Description
A tall palm tree cultivated throughout the tropics for its large, fibrous-husked nut.
Medicinal Uses
Coconut milk is used in Ghana to treat diarrhoea, and husk extracts are used in Nigerian folk diabetic diets; the oil is used topically for skin and fungal complaints.
Food Uses
The water, flesh, and pressed oil of the nut are widely consumed; the sap can be tapped and fermented into palm wine.
Cultivation
Grown from planted mature nuts in coastal and other warm, humid areas; begins bearing fruit after several years and continues for decades.
