves also fluoresce in the same way. Green bananas do not fluoresce. The study
suggested that this allows animals which can see light in the ultraviolet spectrum
(tetrachromats and pentachromats) to more easily detect ripened bananas.[68]

Storage and transport

Bananas must be transported over long distances from the tropics to world markets. To obtain
maximum shelf life, harvest comes before the fruit is mature. The fruit requires careful handling,
rapid transport to ports, cooling, and refrigerated shipping. The goal is to prevent the bananas from
producing their natural ripening agent, ethylene. This technology allows storage and transport for 3
4 weeks at 13 C (55 F). On arrival, bananas are held at about 17 C (63 F) and treated with a low
concentration of ethylene. After a few days, the fruit begins to ripen and is distributed for final sale.
Unripe bananas can not be held in home refrigerators because they suffer from the cold. [citation
needed]
Ripe bananas can be held for a few days at home. If bananas are too green, they can be put
in a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato overnight to speed up the ripening process. [69]

Carbon dioxide (which bananas produce) and ethylene absorbents extend fruit life even at high
temperatures. This effect can be exploited by packing banana in a polyethylene bag and including an
ethylene absorbent, e.g., potassium permanganate, on an inert carrier. The bag is then sealed with a
band or string. This treatment has been shown to more than double lifespans up to 34 weeks
without the need for refrigeration.[70][71][72]

Pests, diseases, and natural disasters

Banana bunches are sometimes encased in plastic bags for protection. The
bags may be coated with pesticides.
While in no danger of outright extinction, the most common edible banana cultivar Cavendish
(extremely popular in Europe and the Americas) could become unviable for large-scale cultivation in
the next 1020 years. Its predecessor 'Gros Michel', discovered in the 1820s, suffered this fate. Like
almost all bananas, Cavendish lacks genetic diversity, which makes it vulnerable to diseases,
threatening both commercial cultivation and small-scale subsistence farming. [78][79] Some
commentators remarked that those variants which could replace what much of the world considers a
"typical banana" are so different that most people would not consider them the same fruit, and blame
the decline of the banana on monogenetic cultivation driven by short-term commercial motives.[57]

Panama disease

Panama disease is caused by a fusarium soil fungus (Race 1), which enters the plants through the
roots and travels with water into the trunk and leaves, producing gels and gums that cut off the flow
of water and nutrients, causing the plant to wilt, and exposing the rest of the plant to lethal amounts
of sunlight. Prior to 1960, almost all commercial banana production centered on "Gros Michel",
which was highly susceptible.[80] Cavendish was chosen as the replacement for Gros Michel
because, among resistant cultivars, it produces the highest quality fruit. However, more care is
required for shipping the Cavendish, and its quality compared to Gros Michel is debated. [by whom?]
[citation needed]

According to current sources, a deadly form of Panama disease is infecting Cavendish. All plants are
genetically identical, which prevents evolution of disease resistance. Researchers are examining
hundreds of wild varieties for resistance.[80]

Tropical race 4
Tropical race 4 (TR4) is a reinvigorated strain of Panama disease first discovered in 1993. This
virulent form of fusarium wilt has wiped out Cavendish in several southeast Asian countries. It has
yet to reach the Americas; however, soil fungi can easily be carried on boots, clothing, or tools. This
is how TR4 travels and is its most likely route into Latin America. Cavendish is highly susceptible to
TR4, and over time, Cavendish is almost certain to be eliminated from commercial production by this
disease. The only known defense to TR4 is genetic resistance.[81]

Black sigatoka

Black sigatoka is a fungal leaf spot disease first observed in Fiji in 1963 or 1964. Black Sigatoka
(also known as black leaf streak) has spread to banana plantations throughout the tropics from
infected banana leaves that were used as packing material. It affects all main cultivars of bananas
and plantains (including the Cavendish cultivars[63]), impeding photosynthesis by blackening parts of
the leaves, eventually killing the entire leaf. Starved for energy, fruit production falls by 50% or more,
and the bananas that do grow ripen prematurely, making them unsuitable for export. The fungus has
shown ever-increasing resistance to treatment, with the current expense for treating 1 hectare (2.5
acres) exceeding $1,000 per year. In addition to the expense, there is the question of how long
intensive spraying can be environmentally justified. Several resistant cultivars of banana have been
developed, but none has yet received commercial acceptance due to taste and texture issues. [citation
needed]

In East Africa
With the arrival of black sigatoka, banana production in eastern Africa fell by over 40%. For example,
during the 1970s, Uganda produced 15 to 20 tonnes (15 to 20 long tons; 17 to 22 short tons) of
bananas per hectare. Today, production has fallen to only 6 tonnes (5.9 long tons; 6.6 short tons) per
hectare.[citation needed]

The situation has started to improve as new disease-resistant cultivars have been developed by
the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the National Agricultural Research Organisation
of Uganda (NARO), such as FHIA-17 (known in Uganda as the Kabana 3). These new cultivars taste
different from the Cabana banana, which has slowed their acceptance by local farmers. However, by
adding mulch and manure to the soil around the base of the plant, these new cultivars have
substantially increased yields in the areas where they have been tried. [citation needed]
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and NARO, funded by the Rockefeller
Foundation and CGIAR have started trials for genetically modified bananas that are resistant to both
Black sigatoka and banana weevils. It is developing cultivars specifically for smallholder and
subsistence farmers.[citation needed]

Banana bunchy top virus

Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) jumps from plant to plant using aphids. It stunts leaves, resulting in
a "bunched" appearance. Generally, an infected plant does not produce fruit, although mild strains
exist which allow some production. These mild strains are often mistaken for malnourishment, or a
disease other than BBTV. There is no cure; however, its effect can be minimized by planting
only tissue-cultured plants (in vitro propagation), controlling aphids, and immediately removing and
destroying infected plants.[citation needed]

Banana bacterial wilt

Banana bacterial wilt (BBW) is a bacterial disease caused by Xanthomonas

campestris pv. musacearum.[82] After being originally identified on a close relative of
bananas, Ensete ventricosum, in Ethiopia in the 1960s,[83] BBW occurred in Uganda in 2001
affecting all banana cultivars. Since then BBW has been diagnosed in Central and East Africa
including the banana growing regions of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, and Uganda.[84]

Nutrition

Bananas are a rich source of vitamin B6 and contain moderate amounts of vitamin
C, manganese and dietary fiber (right table).[85]

Although bananas are commonly thought to supply exceptional potassium content,[86] their actual
potassium content is relatively low per typical food serving at only 8% of the Daily Value (right table).
A compilation of potassium content in common foods consumed in the United States shows that raw
bananas rank 1,611th, supplying 358 mg of potassium per 100 g; some foods with higher potassium
content (per serving) include beans, apricots, sweet green bell peppers and potatoes.[87]

Individuals with a latex allergy may experience a reaction to bananas.[88]

Culture
Food and cooking
See also: Cooking plantain and List of banana dishes

Fruit
Bananas are a staple starch for many tropical populations. Depending upon cultivar and ripeness,
the flesh can vary in taste from starchy to sweet, and texture from firm to mushy. Both the skin and
inner part can be eaten raw or cooked. The primary component of the aroma of fresh bananas
is isoamyl acetate (also known as banana oil), which, along with several other compounds such
as butyl acetate and isobutyl acetate, is a significant contributor to banana flavor.[89][90][91]

During the ripening process, bananas produce the gas ethylene, which acts as a plant hormone and
indirectly affects the flavor. Among other things, ethylene stimulates the formation of amylase,
an enzyme that breaks down starch into sugar, influencing the taste of bananas. The greener, less
ripe bananas contain higher levels of starch and, consequently, have a "starchier" taste. On the other
hand, yellow bananas taste sweeter due to higher sugar concentrations. Furthermore, ethylene
signals the production of pectinase, an enzyme which breaks down the pectin between the cells of
the banana, causing the banana to soften as it ripens.[92][93]

Bananas are eaten deep fried, baked in their skin in a split bamboo, or steamed in glutinous
rice wrapped in a banana leaf. Bananas can be made into jam. Banana pancakes are popular
amongst backpackers and other travelers in South Asia and Southeast Asia. This has elicited the
expression Banana Pancake Trail for those places in Asia that cater to this group of
travelers. Banana chips are a snack produced from sliced dehydrated or fried banana or plantain,
which have a dark brown color and an intense banana taste. Dried bananas are also ground to
make banana flour. Extracting juice is difficult, because when a banana is compressed, it simply
turns to pulp. Bananas feature prominently in Philippine cuisine, being part of traditional dishes and
desserts like maruya, turn, and halo-halo or saba con yelo. Most of these dishes use the Saba or
Cardaba banana cultivar. Bananas are also commonly used in cuisine in the South-Indian state
of Kerala, where they are steamed (puzhungiyathu), made into curries,[94] fried into chips (upperi)
[95]
or fried in batter (pazhampori).[96]Pisang goreng, bananas fried with batter similar to the
Filipino maruya or Kerala pazhampori, is a popular dessert in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. A
similar dish is known in the United Kingdom and United States as banana fritters.

Plantains are used in various stews and curries or cooked, baked or mashed in much the same way
as potatoes, such as the Pazham Pachadi prepared in Kerala.[94]

Seeded bananas (Musa balbisiana), one of the forerunners of the common domesticated banana,
[97]
are sold in markets in Indonesia.[citation needed]

Flower

Banana hearts are used as a vegetable[98] in South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine, either raw or
steamed with dips or cooked in soups, curries and fried foods.[99] The flavor resembles that
of artichoke. As with artichokes, both the fleshy part of the bracts and the heart are edible. [100]

Leaves
Main article: Banana leaf
Banana leaves are large, flexible, and waterproof. They are often used as ecologically friendly
disposable food containers or as "plates" in South Asia and several Southeast Asian countries.
In Indonesian cuisine, banana leaf is employed in cooking method called pepes and botok; the
banana leaf packages containing food ingredients and spices are cooked on steam, in boiled water
or grilled on charcoal. In the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh and Kerala in every occasion the food must be served in a banana leaf and as a part of the
food a banana is served. Steamed with dishes they impart a subtle sweet flavor. They often serve as
a wrapping for grilling food. The leaves contain the juices, protect food from burning and add a
subtle flavor.[101] In Tamil Nadu (India) leaves are fully dried and used as packing material for food
stuffs and also making cups to hold liquid foods. In Central American countries, banana leaves are
often used as wrappers for tamales.[citation needed]

Trunk
The tender core of the banana plant's trunk is also used in South Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine,
and notably in the Burmese dish mohinga.

Fiber

Textiles
The banana plant has long been a source of fiber for high quality textiles. In Japan, banana
cultivation for clothing and household use dates back to at least the 13th century. In the Japanese
system, leaves and shoots are cut from the plant periodically to ensure softness. Harvested shoots
are first boiled in lye to prepare fibers for yarn-making. These banana shoots produce fibers of
varying degrees of softness, yielding yarns and textiles with differing qualities for specific uses. For
example, the outermost fibers of the shoots are the coarsest, and are suitable for tablecloths, while
the softest innermost fibers are desirable for kimono and kamishimo. This traditional Japanese cloth-
making process requires many steps, all performed by hand.[102]

In a Nepalese system the trunk is harvested instead, and small pieces are subjected to a softening
process, mechanical fiber extraction, bleaching and drying. After that, the fibers are sent to
the Kathmandu Valley for use in rugs with a silk-like texture. These banana fiber rugs are woven by
traditional Nepalese hand-knotting methods, and are sold RugMark certified.[citation needed]

In South Indian state of Tamil Nadu after harvesting for fruit the trunk (outer layer of the shoot) is
made into fine thread used in making of flower garlands instead of thread.[citation needed]

Paper
Main article: Banana paper
Banana fiber is used in the production of banana paper. Banana paper is made from two different
parts: the bark of the banana plant, mainly used for artistic purposes, or from the fibers of the stem
and non-usable fruits. The paper is either hand-made or by industrial process.

Cultural roles

Coconut, banana and banana leaves used while worshiping River

Kaveri at Tiruchirappalli, India.

Banana flowers and leaves for sale in the Thanin market in Chiang
Mai, Thailand.

Arts

The song "Yes! We Have No Bananas" was written by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn and
originally released in 1923; for many decades, it was the best-selling sheet music in history.
Since then the song has been rerecorded several times and has been particularly popular during
banana shortages.[103][104]

A person slipping on a banana peel has been a staple of physical comedy for generations.
An American comedy recording from 1910 features a popular character of the time, "Uncle
Josh", claiming to describe his own such incident: [105]

Now I don't think much of the man that throws a banana peelin' on the sidewalk, and I don't
think much of the banana peel that throws a man on the sidewalk neither ... my foot hit the
bananer peelin' and I went up in the air, and I come down ker-plunk, jist as I was pickin'
myself up a little boy come runnin' across the street ... he says, "Oh mister, won't you please
do that agin? My little brother didn't see you do it."
 The poet Bash is named after the Japanese word for a banana plant. The "bash" planted
in his garden by a grateful student became a source of inspiration to his poetry, as well as a
symbol of his life and home.[106]

The cover artwork for the debut album of The Velvet Underground features a banana made
by Andy Warhol. On the original vinyl LP version, the design allowed the listener to "peel"
this banana to find a pink, peeled phallic banana on the inside.[107]

Religion and popular beliefs

Nang Tani, the female ghost of Thai folklore that haunts banana plants
In Burma, bunches of green bananas surrounding a green coconut in a tray form an important
part of traditional offerings to the Buddha and the Nats.[citation needed]

In all the important festivals and occasions of Hindus, the serving of bananas plays a prominent
part. Traditionally in Tamil marriages, banana plants are tied on both sides of the entrance of
houses to bless the newlyweds to be useful to each other.[citation needed] The banana is one of three
fruits with this significance, the others being mango and jack fruit.[citation needed]

In Thailand, it is believed that a certain type of banana plants may be inhabited by a spirit, Nang
Tani, a type of ghost related to trees and similar plants that manifests itself as a young woman.
[108]
Often people tie a length of colored satin cloth around the pseudostem of the banana plants.
[109]

In Malay folklore, the ghost known as Pontianak is associated with banana plants (pokok
pisang), and its spirit is said to reside in them during the day.[110]

Unicode
The Unicode standard includes the emoji character U+1F34C BANANA (HTML 🍌 ).
[111]

Other uses

The large leaves may be used as umbrellas.[101]

Banana peel may have capability to extract heavy metal contamination from river water,
similar to other purification materials.[112][113] In 2007, banana peel powder was tested as a
means of filtration for heavy metals and radionuclides occurring in water produced by the
nuclear and fertilizer industries (cadmium contaminant is present in phosphates). When
added and thoroughly mixed for 40 minutes, the powder can remove roughly 65% of heavy
metals, and this can be repeated.
Mango
Mangoes are juicy stone fruit (drupe) from numerous species of
tropical trees belonging to the flowering plant genus Mangifera,
cultivated mostly for their edible fruit. The majority of these species
are found in nature as wild mangoes. The genus belongs to
the cashew family Anacardiaceae. Mangoes are native to South Asia,[2]
[3]
from where the "common mango" or "Indian mango", Mangifera
indica, has been distributed worldwide to become one of the most
widely cultivated fruits in the tropics. Other Mangifera species (e.g.
horse mango, Mangifera foetida) are also grown on a more localized
basis.

