harden, and it’s mature at a year. Immature
coconuts, around five to seven months old,
offer their own pleasures: a sweet liquid
called coconut water (about 2% sugars); and a
moist, delicate, gelatinous meat that’s mainly
water, sugars and other carbohydrates. In the
mature coconut of 11–12 months, the liquid
has become less sweet and less abundant, and
the meat has become firm, fatty, and white.
The meat is about 45% water, 35% fat, 10%
carbohydrate, 5% protein.
The coconut. This massive seed is borne in a
thick, dry husk and contains both solid and
liquid endosperm to feed the small embryo,
which emerges from one of the three “eyes” at
the end of the shell.
Coconut Meat and Milk A good fresh coconut