Rennaissance Nut

People love to mock the Professor on Gilligan’s Island for all his goofy coconut contraptions. I remember one episode where he made a transistor radio, and then there was the time Mr. Howell had those fainting spells, and the Professor built him that coconut shell MRI machine. Sure it was all a little far-fetched, but it underscored a very important point: that the coconut really is one of the world’s most versatile plants.

The Sanskrit word for coconut is kalpa vriksha which roughly translates to “everything you really need in life”. A coconut provides food (its meat), drink (its water), cooking and/or serving vessels (its shell), fuel to cook with (shells and husks) and building material for a shelter to do your cooking and/or eating in. People use coconut wood to construct houses, thatch to cover roofs and fiber to make mats, rope, brushes and baskets. Of course the coconut palm’s utility doesn’t stop there. People carve canoes out of them, make musical instruments…the list goes on.

Did you know that coconut water can be used as IV fluid? It’s true. The roots can also be used to make clothing dye, tooth brushes and mouthwash. The meat and water can be made into laxatives and curatives for heart conditions, fevers and bladder problems and the oil is an antimicrobial. So you see, the Professor was really onto something with all those inventions of his. I like to think of him as a man ahead of his time.