It is the national fruit of India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, and

the national tree of Bangladesh.[4]

Description

Mango trees grow to 3540 m (115131 ft) tall, with a crown radius of
10 m (33 ft). The trees are long-lived, as some specimens still fruit
after 300 years.[5] In deep soil, the taproot descends to a depth of 6 m
(20 ft), with profuse, wide-spreading feeder roots; the tree also sends
down many anchor roots, which penetrate several feet of soil.
The leaves are evergreen, alternate, simple, 1535 cm (5.913.8 in)
long, and 616 cm (2.46.3 in) broad; when the leaves are young they
are orange-pink, rapidly changing to a dark, glossy red, then dark
green as they mature. The flowers are produced in
terminal panicles 1040 cm (3.915.7 in) long; each flower is small
and white with five petals 510 mm (0.200.39 in) long, with a mild,
sweet odor suggestive of lily of the valley. Over 400 varieties of
mangoes are known, many of which ripen in summer, while some give
double crop.[6] The fruit takes three to six months to ripen.
The ripe fruit varies in size and color. Cultivars are variously yellow,
orange, red, or green, and carry a single flat, oblong pit that can
be fibrous or hairy on the surface, and which does not separate easily
from the pulp. Ripe, unpeeled mangoes give off a distinctive resinous,
sweet smell. Inside the pit 12 mm (0.0390.079 in) thick is a thin
lining covering a single seed, 47 cm (1.62.8 in) long. The seed
contains the plant embryo. Mangoes have recalcitrant seeds; they do
not survive freezing and drying.[7]

Etymology[edit]

The mango illustrated by Michael Boym in the 1656 book Flora Sinensis.

The English word "mango" (plural "mangoes" or "mangos") originated

from the Malayalam word ma via Portuguese (also manga) during
spice trade with Kerala in 1498.[8][9] The word's first recorded attestation
in a European language was a text by Ludovico di Varthema in Italian
in 1510, as manga; the first recorded occurrences in languages such
as French and postclassical Latin appear to be translations from this
Italian text. The origin of the "-o" ending in English is unclear.[10] Mango
is also mentioned by Hendrik van Rheede, the Dutch commander of
Malabar (Northern Kerala) in his book Hortus Malabaricus, a
compendium of the plants of economic and medical value in the
Malabar, published in 1678.[11] When mangoes were first imported to
the American colonies in the 17th century, they had to
be pickled because of lack of refrigeration. Other fruits were also
pickled and came to be called "mangoes", especially bell peppers, and
by the 18th century, the word "mango" became a verb meaning "to
pickle".[12] In Mandarin Chinese, mango is "", or "mnggu"
in Pinyin. This is most likely a loanword from English.[citation needed]

Cultivation[edit]

Mirpur Khas Sindh is famous for Sindhri Mango

Close-up of the inflorescence and immature fruits of an 'Alphonso' mango tree

Mangoes have been cultivated in South Asia for thousands of years

and reached Southeast Asia between the fifth and fourth centuries
BCE. By the 10th century CE, cultivation had begun in East Africa.
[13]
The 14th-century Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta reported it
at Mogadishu.[14] Cultivation came later to Brazil, Bermuda, the West
Indies, and Mexico, where an appropriate climate allows its growth. [13]

The mango is now cultivated in most frost-free tropical and warmer

subtropical climates; almost half of the world's mangoes are cultivated
in India alone, with the second-largest source being China.[15][16]
[17]
Mangoes are also grown in Andalusia, Spain (mainly in Mlaga
province), as its coastal subtropical climate is one of the few places in
mainland Europe that permits the growth of tropical plants and fruit
trees. The Canary Islands are another notable Spanish producer of
the fruit. Other cultivators include North America (in South Florida and
California's Coachella Valley), South and Central America,
the Caribbean, Hawai'i, south, west, and
central Africa, Australia, China, South Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
and Southeast Asia. Though India is the largest producer of mangoes,
it accounts for less than 1% of the international mango trade; India
consumes most of its own production.[18][19][20]

Many commercial cultivars are grafted on to the cold-hardy rootstock

of Gomera-1 mango cultivar, originally from Cuba. Its root system is
well adapted to a coastal Mediterranean climate. [21] Many of the 1,000+
mango cultivars are easily cultivated using grafted saplings, ranging
from the "turpentine mango" (named for its strong taste
of turpentine[22]) to the huevos de toro.[citation needed] Dwarf or semidwarf
varieties serve as ornamental plants and can be grown in containers.
A wide variety of diseases can afflict mangoes.

Cultivars[edit]
Main article: List of mango cultivars
'Alphonso' mangoes named after Afonso de Albuquerque, who introduced the
fruit to Goa

There are many hundreds of named mango cultivars. In

mango orchards, several cultivars are often grown in order to improve
pollination. Many desired cultivars are monoembryonic and must be
propagated by grafting or they do not breed true. A common
monoembryonic cultivar is 'Alphonso', an important export product,
considered as "the king of mangoes".[23]

Cultivars that excel in one climate may fail elsewhere. For example,
Indian cultivars such as 'Julie', a prolific cultivar in Jamaica, require
annual fungicide treatments to escape the lethal fungal
disease anthracnose in Florida. Asian mangoes are resistant to
anthracnose.

The current world market is dominated by the cultivar 'Tommy Atkins',

a seedling of 'Haden' that first fruited in 1940 in southern Florida and
was initially rejected commercially by Florida researchers.[24] Growers
and importers worldwide have embraced the cultivar for its excellent
productivity and disease resistance, shelf life, transportability, size,
and appealing color.[25] Although the Tommy Atkins cultivar is
commercially successful, other cultivars may be preferred by
consumers for eating pleasure, such as Alphonso.[23][25]
Generally, ripe mangoes have an orange-yellow or reddish peel and
are juicy for eating, while exported fruit are often picked while
underripe with green peels. Although producing ethylene while
ripening, unripened exported mangoes do not have the same juiciness
or flavor as fresh fruit.

Like other drupaceous fruits, mangoes occur in both freestone and

clingstone varieties

Production[edit]

In 2013, world production of mangoes (data

including mangosteens and guavas) was nearly 43 million tonnes, with
India accounting for 42% (18 million tonnes) of the total (table).
[26]
China and Thailand were the next largest producers (table).

Food[edit]

Mangoes are generally sweet, although the taste and texture of the
flesh varies across cultivars; some have a soft, pulpy texture similar to
an overripe plum, while others are firmer, like
a cantaloupe or avocado, and some may have a fibrous texture. The
skin of unripe, pickled, or cooked mango can be consumed, but has
the potential to cause contact dermatitis of the lips, gingiva, or tongue
in susceptible people.
Cuisine[edit]

A glass of mango juice

Mangoes are widely used in cuisine. Sour, unripe mangoes are used
in chutneys, athanu, pickles,[27] side dishes, or may be eaten raw
with salt, chili, or soy sauce. A summer drink called aam panna comes
from mangoes. Mango pulp made into jelly or cooked with red
gram dhal and green chillies may be served with cooked rice. Mango
lassi is popular throughout South Asia,[28] prepared by mixing ripe
mangoes or mango pulp with buttermilk and sugar. Ripe mangoes are
also used to make curries. Aamras is a popular thick juice made of
mangoes with sugar or milk, and is consumed with chapatis or pooris.
The pulp from ripe mangoes is also used to make jam
called mangada. Andhra aavakaaya is a pickle made from raw, unripe,
pulpy, and sour mango, mixed with chili
powder, fenugreek seeds, mustard powder, salt, and groundnut oil.
Mango is also used in Andhra to
make dahl preparations. Gujaratis use mango to make chunda (a
spicy, grated mango delicacy).

Mangoes are used to make murabba (fruit preserves), muramba (a

sweet, grated mango delicacy), amchur (dried and powdered unripe
mango), and pickles, including a spicy mustard-oil pickle and alcohol.
Ripe mangoes are often cut into thin layers, desiccated, folded, and
then cut. These bars are similar to dried guava fruit bars available in
some countries. The fruit is also added to cereal products such
as muesli and oat granola. Mangoes are often prepared charred in
Hawaii.

Unripe mango may be eaten with bagoong (especially in

the Philippines), fish sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, or with dash of salt
(plain or spicy). Dried strips of sweet, ripe mango (sometimes
combined with seedless tamarind to form mangorind) are also popular.
Mangoes may be used to make juices, mango nectar, and as a
flavoring and major ingredient in ice cream and sorbetes.

Mango is used to make juices, smoothies, ice cream, fruit

bars, raspados, aguas frescas, pies, and sweet chili sauce, or mixed
with chamoy, a sweet and spicy chili paste. It is popular on a stick
dipped in hot chili powder and salt or as a main ingredient in fresh fruit
combinations. In Central America, mango is either eaten green mixed
with salt, vinegar, black pepper, and hot sauce, or ripe in various
forms. Toasted and ground pumpkin seed (pepita) with lime and salt
are eaten with green mangoes.[citation needed]

Pieces of mango can be mashed and used as a topping on ice cream

or blended with milk and ice as milkshakes. Sweet glutinous rice is
flavored with coconut, then served with sliced mango as a dessert. In
other parts of Southeast Asia, mangoes are pickled with fish
sauce and rice vinegar. Green mangoes can be used in mango salad
with fish sauce and dried shrimp. Mango with condensed milk may be
used as a topping for shaved ice.

Food constituents

Nutrients[edit]
The energy value per 100 g (3.5 oz) serving of the common mango is
250 kJ (60 kcal), and that of the apple mango is slightly higher (330 kJ
(79 kcal) per 100 g). Fresh mango contains a variety of nutrients (right
table), but only vitamin C and folate are in significant amounts of
the Daily Value as 44% and 11%, respectively.[29][30]

Phytochemicals[edit]

Numerous phytochemicals are present in mango peel and pulp, such

as the triterpene, lupeol which is under basic research for its potential
biological effects.[31] An extract of mango branch bark called Vimang,
containing numerous polyphenols,[32] has been studied in elderly
humans.[33]

Mango peel pigments under study include carotenoids, such as

the provitamin A compound, beta-carotene, lutein and alpha-carotene,
[34][35]
and polyphenols, such as quercetin, kaempferol, gallic
acid, caffeic acid, catechins and tannins.[36][37] Mango contains a
unique xanthonoid called mangiferin.[38]

Phytochemical and nutrient content appears to vary across

mango cultivars.[39]Up to 25 different carotenoids have been isolated
from mango pulp, the densest of which was beta-carotene, which
accounts for the yellow-orange pigmentation of most mango cultivars.
[40]
Mango leaves also have significant polyphenol content,
including xanthonoids, mangiferin and gallic acid.[41]

The pigment euxanthin, known as Indian yellow, is often thought to be

produced from the urine of cattle fed mango leaves; the practice is
described as having been outlawed in 1908 because of malnutrition of
the cattle and possible urushiol poisoning.[42] This supposed origin of
euxanthin appears to rely on a single, anecdotal source, and Indian
legal records do not outlaw such a practice.[43]
Flavor

The flavor of mango fruits is constituted by several volatile organic

chemicals mainly belonging to terpene, furanone, lactone,
and ester classes. Different varieties or cultivars of mangoes can have
flavor made up of different volatile chemicals or same volatile
chemicals in different quantities.[44][45] In general, New World mango
cultivars are characterized by the dominance of -3-carene, a
monoterpene flavorant; whereas, high concentration of other
monoterpenes such as (Z)-ocimene and myrcene, as well as the
presence of lactones and furanones, is the unique feature of Old
World cultivars.[45][46][47] In India, 'Alphonso' is one of the most popular
cultivars. In 'Alphonso' mango, the lactones and furanones are
synthesized during ripening; whereas terpenes and the other
flavorants are present in both the developing (immature) and ripening
fruits.[48][49][50][51] Ethylene, a ripening-related hormone well known to be
involved in ripening of mango fruits, causes changes in the flavor
composition of mango fruits upon exogenous application, as well. [52]
[53]
In contrast to the huge amount of information available on the
chemical composition of mango flavor, the biosynthesis of these
chemicals has not been studied in depth; only a handful of genes
encoding the enzymes of flavor biosynthetic pathways have been
characterized to date.[54][55][56][57]

Potential for contact dermatitis[edit]

Contact with oils in mango leaves, stems, sap, and skin can
cause dermatitis and anaphylaxis in susceptible individuals.[58] Those
with a history of contact dermatitis induced by urushiol (an allergen
found in poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac) may be most at risk
for mango contact dermatitis.[59] Cross-reactions may occur between
mango allergens and urushiol.[60] During the primary ripening season of
mangoes, contact with mango plant parts is the most common cause
of plant dermatitis in Hawaii.[61] However, sensitized individuals are still
able to safely eat peeled mangos or drink mango juice. [61]

Cultural significance

The mango is the national fruit of India,[62][63] Pakistan, and the

Philippines. It is also the national tree of Bangladesh.[64][65] In India,
harvest and sale of mangoes is during MarchMay and this is annually
covered by news agencies.[23]

The Mughal emperor Akbar (15561605 CE) is said to have planted a

mango orchard having 100,000 trees in Darbhanga, eastern India.
[66]
The Jain goddess Ambika is traditionally represented as sitting
under a mango tree.[67] In Hinduism, the perfectly ripe mango is often
held by Lord Ganesha as a symbol of attainment, regarding the
devotees' potential perfection. Mango blossoms are also used in the
worship of the goddess Saraswati. No Telugu/Kannada New Year's
Day called Ugadi passes without eating ugadi pachadi made with
mango pieces as one of the ingredients.

Dried mango skin and its seeds are also used in Ayurvedic medicines.
[27]
Mango leaves are used to decorate archways and doors in Indian
houses and during weddings and celebrations such as Ganesh
Chaturthi. Mango motifs and paisleys are widely used in different
Indian embroidery styles, and are found
in Kashmiri shawls, Kanchipuram silk sarees, etc. Paisleys are also
common to Iranian art, because of its pre-Islamic Zoroastrian past.

