How Does Water Get into Coconut?

The water or liquid in coconuts that we call coconut water does not get into the nut from the outside. It is actually produced in the nut by the tissue of nut itself. It’s actually what we call the endosperm of the coconut plant which provides nutrition for the developing seed.

As the fruit ripen the coconuts water gets converted into the solid fruit that you find in there.  If you have an unripe coconut the water will be quite sweet and very nice.  The riper it gets the less pleasant it gets to drink.

The coconut is the fruit of the coconut palm. Inside the tough husk is the inner seed, or nut. Just inside the hard shell is a layer of white coconut “meat.” The hollow center is filled with a watery liquid which supplies moisture for the seed.

At the blunt end of the hard shell are three round spots. It is through one of these “eyes” that the young coconut palm sprouts from the kernel inside.

Fresh coconuts are typically harvested from the tree while they are green. A hole may be bored into the coconut to provide access to the “meat” (liquid and pulp).

Coconuts for drinking are served chilled, fresh, or packaged. They are often sold by street vendors who cut them open with machetes or similar implements in front of customers. Coconut water for retail can be found in ordinary aluminum cans, Tetra Paks, glass bottles or plastic bottles, sometimes with coconut pulp or coconut jelly included.

Content for this question contributed by Silvia Quintana, resident of Springfield, Massachusetts, USA