Coconut water is the juice in the
interior or endosperm of young coconut. The water is one of the nature’s
most refreshing drinks consumed worldwide for its nutritious and health
benefiting properties.
Its juicy water is usually obtained by
opening a tender, green, healthy, and undamaged coconut. The liquid is
clear, sweet, and sterile and composed of unique chemicals such as
sugars, vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, enzymes, amino acids,
cytokine, and phyto-hormones.
Botanically, coconut plant belongs to the
Arecaceae family of palm trees and has scientific name: Cocos nucifera.
Each nut may contain about 200 to 1000 ml of water depending on
cultivar type and size.
Any nuts younger than 5 months age tend
to be bitter in taste and devoid of nutrients. Whereas, older nuts have
less water and their endosperm becomes thicker as white edible meat
(kernel).
Coconut water is a very refreshing drink
to beat tropical summer thirst. The juice is packed with simple sugar,
electrolytes, and minerals to replenish hydration levels in the body.
Research studies suggest that cytokinins
(e.g., kinetin and trans-zeatin) in coconut water showed significant
anti-ageing, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-thrombotic effects.
Coconut water has been generally offered
to patients with diarrhea in many tropic regions to replace fluid loss
from the gastrointestinal tract and reduce the need for intravenous
therapy.
The osmolarity of tender coconut water is
slightly greater than that of WHO recommended ORS (Oral Rehydration
Therapy) osmolarity.
Coconut water is composed of many
naturally occurring bioactive enzymes such as acid phosphatase,
catalase, dehydrogenase, diastase, peroxidase, RNA polymerases etc.
Altogether, these enzymes aid in digestion and metabolism.
Despite very light consistency, its water
has much better composition of minerals like calcium, iron, manganese,
magnesium, and zinc than some of fruits like oranges.
Its water is also a very good source of
B-complex vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pyridoxine, and
folates. These vitamins are essential in the sense that body requires
them from external sources to replenish.
Coconut water contains a very good amount
of electrolyte potassium. 100 ml of water has 250 mg of potassium and
105 mg of sodium.
Together, these electrolytes help
replenish electrolytes deficiency in the body due to diarrhea (loose
stools). In addition, fresh coconut water has small amount of
vitamin-C (ascorbic acid); provides about 2.4 mcg or 4% of RDA. Vitamin C
is a water-soluble ant-oxidant.