In Andhra Pradesh, mango leaves are considered auspicious and

used to decorated front doors during festivals.

In Tamil Nadu, the mango is referred to as one of the three royal fruits,
along with banana and jackfruit, for their sweetness and flavor.[68] This
triad of fruits is referred to as ma-pala-vazhai.
Fruit drinks that include mango are popular in India, with brands such
as Frooti, Maaza, and Slice. These leading brands include sugar and
artificial flavors, so they do not qualify as "juice" under Food Safety
and Standards Authority of India regulations.[69]

In the West Indies, the expression "to go mango walk" means to steal
another person's mango fruits. This is celebrated in the famous song,
"The Mango Walk".

In Australia, the first tray of mangoes of the season is traditionally sold

at an auction for charity.[70]

The classical Sanskrit poet Klidsa sang the praises of mangoes.[71]

Mangoes, although they were almost unheard of in China before, were

popularized during the Cultural Revolution as symbols of
Chairman Mao Zedong's love for the people.[72]
Bargad (Banyan)
A banyan, also spelled "banian",[1] is a fig that begins its life as
an epiphyte,[2] i. e. a plant that grows on another plant, when
its seed germinates in a crack or crevice of a host tree or human
edifice. "Banyan" often specifically denominates Ficus
benghalensis (the "Indian banyan"), which is the national tree of
the Republic of India,[3] though the name also has been generalized to
denominate all figs that share a common life cycle and
used systematically in taxonomy to denominate
the subgenus Urostigma.[4]

Like other fig species, including the common edible fig Ficus carica,
banyans bear multiple fruit in structures denominated "syncarps. The
syncarp of Ficus species supplies shelter and food for fig wasps and,
in turn, the trees are totally dependent on the fig wasps for pollination.

Frugivore birds disperse the seeds of banyans. The seeds are small,
and because most banyans grow in woodlands, a seedling that
germinates on the ground is unlikely to survive. However, many seeds
fall on the branches and stems of other trees or on human edifices,
and when they germinate they grow roots down toward the ground
and consequently may envelop part of the host tree or edifice. For this
reason banyans bear the colloquial name "strangler fig". A number of
tropical banyan species that compete for sunlight, especially of the
genus Ficus, exhibit this strangling habit.[5][6][page needed][7]

The leaves of the banyan tree are large, leathery, glossy, green, and
elliptical. Like most figs, the leaf bud is covered by two large scales.
As the leaf develops the scales abscise. Young leaves have an
attractive reddish tinge.[8]
Older banyan trees are characterized by aerial prop roots that mature
into thick, woody trunks, which can become indistinguishable from the
primary trunk with age. Old trees can spread laterally by using these
prop roots to grow over a wide area. In some species, the prop roots
develop over a considerable area that resembles a grove of trees, with
every trunk connected directly or indirectly to the primary trunk. The
topology of this massive root system inspired the name of
the hierarchical computer network operating system "Banyan VINES".

In a banyan that envelops its host tree, the mesh of roots growing
around the latter eventually applies considerable pressure to and
commonly kills it. Such an enveloped, dead tree eventually
decomposes, so that the banyan becomes a "columnar tree" with a
hollow, central core. In jungles, such hollows are very desirable
shelters to many animals.

Etymology[edit]

The name was originally given to F. benghalensis and comes from

India, where early travellers observed that the shade of the tree was
frequented by banias or Indian traders.[9][page needed]

In the Gujarati language, banya means "grocer or merchant", not

"tree". The Portuguese picked up the word to refer specifically to
Hindu merchants, and passed it along to the English as early as 1599
with the same meaning. By 1634, English writers began to tell of the
banyan tree, a tree under which Hindu merchants conducted their
business. The tree provided a shaded place for a village meeting or
for merchants to sell their goods. Eventually, "banyan" became the
name of the tree itself.
Classification[edit]

The original banyan, F. benghalensis, can grow into a giant tree

covering several hectares. Over time, the name became generalized
to all strangler figs of the Urostigma subgenus. The many banyan
species include:

Ficus microcarpa, which is native from Sri Lanka through New

Caledonia, is a significant invasive species elsewhere.

The Central American banyan (Ficus pertusa) is native to Central

America and northern South America, from southern Mexico south
to Paraguay.

The shortleaf fig (Ficus citrifolia) is native to southern Florida,

the Caribbean Islands, Central America, and South America south
to Paraguay. One theory is that the Portuguese name for F.
citrofolia, os barbados, gave Barbados its name.

The Florida strangler fig (Ficus aurea) is also native to southern

Florida and the Caribbean Islands, and distinguished from the
above by its coarser leaf venation.

The Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla) and Port Jackson

fig (Ficus rubiginosa) are other related species.
In horticulture[edit]

Early stages of a strangler fig on a host tree in the Western Ghats, India

Looking upward inside a strangler fig where the host tree has rotted away,
leaving a hollow, columnar tree

Due to the complex structure of the roots and extensive branching, the
banyan is used as a subject specimen in penjing and bonsai. The
oldest, living bonsai in Taiwan is a 240-year-old banyan tree housed
in Tainan.[10]

In culture[edit]
Religion and mythology[edit]

Banyan trees figure prominently in several Asian and Pacific religions

and myths, including:
 The banyan tree is the national tree of India. It is also called
Indian or Bengal fig. This tree is considered sacred in India and can
be seen near a temple or religious center. It is a big tree and gives
shade to travelers in very hot summer months. An old custom offers
worship to this tree.

In Hinduism, the leaf of the banyan tree is said to be the resting

place for the god Krishna.
In the Bhagavat Gita, Krishna said, "There is a banyan tree
which has its roots upward and its branches down, and the Vedic
hymns are its leaves. One who knows this tree is the knower of
the Vedas." (Bg 15.1) Here the material world is described as a
tree whose roots are upwards and branches are below. We have
experience of a tree whose roots are upward: if one stands on
the bank of a river or any reservoir of water, he can see that the
trees reflected in the water are upside down. The branches go
downward and the roots upward. Similarly, this material world is
a reflection of the spiritual world. The material world is but a
shadow of reality. In the shadow there is no reality or
substantiality, but from the shadow we can understand that there
is substance and reality.
The banyan tree is also considered sacred and is called vat
vriksha (IAST vata vrks ) in Sanskrit, in Telugu known as:
a,
; marri chettu, and in Tamil known as: ' ' ; ala

maram. The god Shiva as Dakshinamurthy is nearly always
depicted sitting in silence under the banyan with rishis at his feet.
It is thought of as perfectly symbolizing eternal life due to its
seemingly unending expansion.

In spoken Marathi, the tree is known as vad (), derived

from the original Sanksrit word vata for the tree. Married
Marathi women observe a fast called Vat Savitri Vrat for the
well-being and long life of their husband. Tying a thread
 around the banyan or vat tree is an important part of the
ritual.[11][self-published source]

In modern parlance in the Hindi language, it is known

as bargad, vatavriksh, and barh.

In Buddhism's Pali canon, the banyan (Pali: nigrodha)[12] is

referenced numerous times.[13] Typical metaphors allude to the
banyan's epiphytic nature, likening the banyan's supplanting
of a host tree as comparable to the way sensual desire
(kma) overcomes humans.[14]

The Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees () are banyan, and

are a popular shrine in Hong Kong. They are located near
the Tin Hau Temple in Lam Tsuen.

In many stories of Philippine mythology, the banyan (locally

known as balete or balite) is said to be home to a variety of
spirits (diwata and engkanto) and demon-like creatures
(among the Visayans, specifically, the dili ingon nato,
meaning "those not like us"). Maligno (evil spirits, from
Spanish for 'malign') associated with it include the kapre (a
giant), duwende (dwarves), and the tikbalang (a creature
whose top half is a horse and whose bottom half is human). [15]
[self-published source]
Children at a young age are taught never to point at
a fully mature banyan tree for fear of offending the spirits that
dwell within them, most especially when they are new to the
place. Filipinos always uttered a respectful word or two to the
spirits in the banyan tree when they are near one, walking
near or around it to avoid any harm. Nearly every Filipino
believes that provoking the spirits in a banyan tree can cause
one great harm, illness, misfortune, untold suffering, and
death.

In Guam, the Chamorro people believe in tales

of taotaomona, duendes, and other spirits. Taotaomona are
 spirits of the ancient Chamorro that act as guardians to
banyan trees.[16]
Notable specimens[edit]

Thimmamma Marrimanu

Large banyan tree in Punjab, Pakistan

Thimmamma Marrimanu is a banyan tree in Anantapur,

located circa 35 km from town Kadiri in the state of Andhra
Pradesh, India. It is present in the Indian Botanical Gardens
and is more than 200 years old. It is reported to be the
world's biggest tree with a canopy of 19,107 m2. Its branches
spreads over 8 acres, hence it was recorded as the biggest
tree in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1989.

One of the largest trees, the Great Banyan is found

in Kolkata, India. It is said to be more than 250 years old.

Another such tree, Dodda Alahda Mara, is found in the

outskirts of Bangalore, India; it has a spread of circa 2.5
acres.[17]
 One of the most famous banyan trees, Kabirvad was planted
on an island in a river in Bharuch, Gujarat, India. Records
show that Kabirvad is more than 300 years old.

Maui, Hawaii has a banyan tree planted by William Owen

Smith in 1873 in Lahaina's Courthouse Square. It has grown
to cover two-thirds of an acre.[17]

In rural parts of India, many villages and towns have a traffic

circle and a community gathering place around a big banyan
tree. At night, many people come to sit, relax, and chat
around it. Usually, a small deity is placed and worshipped at
its foot.[citation needed]

Ta Prohm in the Angkor Wat temple complex

in Cambodia boasts giant banyans growing around and
through its walls.

Several banyans grow near downtown Hilo, Hawaii, United

States. Some of them were planted by celebrities in the 20th
century and form Banyan Drive.

Banyans occur in areas of Australia such as the Daintree

Rainforest in Tropical North Queensland. Well known is
the Curtain Fig Tree on the Atherton Tablelands.

Thomas A. Edison planted the first banyan tree in the

continental United States in Fort Myers, Florida, in an attempt
with Henry Ford to find a more cost-effective way to produce
rubber for car tires. The tree, originally only 4 feet (1.2 m) tall,
now covers one acre of the estate.

One large banyan tree, Kalpabata, is inside the premises

of Jagannath Temple in Puri. It is considered sacred by the
devotees and is supposed to be more than 500 years old. [18]
 A large banyan tree lives in Cypress Gardens, at the
Legoland theme park located in Winter Haven, Florida. It was
planted in 1939 in a 5-gallon bucket.[19]
Other[edit]

The coat of arms of Indonesia

The banyan is part of the coat of arms of Indonesia. It is

meant to symbolize the unity of Indonesia - one country with
many far-flung roots. As a giant tree, it also symbolizes
power. Soeharto used it as a logo for his party, the Golongan
Karya (Golkar), taking advantage of the deeply rooted belief
of his fellow-countrymen and women in the sacred (sakti)
nature of the banyan.

The Economist magazine features an opinion column

covering topics pertaining to Asia named "Banyan".[20]

In southern Vanuatu, the clearings under banyan trees are

used as traditional meeting places. The quarterly newsletter
of the British Friends of Vanuatu Society is named Nabanga,
after the local word for banyan.[21]

The Banyan Tree is the name of one of the most fiendishly

difficult rooms in the 1984 ZX Spectrum game Jet Set Willy.[22]
Bael (Aegle marmelos)
Aegle marmelos, commonly known as bael (or bili[1] or bhel[2]),
also Bengal quince,[3] golden apple,[3] Japanese bitter orange,[4] stone
apple, or wood apple, is a species of tree native
to Bangladesh and India. It is present throughout Southeast Asia as
a naturalized species.[5] The tree is considered to be sacred by Hindus.
Its fruits are used in traditional medicine and as a food throughout its
range.[

Botanical information
Phylogeny and anatomy[edit]

Bael is the only member of the monotypic genus Aegle.[5] It is a

deciduous shrub or small to medium sized tree, up to 13m tall with
slender drooping branches and rather shabby crown.[6]

Bark[edit]

The bark is pale brown or grayish, smooth or finely fissured and

flaking, armed with long straight spines, 1.2-2.5 cm singly or in pairs,
often with slimy sap oozing out from cut parts. The gum is also
described as a clear, gummy sap, resembling gum arabic, which
exudes from wounded branches and hangs down in long strands,
becoming gradually solid. It is sweet at first taste and then irritating to
the throat.[7]

Leaf[edit]

The leaf is trifoliate, alternate, each leaflet 5-14 x 26 cm, ovate with
tapering or pointed tip and rounded base, untoothed or with shallow
rounded teeth. Young leaves are pale green or pinkish, finely hairy
while mature leaves are dark green and completely smooth. Each leaf
has 4-12 pairs of side veins which are joined at margin. The end
leaflet features a long stalk, 0.53 cm while side stalks are typically
shorter than 0.2 cm.[citation needed]

Flower[edit]

The flowers are 1.5 to 2 cm, pale green or yellowish, sweetly scented,
bisexual, in short drooping unbranched clusters at the end of twigs
and leaf axils. They usually appear with young leaves. The calyx is flat
with 4(5) small teeth. The four or five petals of 68 mm overlap in the
bud. Many stamens have short filaments and pale brown, short style
anthers. The ovary is bright green with inconspicuous disc.

Fruit[edit]

A ripe bael fruit in India

Bael fruit

The bael fruit typically has a diameter of between 5 and 12 cm. It is

globose or slightly pear-shaped with a thick, hard rind and is not
splitting upon ripening. The woody shell is smooth and green, gray
until it is fully ripe when it turns yellow. Inside are 8 to 15 or 20
sections filled with aromatic orange pulp, each section with 6 (8) to 10
(15) flattened-oblong seeds each about 1 cm long, bearing woolly
hairs and each enclosed in a sac of adhesive, transparent mucilage
that solidifies on drying. The exact number of seeds varies in different
publications.

It takes about 11 months to ripen on the tree and can reach the size of
a large grapefruit or pomelo, and some are even larger. The shell is so
hard it must be cracked with a hammer or machete. The fibrous yellow
pulp is very aromatic. It has been described as tasting
of marmalade and smelling of roses. Boning (2006) indicates that the
flavor is "sweet, aromatic and pleasant, although tangy and slightly
astringent in some varieties. It resembles a marmalade made, in part,
with citrus and, in part, with tamarind."[8] Numerous hairy seeds are
encapsulated in a slimy mucilage.

