Coconut Fiber

The coconut is one of nature’s gifts to mankind. This plant grows mainly in the tropical and sub tropical regions of the world. The tree itself is quite thin and tall with branches and leaves on top and the fruit grows just under the leaves. On average a coconut tree can bear 50 to 150 fruit a year. The fruit of the coconut has an outer shell which grows hard and fibrous and when it dries it falls from the tree. The fruit is then collected and it has a very hard brown colored shell covered with fiber. To get to the inner fruit requires skill to cut or break the shell. Inside the shell is a white layer which is known as the meat and is edible. The meat is also dried and is called copra and its oil extracted. This oil is used for cooking, as hair oil and also as massage oil. It is also used in the manufacture of soaps and shampoos. When the coconut fruit is green it may be harvested and the top of the coconut is cutoff and the liquid inside serves as a cool refreshing drink. This drink is very popular wherever the coconut grows from Sri Lanka to Hawaii. The shell of the coconut has thick coir matting. This coir from the shell is cut and woven into mats and rope. The leaves are cut and woven together to make mats which are used as thatches for roofs. When a coconut tree has grown old and no longer bears fruit it is cut down and either used as firewood or the inner portion is gouged and the trunk is made into a canoe. Coconut coir is also used in textiles and clothing but its usage is more in mats and brushes as it is so hardy that it lasts much longer then any other natural fiber. Virtually every part of this wonderful tree is used.

Coconut fiber is an extract that is made from the meat of the coconut and is a popular health food. Aloha nu coconut fiber is a popular fiber diet that is taken as for health reasons and is considered to be more beneficial then other fiber diets.

As the coir of the coconut is highly resistant to both sea and fresh water it is widely used for making bathing brushes. Coconut husk is crushed and used as fertilizer and the coir is compressed into bales or bricks. Care has to be taken in their shipping and storage as any exposure to moisture and the coir starts to retain the moisture and expand. Coir mats are also used in hydroponic agriculture and is found to be better then sand, peat moss, rocks as a root support. Because of its high water retention and aeration it is ideally suited for hydroponic gardening.

Coconut is a most wonderful fruit; once one manages to break the husk the white meat is eaten; the water inside it is a drink. Some farmers cut the coconut flowers and ferment them to make toddy a local alcoholic drink. The fiber on the husk is used to make mats, brushes, twine; the waste husk is burnt or crushed and used as fertilizer. It indeed is a wonderful plant and there is hardly any other plant that has so many usages as the coconut. The coconut can be dried and grated then sprinkled on food. The husk of the fiber is dyed and used in making clothes. There is virtually no wastage from this plant as each and every part of this plant has found a use in the lives of the people who inhabit the areas where it grows in abundance. Be it as a food as an oil or has a mat or as fertilizer.