There are still mysteries in today’s modern world, and one example is the question whether coconut is a nut, a seed, or a fruit. This “tree of life,” as the coconut is dubbed, is a member of the palm family that grows up to 30 meters. Because of its mind-boggling characteristics, scientists and botanists consulted various realms of knowledge, including etymology, entomology, art, botany, fossil, genetics, and travel just to unravel its true identity.
Coconut: a Nut?
Botany defines a nut as part of an indehiscent fruit that is hard-shelled. The term indehiscent means that the fruit does not reveal the content of the hard-shelled seed until it reaches the period of maturity or decay. Although a coconut has a shell, it is not considered as a true not unlike acorns, hazelnuts, chestnuts, oaks, and beeches. However, despite its unreal nut quality, a coconut’s shell serves many purposes. It is used to make bowls, buttons, and other accessories. In addition, it can also replace wood used in cooking.
Coconut: a Seed?
Botanically, a seed is the embryo of a plant enclosed by a covering called the seed coat. The parts of a seed are the seed coat, the food for the seed, and the embryo. A seed’s embryo still has three parts, such as the radicle, the cotyledon, and the hypocotyl. Although a coconut is not entirely a seed, it has the same way of growing like a common seed. First, the mature coconut falls to the ground, and its embryo develops a radicle from one of its three eyes or stoma. Then, this radicle clings to the ground, while its other end adheres to the inside of the seed and develops a white flesh known as the meat.
Coconut: Is it a fruit?
In botany, coconut can finally be classified as a fruit. A fruit is defined as a part of a flowering plant that is developed in the ovary. However, the general term “fruit” means any part that bears the seed. Coconut is considered a kind of drupe, an indehiscent fruit with a single seed. Like drupes, it has three layers, which are the exocarp, the mesocarp, and the endocarp. Coconut as a fruit gives several benefits. Its endosperm or meat is edible, and can be made into coconut jelly when it comes from a young coconut. But if the coconut is mature, its flesh or meat is usually ground for its milk and cream.
Coconut is indeed an interesting species because it has characteristics that make it a nut, a seed, and a fruit, although the last reveals its true identity.
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