Range and ecology

Bael is a native of India and is found widely in Asia, in northern,
central, eastern and southern parts of India, as well as in Sri
Lanka, Pakistan, southern Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Burma, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.[citation needed] It
is widely found in Indian Siva temples.[citation needed] It occurs in dry,
open forests on hills and plains.[citation needed] at altitudes from sea level to
around 1200m with mean annual rainfall of 570-2,000 mm.[7] It is
cultivated throughout India, as well as in Sri Lanka, the northern Malay
Peninsula, Java, Timor Leste, the Philippines, and Fiji. It has a
reputation in India for being able to grow in places that other trees
cannot. It copes with a wide range of soil conditions (pH range 5-10),
is tolerant of waterlogging and has an unusually wide temperature
tolerance (from -7 C to 48 C). It requires a pronounced dry season to
give fruit.

This tree is a larval foodplant for the following two

Indian Swallowtail butterflies, the Lime butterfly Papilio demoleus, and
the Common Mormon: Papilio polytes.

Food uses
The fruits can be eaten either freshly from trees or after being dried. If
fresh, the juice is strained and sweetened to make a drink similar
to lemonade. It can be made into sharbat (Hindi/Urdu) or Bela
pana (Odia: ), a very popular summer drink in almost every
household. The Drink is especially significant on the Odiya New Year
(Pana Sankranti) which is in April. Bela Pana made in Odisha has
fresh cheese, milk, water, fruit pulp, sugar, crushed black pepper, and

ice. Bl pana (Bengali: ), a drink made of the pulp with water,

sugar, and citron juice, mixed, left to stand a few hours, strained, and
put on ice. One large bl fruit may yield five or six liters of sharbat. If
the fruit is to be dried, it is usually sliced and sun-dried. The hard
leathery slices are then immersed in water. The leaves and
small shoots are eaten as salad greens.

Chemical compounds
Aeglemarmelosine[edit]

LAPHOOKHIEO, Surat et al. reported the isolation of

Aeglemarmelosine molecular formula C16H15NO2 []27D+7.89 (c 0.20,
CHCl3) as an orange viscous oil.[
Aegeline and nonviral hepatitis

Aegeline (N-[2-hydroxy-2(4-methoxyphenyl) ethyl]-3-phenyl-2-

propenamide) is a known constituent of the bael leaf and consumed
as a dietary supplement for a variety of purposes.[10][11][12][13] In 2013, the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), other federal regulators,
and local health officials, investigated an outbreak of 97 persons with
acute nonviral hepatitis that first emerged in Hawaii. Seventy-two of
these persons had reported using the dietary supplement OxyElite
Pro, produced by USPlabs.[14] FDA had previously taken action against
an earlier formulation of OxyElite Pro because it
contained dimethylamylamine (DMAA), a stimulant that FDA had
determined to be an adulterant when included in dietary supplements
and that they determined can cause high blood pressure and lead to
heart attacks, seizures, psychiatric disorders, and death. [15] USPlabs
subsequently reformulated this product and another product called
VERSA-1 by replacing DMAA with aegeline, without informing FDA or
submitting the required safety data for a new dietary ingredient. [15]

Doctors at the Liver Center at The Queen's Medical

Center investigating the first cases in Hawai'i reported that between
May and September 2013, eight previously healthy individuals
presented themselves at their center suffering with drug-induced liver
injury.[16] All of these patients had been using the reformulated
OxyELITE Pro, which they had purchased from a variety of sources,
and which had different lot numbers and expiration dates, at doses
within the manufacturer's recommendation.[16] Three of these patients
developed fulminant liver failure, two underwent urgent liver
transplantation, and one died.[16] The number of such cases would
ultimately rise to 43 in Hawai'i.[15][16] In January 2014, leaders from the
Queen's Liver Center informed state lawmakers that they were almost
certain that aegeline was the agent responsible for these cases. [17]
On November 17, 2015, FDA announced that the U.S. Department of
Justice was criminally charging USPlabs and several of its corporate
affiliates and officers with eleven counts of charges related to the sale
of those products.[18] The charges surrounded an alleged conspiracy to
import ingredients from China using false certificates of analysis and
labeling, and lying about the ingredients' source and nature after
inclusion in their products.[18] The various defendants surrendered or
were apprehended by the United States Marshals Service, and FDA
and special agents from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service seized
assets including investment accounts, real estate, and luxury and
sports cars.[18] This capped a yearlong sweep of potentially unsafe or
tainted supplements that resulted in civil injunctions and criminal
actions against 117 manufacturers and/or distributors of dietary
supplements and products falsely marketed as such but containing
banned or unauthorized ingredients.[18] The research on this topic is
still not conclusive though as traditional medicine sciences suggest
that its alleviates High blood pressure and helps in improving heart
conditions. More research is still being done.

Religious significance
Hinduism

Besides medicinal use, the plant and its leaves and fruit are of
religious importance. For instance, in Hinduism, the leaves of the plant
are being offered to Gods as part of prayers.[19][20] The tree is in fact
regarded as one of the sacred trees of Indian heritage. [21] As such, the
fruit is used in religious rituals. For instance, in Hinduism the tree is
sacred,[citation needed] and many Hindus have bael trees in their gardens.[citation
needed]
It is used in the worship of Shiva, who is said to favour the leaves,
where the tri-foliate form of leaves symbolize the trident that Shiva
holds in his right hand.[citation needed] The fruits were used in place
of coconuts before large-scale rail transportation became available,
and is said to resemble a skull with a white, bone-like outer shell and a
soft inner part, so it is sometimes called "seer phael" (head-fruit). [according
to whom?][citation needed]
However, it is quite likely that this term was coined from
the Sanskrit term "ShreePhala",[according to whom?][speculation?] which is a common
name for this fruit.[citation needed] The Shree Suktam of the RigVeda refers to
it as being the tree associated with Lakshmi,[citation needed]which could also
be the reason why it is called 'ShreePhala'.[speculation?][citation
needed]
The RigVeda states:

... tava vrikshotha bilvah / tasya phalaani tapasaa nudantu

maayaantraayaashcha baahyaa alakshmih.[this quote needs a citation] [... and your
tree is bilva / may the fruits of that do away with poverty in me,
spiritual and material, both within and without.][citation needed]

The hymn is in praise of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth,

beauty and all things auspicious.

Traditional Newari practices

In the traditional practice of the HIndu and Buddhist religions
by Newari culture of Nepal, the bael tree is part of a fertility ritual
for girls known as the Bel baha. Girls are "married" to the bael fruit; as
long as the fruit is kept safe and never cracks, the girl can never
become widowed, even if her human husband dies. This is seen to be
protection against the social disdain suffered by widows in the Newari
community
Amla Lakshmis Tree

The intelligence of the universe expresses itself through sacred

and medicinal plants. India has always had the unique
advantage of possessing a wide range of climatic, geographical
and geological conditions wherein an infinite variety of these
rare and precious herbs and trees could flourish. The medicinal,
culinary, cosmetic, aromatic and sacred applications of these
plants were well known to Ayurvedic practitioners, and they are
still of immense benefit to us today.

Swami Sivananda writes, The greater part of Ayurvedic

treatment is by medicinal herbs, which form its mainstay. The
study of these herbs and their characteristics by the ancient
seers is minute and thoroughly scientific. This is evidenced by
their scholarly treatises, which give the results of their
research. The fact that these herbal medicines continue to be
widely used with remarkable success even up to the present
day by quite modern Ayurvedic medical practitioners all over
India is a patent proof, beyond any doubt, of the high and
enduring merits of this system of therapeutics. If we can learn
more about the mysteries of the plants that are all around us,
it will greatly enrich our lives.

Renaissance of Ayurvedic science

The high development and specialization of herbal medicine in
India is a direct outcome of her vastness and fertility.
Thousands of years ago Indias great sages established
Ayurveda with the purpose of alleviating human suffering on all
levels of existence. They saw illness and health as part of an
interlocking whole body, mind and spirit that must be
treated as one inseparable unit. For medicines and treatments,
they looked to the natural world around them, to the plants
used by the earliest forest tribes. Today the Indian government
has opened laboratories for the clinical testing of Ayurvedas
medicinal plants. Indian forestry departments are studying and
growing these plants in scientific conditions, advised by the
forest dwellers, whose ancestors cultivated forest plants. The
countrys botanical gardens are creating and preserving Indian
herbaria, so that Ayurvedic doctors have a constant source of
healing plants.

Modern science still extracts most of its medicines from plants,

yet sadly, as we are rapidly losing touch with nature, we know
less and less about their medicinal value. However, more and
more people, both Eastern and Western, are now visiting
Ayurvedic centres. Ayurvedic medicine is rapidly becoming
commercialized in India, and certain plant medicines are being
produced with modern technology in the form of pills, oils and
mixtures, which are finding increasing acceptance all over the
world. Finally, the West is looking outside the laboratory to
ancient natural methods of healing, and the time is ripe for an
Ayurvedic renaissance. It is time we reconnected with this
great science by growing our own plants. Growing Ayurvedic
plants will bring us closer to nature and increase our
consciousness of the daily and seasonal changes that
constantly affect us. One plant that is being propagated in the
Rikhia ashram and which is widely used in many Ayurvedic
preparations is the bountiful Amla.

About the Amla tree

The Amla or Neelikkai (Phyllanthus Embilca) is also called
Amalka in Hindi. In Sanskrit its name is Amalaki, which
translates as the sustainer or the fruit where the goddess of
prosperity presides. Lakshmi (the goddess of prosperity), who
is especially associated with this tree, is worshipped with its
leaves, especially in the month of Marga Shirsha
(November/December). The English term for Amla is Indian
gooseberry. It is a small tree with leathery leaves and a fleshy
fruit. This fruit is very cheap and common. Growing in all
Indian forests it is very much prized by all Indians. Its size is
that of a small lemon, and it is round and pale green in colour.
It is sour, astringent and also sweet, and is obtainable in
unlimited quantities from January to April. The Amla fruit is
considered to be so nourishing that the tree has been
worshipped in India from ancient times as the Earth Mother,
and is said to be nursing humankind.

Curative properties
Amla is one of the richest natural sources of vitamin C, its fresh
juice containing nearly twenty times as much vitamin C as
orange juice. A single tiny Amla is equivalent in vitamin C
content to two oranges. Clinical tests on patients suffering from
pulmonary tuberculosis have shown that this high concentrate
is more quickly assimilated then the synthetic vitamin. It is an
ingredient of many Ayurvedic medicines and tonics, as it
removes excessive salivation, nausea, vomiting, giddiness,
spermatorrhoea, internal body heat and menstrual disorders.
Because it is also cooling, it increases sattwa, and is an
excellent liver tonic.

Ayurveda recommends taking a tonic made from the fruit

throughout the winter months. The fresh fruit is a diuretic and
a laxative. A cooling and refreshing drink can be made from it.
Ayurvedic doctors recommend drinking the juice during the
summer months when the bodys functions become sluggish
due to the heat. To clear the bowels and correct digestion boil
four teaspoons of Amla powder, four teaspoons of Myrobalans
Chebulic and four teaspoons of Bahera, in twenty ounces of
water. For best results, two ounces should be consumed in the
early morning on an empty stomach.

The dried Amla fruit is astringent and useful in cases of

diarrhoea and dysentery. It is also a very important ingredient
in the famous Chyavanaprash, and a constituent of Triphala
(three fruits) powder. Swami Sivananda writes in Home
Remedies, To cure burning eyes and cool the head and brain,
make a paste of Amla, apply it to the head and then take a
bath. The application of a small quantity of Amla oil to the head
before bathing removes diseases of the eyes, night blindness
and bilious giddiness. Amla confection is used in syphilis,
flatulence, bronchitis, asthma and consumption. A series of
clinical tests on the Amla have found that the fruit contains
elements that are anti-viral, raise the total protein level in the
body, activate the adrenaline response, and protect against
tremors and convulsions. The Amla is also said to bestow
beauty.

Delicious chutney is made from the Amla fruit, which should be

eaten before the rest of the food with a little rice (preferably on
an empty stomach), not with or after the meal. Unlike other
preserves Amla does not lose its properties over time but
retains its curative power and quality. Dried Amla is an
excellent digestive, which can be consumed after food. It is
said that the Amla fruit should not be taken on Thursdays.
During the month of Kartik (November/December) it is most
auspicious, and beneficial for the health to take ones food
under the Amla tree. This is the tradition in many parts of
India, especially the south, and people picnic under the Amla
for the whole month. If no tree is available, then it is said that,
at least, one should keep a branch or twig of Amla near the
food.

Amla and Adi Guru Shankaracharya

The great sannyasin Adi Guru Shankaracharya left his home at
the tender age of eight and began his parivrajaka (wandering
life) throughout India. One day, when he went seeking bhiksha
(alms) he came to the house of a very poor woman. She had
nothing in the house with which to feed him, but as it is most
inauspicious to turn a sannyasin away from the door without
offering anything to eat, she searched until she found the only
edible thing she had in the house a single Amla fruit. When
she offered it to Shankaracharya, his gentle young heart was
so moved by her poverty and her action that he invoked
Goddess Lakshmi in the form of the Kanakadhara Stotram,
which literally means the flow of gold. Kanaka means gold
and dhara means flow. Verse 16 of this hymn is: O Mother,
who bestows prosperity and provides ananda (joy) to all the
senses. O, Lotus-eyed one, who opens the door into every
domain, by prostrating to you, all sins are destroyed. Bless me
always with everything that is auspicious. On completion of
this stotram, Lakshmi was so pleased that she blessed and
enriched the house by sending down a shower of golden Amlas.

Many years later, a boy who had been mute from birth was
brought to Shankaracharya by his father. Shankaracharya, who
had been able to penetrate and ascertain the depths of the boy,
asked him, Who are you? What is your name, and where do
you come from? Whereupon the boy opened his mouth and
out poured the magnificent verses on Adwaita Vedanta which
are now known as Hastamalaka Stotram. Shankaracharya then
initiated him into sannyasa and gave him the name
Hastamalaka. Hasta means hand and amalaka refers to the
fruit. He was given this name to signify that he could talk about
Brahman as clearly and simply as presenting an Amla fruit on
the palm of the hand. The fact that this fruit is used as a
symbol for spiritual truth shows in what high esteem it has
always been held in India. As Naveen Patnaik writes in his book
The Garden of Life, The great Indian philosophers conducted
their dialogues in the forest using plants again and again to
illustrate concepts of spiritual continuity to their students,
because the forest represented the endless self-regeneration of
life, or what we would call today an ecosystem, complete in
itself.
Datura wrightii
Datura wrightii or sacred datura is the name of
a poisonous perennial plant and ornamental flower of
southwestern North America. It is sometimes used as
a hallucinogen. D. wrightii is classified as a deliriant and
an anticholinergic.[1]

It is a vigorous herbaceous perennial[2] that grows 30 cm to 1.5 m tall

and wide.[3]The leaves are broad and rounded at the base, tapering to
a point, often with wavy margins. The flowers are the most striking
feature, being sweetly fragrant white trumpets up to 20 cm (7.9 in)
long, sometimes tinted purple, especially at the margin. Five narrow
points are spaced symmetrically around the rim. The plants often can
be seen as a ground vine in habit, growing close to the ground and
spreading in a very exposed environment with full direct sunlight
(cleared roadside). D. Wrightii, blooms from April through October.[2] In
clear weather, flowers open in the morning and evening and close
during the heat of the day (depending on water availability); in cloudy
weather, they may open earlier and last longer.

