Buying a Fresh Coconut

Three eyes of the coconut.

The coconut user who has access only to dehusked nuts at the market needs to be alert to indicators of freshness of the nuts on offer. Choosing a nut requires care, because the edible portion is completely concealed within the shell. The first thing is to feel the weight of the nut - if it seems "light" compared to others there will be little water left inside. Select only a nut which has, on being shaken, a robust splashing sound indicative of plenty of water. Next examine the soft eye, seeking advice on how to distinguish it from the two "blind" eyes. Remember that the shell is usually slightly raised around one side of blind eye. Note also that there are three "stripes" on the nut, which come together between the three eyes. The angle between the two stripes closest to the soft eye is much wider than the other two angles. If the embryo is exposed or protruding in any way through the soft eye, reject the nut as infection and spoilage of the kernel is likely. Infection which enters through the soft eye spreads very quickly inside the cavity of the nut. The nut water and the inner surface of the kernel make this a very favourable place for "bugs".

Look carefully for any discolouration on the soft eye when choosing a nut -it is normally covered by a circular dry brown disc. Look at the whole nut for signs of patchy staining which might have come about if there is a fracture in the shell allowing moisture to seep out. "Old" nuts have a greyish look instead of brown. Fresh mature nuts have a shelf life of perhaps two months at moderate or low temperature. The delay between collection from a farm and presentation in an urban market can sometimes be longer than two months, and a proportion of nuts is generally unsuitable for consumption. The vendor faces the same problems as the buyer and may have difficulty screening out bad nuts. So buyer beware! Nuts from the Caribbean are marketed in USA, Canada and Europe in a plastic shrink-wrap package with an opening above the eyes. This has the purpose of extending the shelf life by slowing down evaporation of the nut water. Wrapping might also reduce the access of decomposing organisms to the kernel via the minute channels through the shell that fibres connected to the palm were attached to during development. Arguably a nut with a "coat" of fibre is less prone to bacterial invasion than a nut that has been scraped clean. In the future a processor may devise a means of sealing the shell and soft eye so well that the nut has a greatly-prolonged shelf-life.

Cool storage suppresses the activity of micro-organisms, keeping the nut fresh for longer, and freezing has been shown to work on a small scale. The value of the nut is probably not high enough, however, to justify freezing by the marketer. Defrosted kernel is softer, having lost some of the crispness of the fresh kernel. This makes shredding in a blender or juicer
easier.

by Mike Foale - from the Coconut Diet Forums

Note: Mike lives in Australia where it is possible to buy fresh coconuts. Most coconuts available in the US are not so fresh due to the fact that they have to travel a great distance to get to your stores..