MACHETE-wielding coconut vendors ply the roadsides in many tropical
countries, ready to sell passers-by the sweet, delicately flavoured coconut
water inside. But because the clear coconut water鈥攁s opposed to coconut
milk or cream made from the nut鈥檚 flesh鈥攄oes not pasteurise well, it
cannot be canned and exported, so its much-loved taste is all but impossible to
find outside the tropics.
But now the UN鈥檚 Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome has developed a
way to purify coconut water using microfilters, which are widely used in the
food industry to remove bacteria and spores. Morton Satin, chief of
Agro-Industries at the FAO, did the initial experiments in his kitchen. Now a
pilot plant on the Caribbean island of Dominica is producing bottled coconut
water鈥攁nd it鈥檚 getting rave reviews.
The FAO has patented the process鈥� a first, Satin says, for any UN body.
鈥淲e were afraid someone else would patent it,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e want this process to
be available to entrepreneurs in the tropics.鈥�
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Coconut producers have been hit hard by the growing unpopularity of coconut
oil for culinary use. The oil is rich in saturated fats, which well-off
consumers are increasingly keen to avoid. Satin hopes tropical producers will
instead be able to market the water as a 鈥渟ports drink鈥�.
When we sweat, we lose potassium and other blood salts. These must be
replaced, as severe losses can cause muscle weakness, and even paralysis and
heart irregularities. Coconut water contains even more potassium than commercial
sports drinks, and less sodium too. This may explain its traditional popularity
among heat-stressed people in the tropics. 鈥淎nd,鈥� says Satin, 鈥渋t tastes great.鈥