The seeds are borne in a spiny, globular capsule 3 to 4 cm in

diameter, which opens when fully ripe.[2]

D. wrightii is found in northern Mexico and the adjoining

southwestern U. S. states, as far north as southern Utah, in open /
disturbed land and along roadsides with well-drained (sandy) soils. [2] It
is also commonly planted as an ornamental, especially in xeriscapes.

The name commemorates the botanist Charles Wright.

Other names

In the US, it is sometimes called "western Jimson weed"[3] because of

its resemblance to Datura stramonium. Anglophone settlers
in California often called it "Indian whiskey" because of its ritual
intoxicating use by many tribes; the name "sacred datura" has the
same origin. Other common names include "Indian apple" [2]and
"nightshade" (not to be confused with Solanum). The Tongva call
it manit and the Chumash momoy. Mexicans call this and similar
species tolguacha.[2] or toloache.[4]

The scientific name has frequently been given as Datura

meteloides Dunal,[3] but this name is actually a synonym of D.
innoxia Mill., a Mexican plant with a narrower flower having 10 rather
than five "teeth" at the rim.[2]

Toxicity[edit]
Main article: Datura (Toxicity)

All parts of Datura plants contain dangerous levels

of anticholinergic tropane alkaloids and may be fatal if ingested by
humans, livestock, or pets. In some places, it is prohibited to buy, sell
or cultivate Datura plants.[5]

Uses[edit]
Medicinal[edit]

Among the Zuni people, the powdered root is given as

an anesthetic and a narcotic for surgery. They also apply a poultice of
root and flower meal applied to wounds to promote healing. [6]

Religious[edit]

D. wrightii is sacred to some Native Americans and has been used in

ceremonies and rites of passage by Chumash, Tongva, and others.
Among the Chumash, when a boy was 8 years old, his mother gave
him a preparation of momoy to drink. This was supposed to be a
spiritual challenge to the boy to help him develop the spiritual
wellbeing required to become a man. Not all of the boys survived.
[1]
The Zuni people also use the plant for ceremonial and magical
purposes. The root pieces are chewed by a robbery victim to
determine the identity of the thief. The powdered root is used by rain
priests in a number of ways to ensure fruitful rains. [7]

Recreational[edit]

D. wrightii has also been used to induce hallucination for recreational

purposes. Ingestion of plant material can induce auditory and visual
hallucinations similar to those of Datura stramonium, with the active
compounds being concentrated in the seedpods and roots;
concentrations vary widely between samples, and onset is slow. This
makes dosage estimation difficult and adds further risk to the
administration of material that already has potentially lethal side
effects. Scopolamine is the primary active molecule; it is related
to atropine, with a similar, largely anticholinergic activity. Effects may
include dry mouth, hyperthermia, profuse sweating, drowsiness,
lethargy, and anterograde amnesia - along with the afore-mentioned
hallucinations and sensory distortions. These compounds also induce
a profound dilatation of the pupils and suppress eye saccades,
resulting in considerable degradation of visual acuity, often to the point
of functional blindness. This may persist, to a reduced degree, for
days. The combined effect may result in a panic state in the user, a
particularly dangerous situation in someone temporarily deprived of
useful vision; users are prone to serious accidental injury.
Scopolamine induces respiratory depression at hallucinogenic doses.
The combination of anesthesia (in the hospital) and Datura is usually
fatal due to combined respiratory depression.[1] Seizures and fevers as
high as 43 C (109 F) have been reported.
Coconut
The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) is a member of
the family Arecaceae (palm family) and the only species of
the genus Cocos.[1] The term coconut can refer to the whole coconut
palm or the seed, or the fruit, which, botanically, is a drupe, not a nut.
The spelling cocoanut is an archaic form of the word.[2] The term is
derived from the 16th-century Portuguese and Spanish
word coco meaning "head" or "skull", from the three indentations on
the coconut shell that resemble facial features. [3]

Coconuts are known for their great versatility, as evidenced by many

traditional uses, ranging from food to cosmetics.[4] They form a regular
part of the diets of many people in the tropics and subtropics.
Coconuts are distinct from other fruits for their large quantity of water
(also called "juice") and when immature, they are known as tender-
nuts or jelly-nuts and may be harvested for their potable coconut
water . When mature, they can be used as seed nuts or processed to
give oil from the kernel, charcoal from the hard shell, and coir from the
fibrous husk. The endosperm is initially in its nuclear phase
suspended within the coconut water. As development continues,
cellular layers of endosperm deposit along the walls of the coconut,
becoming the edible coconut "flesh".[5] When dried, the coconut flesh is
called copra. The oil and milk derived from it are commonly used in
cooking and frying, as well as in soaps and cosmetics. The husks and
leaves can be used as material to make a variety of products for
furnishing and decorating. The coconut also has cultural and religious
significance in certain societies, particularly in India, where it is used
in Hindu rituals.[6]
Description[edit]
Plant[edit]

Cocos nucifera is a large palm, growing up to 30 m (98 ft) tall,

with pinnate leaves 46 m (1320 ft) long, and pinnae 6090 cm long;
old leaves break away cleanly, leaving the trunk smooth. Coconuts are
generally classified into two general types: tall and dwarf. [7] On fertile
soil, a tall coconut palm tree can yield up to 75 fruits per year, but
more often yields less than 30, mainly due to poor cultural practices. [8][9]
[10]
Given proper care and growing conditions, coconut palms produce
their first fruit in six to ten years, taking 15 20 years to reach peak
production.[11]

Fruit[edit]

Botanically, the coconut fruit is a drupe, not a true nut.[12] Like other
fruits, it has three layers: the exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp. The
exocarp and mesocarp make up the "husk" of the coconuts. Coconuts
sold in the shops of nontropical countries often have had the exocarp
(outermost layer) removed. The mesocarp is composed of a fiber,
called coir, which has many traditional and commercial uses. The shell
has three germination pores (micropyles) or "eyes" that are clearly
visible on its outside surface once the husk is removed.

A full-sized coconut weighs about 1.44 kg (3.2 lb). It takes around

6,000 full-grown coconuts to produce a tonne of copra. [13]

Roots[edit]

Unlike some other plants, the palm tree has neither a tap root nor root
hairs, but has a fibrous root system.[14]

The coconut palm root system[15] consists of an abundance of thin

roots that grow outward from the plant near the surface. Only a few of
the roots penetrate deep into the soil for stability. This type of root
system is known as fibrous or adventitious, and is a characteristic of
grass species. Other types of large trees produce a single downward-
growing tap root with a number of feeder roots growing from it.

Coconut palms continue to produce roots from the base of the stem
throughout their lives. The number of roots produced depends on the
age of the tree and the environment, with more than 3,600 roots
possible on a tree that is 60 to 70 years old.

Roots are usually less than about 3 inches in diameter and uniformly
thick from the tree trunk to the root tip.

Inflorescence[edit]

The palm produces both the female and male flowers on the
same inflorescence; thus, the palm is monoecious.[14] Other sources
use the term polygamomonoecious.[16] The female flower is much
larger than the male flower. Flowering occurs continuously. Coconut
palms are believed to be largely cross-pollinated, although
some[which?] dwarf varieties are self-pollinating.

Etymology[edit]
Dehusked coconut shells from Ivory Coast showing the face-like markings.

A cut coconut shell

One of the earliest mentions of the coconut dates back to the "One
Thousand and One Nights" story of Sinbad the Sailor; he is known to
have bought and sold coconut during his fifth voyage. [17] Thenga,
its Malayalam and Tamil name, was used in the detailed description of
coconut found in Itinerario by Ludovico di Varthema published in 1510
and also in the later Hortus Indicus Malabaricus.[18] Even earlier, it was
called nux indica, a name used by Marco Polo in 1280 while
in Sumatra, taken from the Arabs who called it jawz hind.
Both names translate to "Indian nut".[19] In the earliest description of the
coconut palm known, given by Cosmos of Alexandria in
his Topographia Christiana written about 545 AD, there is a reference
to the argell tree and its drupe.[18][20]

In March 1521, an extremely detailed description of the coconut was

given by Antonio Pigafetta writing in Italian and using the words
"cocho"/"cochi", as recorded in his journal after the first European
crossing of the Pacific Ocean during
the Magellan circumnavigation and meeting the inhabitants of what
would become known as Guam and the Philippines. He explained how
at Guam "they eat coconuts" ("mangiano cochi") and that the natives
there also "anoint the body and the hair with cocoanut and beneseed
oil" ("ongieno eL corpo et li capili co oleo de cocho et de giongioli").
[21]
The journal then details how on the following week, Magellan's
expedition landed at Suluan east of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.
There they were given gifts by the natives which included two
coconuts ("dui cochi"), with indication that more coconuts would be
brought later ("cochi et molta altra victuuaglia").[21] Pigafetta then goes
into great detail on how coconut is used and processed by the Filipino
natives:

Cocoanuts are the fruit of the palmtree. Just as we have bread, wine,
oil, and milk, so those people get everything from that tree. They get
wine in the following manner. They bore a hole into the heart of the
said palm at the top called palmito [i.e., stalk], from which distils a
liquor which resembles white must. That liquor is sweet but somewhat
tart, and [is gathered] in canes [of bamboo] as thick as the leg and
thicker. They fasten the bamboo to the tree at evening for the morning,
and in the morning for the evening. That palm bears a fruit, namely,
the cocoanut, which is as large as the head or thereabouts. Its outside
husk is green and thicker than two fingers. Certain filaments are found
in that husk, whence is made cord for binding together their boats.
Under that husk there is a hard shell, much thicker than the shell of
the walnut, which they burn and make therefrom a powder that is
useful to them. Under that shell there is a white marrowy substance
one finger in thickness, which they eat fresh with meat and fish as we
do bread; and it has a taste resembling the almond. It could be dried
and made into bread. There is a clear, sweet water in the middle of
that marrowy substance which is very refreshing. When that water
stands for a while after having been collected, it congeals and
becomes like an apple. When the natives wish to make oil, they take
that cocoanut, and allow the marrowy substance and the water to
putrefy. Then they boil it and it becomes oil like butter. When they wish
to make vinegar, they allow only the water to putrefy, and then place it
in the sun, and a vinegar results like [that made from] white wine. [21]

From the said fruit milk can also be made, as we proved by

experience. For we scraped that marrow, then mixed it with its own
water, and being passed through a cloth it became like goat's milk.
This kind of palm tree is like the palm that bears dates, but not so
knotty. And of these trees will sustain a family of ten persons. But they
do not draw the aforesaid wine always from one tree, but take it for a
week from one, and so with the other, for otherwise the trees would
dry up. And in this way they last one hundred years. [21]

It is evident that the name 'coco' and 'coconut' came from these 1521
encounters with Pacific islanders, and not from the other regions
where it was found as no name is similar in any of the languages of
India, where the Portuguese first found the fruit; and indeed Barbosa,
Barros, and Garcia, in mentioning the Tamil/Malayalam name tenga,
and Canarese narle, expressly say, "we call these fruits quoquos",
"our people have given it the name of coco", and "that which we call
coco, and the Malabars temga".

Other stories to explain the origin of the word have been published.
The OED states: "Portuguese and Spanish authors of the 16th c.
agree in identifying the word with Portuguese and
Spanish coco "grinning face, grin, grimace", also "bugbear,
scarecrow", cognate with cocar "to grin, make a grimace"; the name
being said to refer to the face-like appearance of the base of the shell,
with its three holes. According to Losada, the name came
from Portuguese explorers, the sailors of Vasco da Gama in India,
who first brought them to Europe. The coconut shell reminded them of
a ghost or witch in Portuguese folklore called coco (also cca).[22][23]

The specific name nucifera is Latin for "nut-bearing".

Origin, domestication, and dispersal[edit]

Origin[edit]

The range of the natural habitat of the coconut palm tree delineated by the red
line (based on information in Werth 1933,[24] slightly modified by Niklas
Jonsson)
Fossil Cocos zeylanica from the Miocene of New Zealand, 4 cm long.

The origin of the plant is, after many decades, still the subject of
debate.[25][26] It has generally been accepted that the coconut originated
in the Indian-Indonesia region and float-distributed itself around the
world by riding ocean currents.[26][15] The similarities of the local names
in the Malay-Indonesian region is also cited as evidence that the plant
originated in the region. For example, the Polynesian and Melanesian
term niu and the Philippine and Guamanian term niyog is said to be
based on the Malay word nyiur or nyior.[27][28]

O.F. Cook was one of the earliest modern researchers to draw

conclusions about the location of origin of Cocos nucifera based on its
current-day worldwide distribution.[29][30] He hypothesized that the
coconut originated in the Americas, based on his belief that American
coconut populations predated European contact and because he
considered pan-tropical distribution by ocean currents
improbable. Thor Heyerdahl later used this as one part of his
hypothesis to support his theory that the Pacific Islanders originated
as two migration streams from the Canadian Pacific coast (themselves
recent migrants from Asia) to Hawaii, and on to Tahiti and New
Zealand in a series of hops, and another migration from South
America via sailing balsa-wood rafts.[31]

However, the conventional scientific opinion supports an Indo-Pacific

origin either around Melanesia and Malaysia or the Indian Ocean.[15]
[30]
The modern coconut has two different species, essentially a Pacific
version and an Atlantic one; however, all modern coconuts appear to
be domesticated plants, rather than the more primitive forms found in
fossils in North Australia and Indonesia.[30]

The oldest fossils known of the modern coconut dating from

the Eocene period from around 37 to 55 million years ago were found
in Australia and India,[30] but older palm fossils such as some
of nipa fruit have been found in the Americas. A species with
strawberry-sized nuts ('Cocos zeylanica') lived in New Zealand in
the Miocene. Since 1978, the work on tracing the probable origin and
dispersal of Cocos nucifera[32] has only recently been augmented by a
publication on the germination rate of the coconut seednut [33] and
another on the importance of the coral atoll ecosystem. [34] Briefly, the
coconut originated in the coral atoll ecosystem without human
intervention and required a thick husk and slow germination to
survive and disperse.

Domestication[edit]

Manual harvesting of coconuts

Coconuts could not reach inland locations without human intervention

(to carry seednuts, plant seedlings, etc.) and early germination on the
palm (vivipary) was important,[35] rather than increasing the number or
size of the edible parts of a fruit that was already large enough.
Human cultivation of the coconut selected, not for larger size, but for
thinner husks and increased volume of endosperm, the solid meat or
liquid water that provides the fruit its food value. Although these
modifications for domestication would reduce the fruits ability to float,
this ability would be irrelevant to a cultivated population.

Among modern C. nucifera, two major types or variants occur: a thick-

husked, angular fruit and a thin-husked, spherical fruit with a higher
proportion of endosperm reflect a trend of cultivation in C. nucifera.
The first coconuts were of the niu kafa type, with thick husks to protect
the seed, an angular, highly ridged shape to promote buoyancy during
ocean dispersal, and a pointed base that allowed fruits to dig into the
sand, preventing them from being washed away during germination on
a new island. As early human communities began to harvest coconuts
for eating and planting, they (perhaps unintentionally) selected for a
larger endosperm to husk ratio and a broader, spherical base, which
rendered the fruit useful as a cup or bowl, thus creating the niu
vai type. The decreased buoyancy and increased fragility of this
spherical, thin-husked fruit would not matter for a species that had
started to be dispersed by humans and grown in plantations. Harries
adoption of the Polynesian terms niu kafa and niu vai has now passed
into general scientific discourse, and his hypothesis is generally
accepted.[36][37]

Variants of C. nucifera are also categorized as tall (var. typica) or

dwarf (var. nana).[38] The two groups are genetically distinct, with the
dwarf variety showing a greater degree of artificial selection for
ornamental traits and for early germination and fruiting. [32][39] The tall
variety is outcrossing while dwarf palms are incrossing, which has led
to a much greater degree of genetic diversity within the tall group. The
dwarf subgroup is thought to have mutated from the tall group under
human selection pressure.[40]
Dispersal[edit]

Coconut tree in Kannur Beach, India

Main article: Genomics of domestication

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It is often stated that coconuts can travel 110 days, or 3,000 miles
(4,800 km), by sea and still be able to germinate.[41] This figure has
been questioned based on the extremely small sample size that forms
the basis of the paper that makes this claim.[42] Thor
Heyerdahl provides an alternative, and much shorter, estimate based
on his first-hand experience crossing the Pacific Ocean on the
raft Kon-Tiki:

"The nuts we had in baskets on deck remained edible and capable of

germinating the whole way to Polynesia. But we had laid about half
among the special provisions below deck, with the waves washing
around them. Every single one of these was ruined by the sea water.
And no coconut can float over the sea faster than a balsa raft moves
with the wind behind it."[31]
He also notes that several of the nuts began to germinate by the time
they had been ten weeks at sea, precluding an unassisted journey of
100 days or more. However, the coconut variety Heyerdahl chose for
his long sea voyage likely was of the large, fleshy, spherical niu
vai type, which Harries observed to have a significantly shorter
germination type and worse buoyancy than the uncultivated niu
kafa type.[32] Therefore, Heyerdahls observations cannot be
considered conclusive when it comes to determining the independent
dispersal ability of the uncultivated coconut.

Drift models based on wind and ocean currents have shown that
coconuts could not have drifted across the Pacific unaided. [42] If they
were naturally distributed and had been in the Pacific for a thousand
years or so, then we would expect the eastern shore of Australia, with
its own islands sheltered by the Great Barrier Reef, to have been thick
with coconut palms: the currents were directly into, and down along
this coast. However, both James Cook and William Bligh[43] (put adrift
after the Bounty Mutiny) found no sign of the nuts along this 2000 km
stretch when he needed water for his crew. Nor were there coconuts
on the east side of the African coast until Vasco de Gama, nor in the
Caribbean when first visited by Christopher Columbus. We know from
early Spanish documents that they deliberately planted coconuts
shortly after first contact,[citation needed] and some nuts would certainly have
self-seeded when they floated ashore following ship-wrecks. They
were commonly carried by Spanish ships as a source of sweet water.

This provides substantial circumstantial evidence that deliberate

voyagers were involved in carrying coconuts across the Pacific Ocean
(possibly the Austronesian peoples) and that they could not have
dispersed worldwide without human agency. More recently, genomic
analysis of cultivated coconut (C. nucifera L.) has shed light on the
movement. By examining 10 microsatellite loci, researchers found two
genetically distinct subpopulations of coconutone originating in the
Indian Ocean, the other in the Pacific Ocean.[citation
needed]
However, admixture, the transfer of genetic material, evidently
occurred between the two populations.

Given that coconuts are ideally suited for inter-island group ocean
dispersal, obviously some natural distribution did take place. However,
this should not be extrapolated to claims that one ocean's sub-genera
possibly could have floated to interbreed with the other.[citation
needed]
However, the locations of the admixture events are limited
to Madagascar and coastal east Africa, and exclude the Seychelles.
This pattern coincides with the known trade routes of Austronesian
sailors. Additionally, a genetically distinct subpopulation of coconut on
the Pacific coast of Latin America has undergone a genetic bottleneck
resulting from a founder effect;[citation needed] however, its ancestral
population is the Pacific coconut. This, together with their use of the
South American sweet potato, suggests that Austronesian peoples
may have sailed as far east as the Americas.[44]

Distribution[edit]

The coconut has spread across much of the tropics, probably aided in
many cases by seafaring people. Coconut fruit in the wild are light,
buoyant, and highly water resistant. It is claimed that they evolved to
disperse significant distances via marine currents.[45] However, it can
also be argued that the placement of the vulnerable eye of the nut
(down when floating), and the site of the coir 'cushion' are better
positioned to ensure that the water-filled nut doesn't fracture when
dropping on rocky ground, rather than for flotation.

Specimens have been collected from the sea as far north as Norway
(but it is not known where they entered the water). [46]In the Hawaiian
Islands, the coconut is regarded as a Polynesian introduction, first
brought to the islands by early Polynesian voyagers from their
homelands in Oceania.[19] They have been found in the Caribbean and
the Atlantic coasts of Africa and South America for less than 500 years
(the Caribbean native inhabitants don't have a dialect term for them,
but use the Portuguese name), but evidence of their presence on the
Pacific coast of South America antedates Christopher Columbus's
arrival in the Americas.[26] They are now almost ubiquitous between
26N and 26S except for the interiors of Africa and South America.

Natural habitat[edit]

Coconut germinating on Punalu'u Beach, Island of Hawaii

The coconut palm thrives on sandy soils and is highly tolerant

of salinity. It prefers areas with abundant sunlight and regular rainfall
(1500 mm to 2500 mm annually), which makes colonizing shorelines
of the tropics relatively straightforward. [47]Coconuts also need
high humidity (7080%+) for optimum growth, which is why they are
rarely seen in areas with low humidity. However, they can be found in
humid areas with low annual precipitation such as
in Karachi, Pakistan, which receives only about 250 mm (9.8 in) of
rainfall per year, but is consistently warm and humid.

Coconut palms require warm conditions for successful growth, and are
intolerant of cold weather. Some seasonal variation is tolerated, with
good growth where mean summer temperatures are between 28 and
37 C (82 and 99 F), and survival as long as winter temperatures are
above 412 C (3954 F); they will survive brief drops to 0 C (32 F).
Severe frost is usually fatal, although they have been known to
recover from temperatures of 4 C (25 F).[47] They may grow but not
fruit properly in areas with insufficient warmth, such as Bermuda.

The conditions required for coconut trees to grow without any care
are:

Mean daily temperature above 1213 C (5455 F) every day of

the year

Mean annual rainfall above 1,000 mm (39 in)

No or very little overhead canopy, since even small trees require

direct sun

The main limiting factor for most locations which satisfy the rainfall
and temperature requirements is canopy growth, except those
locations near coastlines, where the sandy soil and salt spray limit the
growth of most other trees.
Diseases[edit]

Fallen immature nuts, Thrissur, Kerala, India

Main article: List of coconut palm diseases

Coconuts are susceptible to the phytoplasma disease, lethal

yellowing. One recently selected cultivar, the 'Maypan', has been bred
for resistance to this disease.[citation needed] Yellowing diseases affect
plantations in Africa, India, Mexico, the Caribbean and the Pacific
Region.[48]

Pests[edit]

The coconut palm is damaged by the larvae of

many Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species which feed on it,
including Batrachedra spp.: B. arenosella, B. atriloqua (feeds
exclusively on C. nucifera), B. mathesoni (feeds exclusively on C.
nucifera), and B. nuciferae.

Brontispa longissima (coconut leaf beetle) feeds on young leaves, and

damages both seedlings and mature coconut palms. In 2007, the
Philippines imposed a quarantine in Metro Manila and 26 provinces to
stop the spread of the pest and protect the Philippine coconut industry
managed by some 3.5 million farmers.[49]

The fruit may also be damaged by eriophyid coconut mites (Eriophyes

guerreronis). This mite infests coconut plantations, and is devastating;
it can destroy up to 90% of coconut production. The immature seeds
are infested and desapped by larvae staying in the portion covered by
the perianth of the immature seed; the seeds then drop off or survive
deformed. Spraying with wettable sulfur 0.4% or with Neem-based
pesticides can give some relief, but is cumbersome and labor-
intensive.

In Kerala (India), the main coconut pests are the coconut mite,
the rhinoceros beetle, the red palm weevil, and the coconut leaf
caterpillar. Research into countermeasures to these pests has as of
2009 yielded no results; researchers from the Kerala Agricultural
University and the Central Plantation Crop Research Institute,
Kasaragode, continue to work on countermeasures. The Krishi Vigyan
Kendra, Kannur under Kerala Agricultural University has developed an
innovative extension approach called the compact area group
approach to combat coconut mites.

Production and cultivation[edit]

Top coconut producers in 2014[50]

(millions of tonnes)

Country Production

Indonesia 19.1

Philippines 14.7
 India 11.1

Brazil 2.9

Sri Lanka 2.2

World 61.4

Coconut palms are grown in more than 90 countries of the world, with
a total production of 61 million tonnes per year (table).[50] Most of the
world production is in tropical Asia, with Indonesia, the Philippines,
and India accounting collectively for 73% of the world total (table).

Cultivation[edit]

Coconut trees are hard to establish in dry climates, and cannot grow
there without frequent irrigation; in drought conditions, the new leaves
do not open well, and older leaves may become desiccated; fruit also
tends to be shed.[47]

The extent of cultivation in the tropics is threatening a number of

habitats, such as mangroves; an example of such damage to an
ecoregion is in the Petenes mangroves of the Yucatn.[51]

Harvesting[edit]

In some parts of the world (Thailand and Malaysia), trained pig-tailed

macaques are used to harvest coconuts. Thailand has been raising
and training pig-tailed macaques to pick coconuts for around 400
years.[52]

Training schools for pig-tailed macaques still exist both in

southern Thailand and in the Malaysian state of Kelantan.[53]
India[edit]

Coconuts being sold on a street in India

Coconut plucking in Kerala, India

Green coconut fruit strands on the tree are featured on each Maldivian
rufiyaa banknote

Coconut trees are among the most common sights throughout Kerala

Traditional areas of coconut cultivation in India are the states of

Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andhra
Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Odisha, and West Bengal and the
islands of Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar. As per 2014-15
statistics from Coconut Development Board of Government of India,
four southern states combined account for almost 90% of the total
production in the country: Tamil Nadu (33.84%), Karnataka (25.15%),
Kerala (23.96%), and Andhra Pradesh (7.16%).[54] Other states, such
as Goa, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, and those in the
northeast (Tripura and Assam) account for the remaining productions.
Though Kerala has the largest number of coconut trees, in terms of
production per hectare, Tamil Nadu leads all other states. In Tamil
Nadu, Coimbatore and Tirupur regions top the production list.[55]

In Goa, the coconut tree has been reclassified by the government as a

palm (like a grass), enabling farmers and real estate developers to
clear land with fewer restrictions.[56] With this, it will no more be
considered as a tree and no permission will be required by the forest
department before cutting a coconut tree.[57]

Maldives[edit]

The coconut is the national tree of the Maldives and is considered the
most important plant in the country. A coconut tree is also included in
the country's national emblem and coat of arms. Coconut trees are
grown on all the islands. Before modern construction methods were
introduced, coconut leaves were used as roofing material for many
houses in the islands, while coconut timber was used to build houses
and boats.

Middle East[edit]

The main coconut-producing area in the Middle East is

the Dhofar region of Oman, but they can be grown all along
the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, and Red Sea coasts, because these
seas are tropical and provide enough humidity (through seawater
evaporation) for coconut trees to grow. The young coconut plants
need to be nursed and irrigated with drip pipes until they are old
enough (stem bulb development) to be irrigated with brackish water or
seawater alone, after which they can be replanted on the beaches. In
particular, the area around Salalah maintains large coconut
plantations similar to those found across the Arabian Sea in Kerala.
The reasons why coconut are cultivated only in Yemen's Al
Mahrah and Hadramaut governorates and in the Sultanate of Oman,
but not in other suitable areas in the Arabian Peninsula, may originate
from the fact that Oman and Hadramaut had long dhow trade relations
with Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, East Africa, and Zanzibar, as well as
southern India and China. Omani people needed the coir rope from
the coconut fiber to stitch together their traditional high seas-going
dhow vessels in which nails were never used. The 'know how' of
coconut cultivation and necessary soil fixation and irrigation may have
found its way into Omani, Hadrami and Al-Mahra culture by people
who returned from those overseas areas.

Coconut trees line the beaches and corniches of Oman.

The coconut cultivars grown in Oman are generally of the drought-

resistant Indian 'West Coast tall' variety. Unlike the UAE, which grows
mostly non-native dwarf or hybrid coconut cultivars imported from
Florida for ornamental purposes, the slender, tall Omani coconut
cultivars are relatively well-adapted to the Middle East's hot dry
seasons, but need longer to reach maturity. The Middle East's hot, dry
climate favors the development of coconut mites, which cause
immature seed dropping and may cause brownish-gray discoloration
on the coconut's outer green fiber.
The ancient coconut groves of Dhofar were mentioned by the
medieval Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta in his writings, known
as Al Rihla.[58] The annual rainy season known locally
as khareef or monsoon makes coconut cultivation easy on the Arabian
east coast.

Coconut trees also are increasingly grown for decorative purposes

along the coasts of the UAE and Saudi Arabia with the help of
irrigation. The UAE has, however, imposed strict laws on mature
coconut tree imports from other countries to reduce the spread
of pests to other native palm trees, as the mixing of date and coconut
trees poses a risk of cross-species palm pests, such as rhinoceros
beetles and red palm weevils.[59] The artificial landscaping adopted in
Florida may have been the cause for lethal yellowing, a viral coconut
palm disease that leads to the death of the tree. It is spread by host
insects, that thrive on heavy turf grasses. Therefore, heavy turf grass
environments (beach resorts and golf courses) also pose a major
threat to local coconut trees. Traditionally, dessert banana plants and
local wild beach flora such as Scaevola taccada and Ipomoea pes-
caprae were used as humidity-supplying green undergrowth for
coconut trees, mixed with sea almond and sea hibiscus. Due to
growing sedentary lifestyles and heavy-handed landscaping, a decline
in these traditional farming and soil-fixing techniques has occurred.

Sri Lanka[edit]

An early mention of the planting of coconuts is found in

the Mahavamsa during the reign of Agrabodhi II around 589 AD.
[18]
Coconuts are common in the Sri Lankan diet and the main source of
dietary fat.[60]
United States[edit]

Paintings on coconut shells for Day of the Dead in the United States

In the United States, coconut palms can be grown and reproduced

outdoors without irrigation in Hawaii, southern and central Florida,
[61]
and the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands.

In Florida, coconut palms grow from coastal Pinellas County

and Clearwater southwards on Florida's west coast,
and Melbourne southwards on Florida's east coast as well as inland
south Florida.[citation needed] The occasional coconut palm can also be found
further inland of the coastal areas of central Florida in
favored microclimates in Tampa and to a lesser extent Orlando. They
reach fruiting maturity, but can be damaged or killed by the occasional
winter freezes in these areas. In South Texas, they may also be grown
in favored microclimates around the coastal areas of the Rio Grande
Valley near Brownsville.[citation needed]

Coconut palms do not grow in California because of extended periods

below 10 C (50 F) in the winter. One specimen survived for about 20
years in Newport Beach, California; however, it died in 2014, without
ever producing a coconut.[62]
Australia[edit]

Coconuts are commonly grown around the northern coast of Australia,

and in some warmer parts of New South Wales.

Bermuda[edit]
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Most of the tall mature coconut trees found in Bermuda were shipped
to the island as seedlings on the decks of ships. In more recent years,
the importation of coconuts was prohibited; therefore, a large
proportion of the younger trees have been propagated from locally
grown coconuts.

In the winter, the growth rate of coconut trees declines due to cooler
temperatures and people have commonly attributed this to the
reduced yield of coconuts in comparison to tropical regions. However,
whilst cooler winter temperatures may be a factor in reducing fruit
production, the primary reason for the reduced yield is a lack of water.
Bermuda's soil is generally very shallow (1.5 to 3.0 feet) and much of
a coconut tree's root mass is found in the porous limestone
underneath the soil. Due to the porosity of the limestone, Bermuda's
coconut trees do not generally have a sufficient supply of water with
which they are able to support a large number of fruit as rain water
quickly drains down through the limestone layer to the water table
which is far too deep for a coconut's roots to reach. This typically
leads to a reduction in fruit yield (sometimes as few as one or two
mature fruits), as well as a reduced milk content inside the coconut
that often causes the fruit to be infertile.
Conversely, trees growing in close proximity to the sea almost
universally yield much more fruit, as they are able to tap directly into
the sea water which permeates the limestone in such areas. Not only
do these trees produce a significantly higher yield, but also the fruit
itself tends to be far more fertile due to the higher milk content. Trees
found growing in Bermuda's marshy inland areas enjoy a similar
degree of success, as they are also able to tap directly into a constant
supply of water.

Substitutes for cooler climates[edit]

In cooler climates (but not less than USDA Zone 9), a similar palm,
the queen palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana), is used in landscaping. Its
fruits are similar to the coconut, but smaller. The queen palm was
originally classified in the genus Cocos along with the coconut, but
was later reclassified in Syagrus. A recently discovered
palm, Beccariophoenix alfredii from Madagascar, is nearly identical to
the coconut, more so than the queen palm and can also be grown in
slightly cooler climates than the coconut palm. Coconuts can only be
grown in temperatures above 18 C (64 F) and need a daily
temperature above 22 C (72 F) to produce fruit.

Uses[edit]

Coconut trees are used for landscaping along a coastal road in Kota
Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

The coconut palm is grown throughout the tropics for decoration, as

well as for its many culinary and nonculinary uses; virtually every part
of the coconut palm can be used by humans in some manner and has
significant economic value. Coconuts' versatility is sometimes noted in
its naming. In Sanskrit, it is kalpa vriksha ("the tree which provides all
the necessities of life"). In the Malay language, it is pokok seribu
guna ("the tree of a thousand uses"). In the Philippines, the coconut is
commonly called the "tree of life".[63]

Cooking[edit]

Green coconuts

Coconut water drink

An 1890 newspaper advertisement showing tin of dried coconut

The various parts of the coconut have a number of culinary uses. The
seed provides oil for frying, cooking, and making margarine. The
white, fleshy part of the seed, the coconut meat, is used fresh or dried
in cooking, especially in confections and desserts such as macaroons.
Desiccated coconut or coconut milk made from it is frequently added
to curries and other savory dishes. Coconut flour has also been
developed for use in baking, to combat malnutrition. [64] Coconut chips
have been sold in the tourist regions of Hawaii and the Caribbean.
Coconut butter is often used to describe solidified coconut oil, but has
also been adopted as a name by certain specialty products made of
coconut milk solids or pured coconut meat and oil. Dried coconut is
also used as the filling for many chocolate bars. Some dried coconut
is purely coconut, but others are manufactured with other ingredients,
such as sugar, propylene glycol, salt, and sodium metabisulfite. Some
countries in Southeast Asia use special coconut mutant called Kopyor
coconut (Kopyor in Indonesia) or macapuno (in the Philippines) as
dessert drinks.

Coconut meat, raw

 Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Energy 354 kcal

(1,480 kJ)

Carbohydrates 15.23 g

Sugars 6.23 g

Dietary fiber 9.0 g

Fat 33.49 g

Saturated 29.698 g

Monounsaturated 1.425 g

Polyunsaturated 0.366 g

Protein 3.33 g

Tryptophan 0.039 g

Threonine 0.121 g

Isoleucine 0.131 g

Leucine 0.247 g

Lysine 0.147 g

Methionine 0.062 g
Cystine 0.066 g

Phenylalanine 0.169 g

Tyrosine 0.103 g

Valine 0.202 g

Arginine 0.546 g

Histidine 0.077 g

Alanine 0.170 g

Aspartic acid 0.325 g

Glutamic acid 0.761 g

Glycine 0.158 g

Proline 0.138 g

Serine 0.172 g

Vitamins

Thiamine (B1) (6%)

0.066 mg

Riboflavin (B2) (2%)

0.020 mg

Niacin (B3) (4%)

0.540 mg

Pantothenic acid (B5) (6%)

 0.300 mg

Vitamin B6 (4%)
0.054 mg

Folate (B9) (7%)

26 g

Vitamin C (4%)
3.3 mg

Vitamin E (2%)
0.24 mg

Vitamin K (0%)
0.2 g

Minerals

Calcium (1%)
14 mg

Iron (19%)
2.43 mg

Magnesium (9%)
32 mg

Manganese (71%)
1.500 mg

Phosphorus (16%)
113 mg
 Potassium (8%)
356 mg

Sodium (1%)
20 mg

Zinc (12%)
1.10 mg

Other constituents

Water 46.99 g

Link to USDA Database entry

Units

g = micrograms mg = milligrams

IU = International units

Percentages are roughly approximated

using US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Nutrition[edit]

Per 100-gram serving with 354 calories, raw coconut meat supplies a
high amount of total fat (33 grams), especially saturated fat (89% of
total fat) and carbohydrates (24 g) (table). Micronutrients in significant
content include the dietary minerals manganese, iron, phosphorus,
and zinc.

Coconut water[edit]
Main article: Coconut water

Coconut water serves as a suspension for the endosperm of the

coconut during its nuclear phase of development. Later, the
endosperm matures and deposits onto the coconut rind during the
cellular phase.[5] It is consumed throughout the humid tropics, and has
been introduced into the retail market as a processed sports drink.
Mature fruits have significantly less liquid than young, immature
coconuts, barring spoilage. Coconut water can be fermented to
produce coconut vinegar.

Per 100-gram serving, coconut water contains 19 calories and no

significant content of essential nutrients.

Coconut milk[edit]

Main article: Coconut milk

See also: List of dishes using coconut milk

Coconut milk (kakang gata) from 15 coconuts (Philippines)

Coconut milk, not to be confused with coconut water, is obtained

primarily by extracting juice by pressing the grated coconut white
kernel or by passing hot water or milk through grated coconut, which
extracts the oil and aromatic compounds. It has a total fat content of
24%, most of which (89%) is saturated fat, with lauric acid as a
major fatty acid.[65] When refrigerated and left to set, coconut cream will
rise to the top and separate from the milk. The milk can be used to
produce virgin coconut oil by controlled heating and removal of the oil
fraction.

A protein-rich powder can be processed from coconut milk

following centrifugation, separation, and spray drying.[66]

Coconut oil[edit]

Main article: Coconut oil

Another product of the coconut is coconut oil. It is commonly used in

cooking, especially for frying. It can be used in liquid form as would
other vegetable oils, or in solid form as would butter or lard.

Toddy and nectar[edit]

The sap derived from incising the flower clusters of the coconut is
drunk as neera, also known as toddy
or tuba (Philippines), tuak (Indonesia and Malaysia) or karewe (fresh
and not fermented, collected twice a day, for breakfast and dinner)
in Kiribati. When left to ferment on its own, it becomes palm wine.
Palm wine is distilled to produce arrack. In the Philippines, this
alcoholic drink is called lambanog or "coconut vodka".[67]

The sap can be reduced by boiling to create a sweet syrup or candy

such as te kamamai in Kiribati or dhiyaa hakuru and addu bondi in the
Maldives. It can be reduced further to yield coconut sugar also
referred to as palm sugar or jaggery. A young, well-maintained tree
can produce around 300 l (66 imp gal; 79 US gal) of toddy per year,
while a 40-year-old tree may yield around 400 l (88 imp gal;
110 US gal).[68]

Heart of palm and coconut sprout[edit]

Apical buds of adult plants are edible, and are known as "palm
cabbage" or heart of palm. They are considered a rare delicacy, as
harvesting the buds kills the palms. Hearts of palm are eaten in
salads, sometimes called "millionaire's salad". Newly germinated
coconuts contain an edible fluff of marshmallow-like consistency
called coconut sprout, produced as the endosperm nourishes the
developing embryo.

Indonesia[edit]

Coconut is an indispensable ingredient in Indonesian cooking.

Coconut meat, coconut milk, and coconut water are often used in
main courses, desserts, and soups throughout the archipelago. In the
island of Sumatra, the famous rendang, the traditional beef stew from
West Sumatra, chunks of beef are cooked in coconut milk along with
other spices for hours until thickened. In Jakarta, soto babat or beef
tripe soup also uses coconut milk. In the island of Java, the sweet and
savoury tempe bacem is made by cooking tempeh with coconut
water, coconut sugar, and other spices until thickened. Klapertart is
the famous Dutch-influenced dessert from Manado, North Celebes,
that uses young coconut meat and coconut milk. In 2010, Indonesia
increased its coconut production. It is now the world's largest producer
of coconuts. The gross production was 15 million tonnes.[69] A
sprouting coconut seed is the logo for Gerakan Pramuka Indonesia,
the Indonesian scouting organization. It can be seen on all the
scouting paraphernalia that elementary (SMA) school children wear,
as well as on the scouting pins and flags.
Philippines[edit]

Harvesting coconuts in the Philippines is done by workers who climb the trees
using notches cut into the trunk.

From left to right: grated, fresh, mature coconut meat; seed interior; oil, rare
two-eyed coconut shell; and more grated meat (Philippines)

The Philippines is the world's second-largest producer of coconuts;

the production of coconuts plays an important role in the economy.
Coconuts in the Philippines are usually used in making main dishes,
refreshments, and desserts. Coconut juice is also a popular drink in
the country. In the Philippines, particularly Cebu, rice is wrapped in
coconut leaves for cooking and subsequent storage; these packets
are called puso. Coconut milk, known as gata, and grated coconut
flakes are used in the preparation of dishes such
as laing, ginataan, bibingka, ube halaya, pitsi-pits, palitaw and buko
pie. Coconut jam is made by mixing muscovado with coconut milk.
Coconut sport fruits are also harvested. One such variety of coconut is
known as macapuno. Its meat is sweetened, cut into strands, and sold
in glass jars as coconut strings, sometimes labeled as "gelatinous
mutant coconut". Coconut water can be fermented to make a different
productnata de coco (coconut gel).

Vietnam[edit]

In Vietnam, coconut is grown abundantly across central and southern

Vietnam, and especially in Bn Tre Province, often called the "land of
the coconut". It is used to make coconut candy, caramel, and jelly.
Coconut juice and coconut milk are used, especially in Vietnam's
southern style of cooking, including kho, ch, and curry (c ri).

India[edit]

In southern India, the most common way of cooking vegetables is to

add grated coconut and then steam them with spices fried in oil.
People from southern India also make chutney, which involves
grinding the coconut with salt, chillies, and whole spices. Uruttu
chammanthi (granulated chutney) is eaten with rice or kanji (rice
gruel). It is also invariably the main side dish served with idli, vadai,
and dosai. Coconut ground with spices is also mixed in sambar and
other various lunch dishes for extra taste. Dishes garnished with
grated coconut are generally referred to as poduthol in North
Malabar and thoran in rest of Kerala. Puttu is a culinary delicacy of
Kerala and Tamil Nadu, in which layers of coconut alternate with
layers of powdered rice, all of which fit into a bamboo stalk. Recently,
this has been replaced with a steel or aluminium tube, which is then
steamed over a pot. Coconut (Tamil: ) is regularly broken in
the middle-class families in Tamil Nadu for food. Coconut meat can be
eaten as a snack sweetened with jaggery or molasses. In Karnataka,
sweets are prepared using coconut and dry coconut copra, such
as kaie obattu, kobri mitai, etc.
Commercial, industrial, and household use[edit]
Coconuts drying before being processed into copra in the Solomon Islands

Cultivars[edit]

Coconut has a number of commercial and traditional cultivars. They

can be sorted mainly into tall cultivars, dwarf cultivars, and hybrid
cultivars (hybrids between talls and dwarfs). Some of the dwarf
cultivars such as 'Malayan dwarf' have shown some promising
resistance to lethal yellowing, while other cultivars such as 'Jamaican
tall' are highly affected by the same plant disease. Some cultivars are
more drought resistant such as 'West coast tall' (India) while others
such as 'Hainan Tall' (China) are more cold tolerant. Other aspects
such as seed size, shape and weight, and copra thickness are also
important factors in the selection of new cultivars. Some cultivars such
as 'Fiji dwarf' form a large bulb at the lower stem and others are
cultivated to produce very sweet coconut water with orange-coloured
husks (king coconut) used entirely in fruit stalls for drinking (Sri Lanka,
India).

Coir[edit]

A wall made from coconut husks

Extracting the fiber from the husk (Sri Lanka)

Coir (the fiber from the husk of the coconut) is used in ropes, mats,
door mats, brushes, and sacks, as caulking for boats, and as stuffing
fiber for mattresses.[70] It is used in horticulture in potting compost,
especially in orchid mix.

Coconut fronds[edit]

Toys from coconut leaves

The stiff mid-ribs of coconut leaves are used for making brooms in
India, Indonesia (sapu lidi), Malaysia, the Maldives, and the
Philippines (walis tingting). The green of the leaves (lamina) are
stripped away, leaving the veins (wood-like, thin, long strips) which are
tied together to form a broom or brush. A long handle made from some
other wood may be inserted into the base of the bundle and used as a
two-handed broom. The leaves also provide material for baskets that
can draw well water and for roofing thatch; they can be woven into
mats, cooking skewers, and kindling arrows, as well. Two leaves
(especially the younger, yellowish shoots) woven into a tight shell the
size of the palm are filled with rice and cooked to make ketupat.
[71]
Dried coconut leaves can be burned to ash, which can be harvested
for lime. In India, the woven coconut leaves are used
as pandals (temporary sheds) for marriage functions especially in the
states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Copra[edit]

Main articles: Copra and Coconut oil

Copra is the dried meat of the seed and after processing produces
coconut oil and coconut meal. Coconut oil, aside from being used in
cooking as an ingredient and for frying, is used in soaps, cosmetics,
hair-oil, and massage oil. Coconut oil is also a main ingredient
in Ayurvedic oils. In Vanuatu, coconut palms for copra production are
generally spaced 9 m apart, allowing a tree density of 100160 trees
per hectare.

Husks and shells[edit]

The husk and shells can be used for fuel and are a source of charcoal.
[72]
Activated carbon manufactured from coconut shell is considered
extremely effective for the removal of impurities. The coconut's
obscure origin in foreign lands led to the notion of using cups made
from the shell to neutralise poisoned drinks. The cups were frequently
engraved and decorated with precious metals. [73]

A dried half coconut shell with husk can be used to buff floors. It is
known as a bunot in the Philippines and simply a "coconut brush"
in Jamaica. The fresh husk of a brown coconut may serve as a dish
sponge or body sponge. A coco chocolatero was a cup used to serve
small quantities of beverages (such as chocolate drinks) between the
17th and 19th centuries in countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, and
Venezuela.

Coconut buttons in Dongjiao Town, Hainan, China

In Asia, coconut shells are also used as bowls and in the manufacture
of various handicrafts, including buttons carved from dried shell.
Coconut buttons are often used for Hawaiian aloha shirts. Tempurung,
as the shell is called in the Malay language, can be used as a soup
bowl andif fixed with a handlea ladle. In Thailand, the coconut
husk is used as a potting medium to produce healthy forest tree
saplings. The process of husk extraction from the coir bypasses the
retting process, using a custom-built coconut husk extractor designed
by ASEANCanada Forest Tree Seed Centre in 1986. Fresh husks
contains more tannin than old husks. Tannin produces negative effects
on sapling growth.[74] In parts of South India, the shell and husk are
burned for smoke to repel mosquitoes.

Half coconut shells are used in theatre Foley sound effects work,
banged together to create the sound effect of a horse's hoofbeats.
Dried half shells are used as the bodies of musical instruments,
including the Chinese yehu and banhu, along with the
Vietnamese n go and Arabo-Turkic rebab. In the Philippines, dried
half shells are also used as a music instrument in a folk dance
called maglalatik.
In World War II, coastwatcher scout Biuki Gasa was the first of two
from the Solomon Islands to reach the shipwrecked and wounded
crew of Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 commanded by future U.S.
president John F. Kennedy. Gasa suggested, for lack of paper,
delivering by dugout canoe a message inscribed on a husked coconut
shell, reading Nauru Isl commander / native knows posit / he can pilot
/ 11 alive need small boat / Kennedy.[75] This coconut was later kept on
the president's desk, and is now in the John F. Kennedy Library.[76]

Coconut trunk[edit]

The base of an old coconut palm

Coconut Palace, Manila, Philippines, built entirely out of coconut and local
materials

Coconut trunks are used for building small bridges and huts; they are
preferred for their straightness, strength, and salt resistance. In
Kerala, coconut trunks are used for house construction. Coconut
timber comes from the trunk, and is increasingly being used as an
ecologically sound substitute for endangered hardwoods. It has
applications in furniture and specialized construction, as notably
demonstrated in Manila's Coconut Palace.

Hawaiians hollowed the trunk to form drums, containers, or small

canoes. The "branches" (leaf petioles) are strong and flexible enough
to make a switch. The use of coconut branches in corporal
punishment was revived in the Gilbertese community on Choiseul in
the Solomon Islands in 2005.[77]

Roots[edit]

The roots are used as a dye, a mouthwash, and a medicine for

diarrhea and dysentery.[8] A frayed piece of root can also be used as a
toothbrush.

Beauty products[edit]

Coconuts are used in the beauty industry in moisturisers and body

butters because coconut oil, due to its chemical structure, is readily
absorbed by the skin. The coconut shell may also be ground down
and added to products for exfoliation of dead skin. Coconut is also a
source of lauric acid, which can be processed in a particular way to
produce sodium lauryl sulfate, a detergent used in shower gels and
shampoos.[78] The nature of lauric acid as a fatty acid makes it
particularly effective for creating detergents and surfactants.

Religion[edit]
See also: Coconut Religion

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In the Ilocos region of northern Philippines, the Ilocano people fill two
halved coconut shells with diket (cooked sweet rice), and
place liningta nga itlog (halved boiled egg) on top of it. This ritual,
known as niniyogan, is an offering made to the deceased and one's
ancestors. This accompanies the palagip (prayer to the dead).

A coconut (Sanskrit: nalikera) is an essential element

of rituals in Hindu tradition. Often it is decorated with bright metal foils
and other symbols of auspiciousness. It is offered during worship to a
Hindu god or goddess. Narali Purnima is celebrated on a full moon
day which usually signifies the end of monsoon season in India. The
word Narali is derived from Naral implying coconut in Marathi.
Fishermen give an offering of coconut to the sea to celebrate the
beginning of a new fishing season.[79] Irrespective of their religious
affiliations, fishermen of India often offer it to the rivers and seas in the
hopes of having bountiful catches. Hindus often initiate the beginning
of any new activity by breaking a coconut to ensure the blessings of
the gods and successful completion of the activity. The Hindu goddess
of well-being and wealth, Lakshmi, is often shown holding a coconut.
[80]
In the foothills of the temple town of Palani, before going to
worship Murugan for the Ganesha, coconuts are broken at a place
marked for the purpose. Every day, thousands of coconuts are broken,
and some devotees break as many as 108 coconuts at a time as per
the prayer. In tantric practices, coconuts are sometimes used as
substitutes for human skulls.[citation needed]

In Hindu wedding ceremonies, a coconut is placed over the opening of

a pot, representing a womb. Coconut flowers are auspicious symbols
and are fixtures at Hindu and Buddhist weddings and other important
occasions. In Kerala, coconut flowers must be present during a
marriage ceremony. The flowers are inserted into a barrel of unhusked
rice (paddy) and placed within sight of the wedding ceremony.
Similarly in Sri Lanka, coconut flowers, standing in brass urns, are
placed in prominent positions.

The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club of New Orleans traditionally
throws hand-decorated coconuts, the most valuable of Mardi Gras
souvenirs, to parade revelers. The "Tramps" began the
tradition circa 1901. In 1987, a "coconut law" was signed by Gov.
Edwards exempting from insurance liability any decorated coconut
"handed" from a Zulu float.

The coconut is also used as a target and prize in the traditional British
fairground game "coconut shy". The player buys some small balls
which he throws as hard as he can at coconuts balanced on sticks.
The aim is to knock a coconut off the stand and win it.

It was the main food of adherents of the now discontinued Vietnamese

religion o Da in Bn Tre.

Myths and legends[edit]

Some South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Ocean cultures

have origin myths in which the coconut plays the main role. In
the Hainuwele myth from Maluku, a girl emerges from the blossom of
a coconut tree.[81] In Maldivian folklore, one of the main myths of origin
reflects the dependence of the Maldivians on the coconut tree.[82]

According to an urban legend, more deaths are caused by falling

coconuts than by sharks annually.
Other uses[edit]

Making a rug from coconut fiber

The leftover fiber from coconut oil and coconut milk production,
coconut meal, is used as livestock feed. The dried calyx is used as
fuel in wood-fired stoves. Coconut water is traditionally used as a
growth supplement in plant tissue culture/micropropagation. [83] The
smell of coconuts comes from the 6-pentyloxan-2-one molecule,
known as -decalactone in the food and fragrance industries. [84]

Tool and shelter for animals[edit]

Researchers from the Melbourne Museum in Australia observed

the octopus species Amphioctopus marginatus use tools, specifically
coconut shells, for defense and shelter. The discovery of this behavior
was observed in Bali and North Sulawesi in Indonesia between 1998
and 2008.[85][86][87] Amphioctopus marginatus is the
first invertebrate known to be able to use tools.[86][88]

A coconut can be hollowed out and used as a home for a rodent or

small birds. Halved, drained coconuts can also be hung up as bird
feeders, and after the flesh has gone, can be filled with fat in winter to
attract tits.
Allergies[edit]
Food allergies[edit]

Coconut oil is increasingly used in the food industry.[89] Proteins from

coconut may cause food allergy, including anaphylaxis.[89]

In the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared
that coconut must be disclosed as an ingredient on package labels as
a "tree nut" with potential allergenicity.[90]

Topical allergies[edit]

Cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) is a surfactant manufactured from

coconut oil that is increasingly used as an ingredient in personal
hygiene products and cosmetics, such as shampoos, liquid soaps,
cleansers and antiseptics, among others.[91]CAPB may cause mild skin
irritation,[91] but allergic reactions to CAPB are rare[92] and probably
related to impurities rendered during the manufacturing process
(which include amidoamine and dimethylaminopropylamine) rather
than CAPB itself.[91]

Coconut varieties[edit]

Many varieties of coconuts C. nucifera are being cultivated in many

countries. These vary by the taste of the coconut water and color of
the fruit, as well as other genetic factors.[93]

Dwarf yellow coconut

Dwarf orange coconut

Golden Malay coconut

Dwarf green coconut

Fiji Dwarf (Niu Leka)

 Green Malay coconut

King coconut

Makapuno coconut

Maypan coconut

Nawassi coconut

Yellow Malay coconut

Coconut Fruit Types[edit]

Yellow Coconut

Red Coconut

Hybrid (red and green mix) and Green Coconuts

In Sri Lanka[edit]

Many cultivated coconut varieties are found in Sri Lanka. Most of them
were introduced by the National Coconut Research Institute; they
identified these varieties during a coconut germplasm exploration
mission in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka.

Coconut in Sri Lanka is currently classified into 15 different forms

grouped under three varieties, namely 'Typica', 'Nana', and
'Aurantiaca'. The visual morphological features of several new coconut
morphotypes were characterized with the objective of including them
in the taxonomic classification of coconut in Sri Lanka. [94]

Varieties and forms of coconut found in Sri Lanka[edit]

King Coconut in Sri Lanka

Common Variety/form Features

 name

Tall stature, allogamous,

heterogeneous, flowers in 6 7
Sri Lanka
(Typical/Typica) years, medium-sized nuts, 20-25
Tall
nuts per bunch, 60-80 nuts per
palm per year

Similar to Sri Lanka Tall. Ivory

Gon colored nuts, petioles and
(Typica/Gon thembili)
Thembili
inflorescences

Similar to Sri Lanka Tall. Soft

mesocarp - edible in the
Nawasi (Typica/Nawasi)
immature nut yields soft fiber
when mature

Similar to Sri Lanka Tall.

Pora pol (Typica/Pora pot)
Remarkably thick shelled nuts

Similar to Sri Lanka Tall. Pink

coloured mesocarp in
Ran
(Typica/Ran thembili)
Thembii immature fruit and a pink whorl
under the perianth. Large nuts

Kamandala (Typica/Kamandala) Similar to Sri Lanka Tall. Large

sized nuts (largest among

local forms), and few nuts per

 bunch (2-5 nuts per bunch)

Similar to Sri Lanka Tall. Small

sized nuts and large
Bodiri (Typica/Bodiri) number per bunch (30-100 nuts
per bunch). Seasonal nut
production

Similar to Sri Lanka Tall. Some

nuts contain a jelly-like
Dikiri (Typica/Dikiri)
endosperm

Intermediate stature,
autogamous, homogeneous,
fruits in 67 years, seasonal
King (Aurantiaca/King
flower production, medium-sized
Coconut coconut)
nuts with orange epicarp and
sweet nut water, 25-50 nuts per
bunch

Similar to King Coconut. Soft

Nawasi (Aurantiaca/Nawasi and edible mesocarp like
Thembili thembili)
Nawasi

Similar to King Coconut. Pink

Rathran (Aurantiaca/'Rathran coloured mesocarp and a
Thembili thembili)
pink whorl under the perianth

Green (Nana/Green dwarf Dwarf stature, autogamous,

 homogeneous, fruits in 34

years, small sized nuts with

Dwarf or pumila) green epicarp. low copra
content, 80-150 nuts per palm
per year

Yellow (Nana/Yellow dwarf Similar to Green dwarf. Nuts

Dwarf or eburnea) with yellow epicarp

(Nana/Red dwarf or Similar to Green dwarf. Nuts

Red Dwarf
regia) with red epicarp

Brown (Nana/Brown dwarf Similar to Green dwarf. Nuts

Dwarf or braune) with a brown epicarp