What’s so special about coconut endosperm?

Coconut milk is an endosperm product that has a growth-stimulating effect on the developing coconut embryo. In 1941, the Dutch plant physiologist J. van Overbeek discovered that the addition of coconut milk led to a marked increase in the growth of plant embryos and tissue cultures. The question of which components cause the growth stimulation arose immediately, and kinetin was discovered. Experimental data indicate that kinetin acts as a strong antioxidant in vitro and in vivo, not only in plants but also in animals. Kinetin has been found to inhibit oxidative and glycoxidative protein damage generated in vitro and to protect DNA against oxidative damage mediated by the Fenton reaction. Protein glycosylation is one of the many factors in skin aging, and this could be one of the mechanisms by which kinetin helps delay skin aging.

Coconut endosperm contains a large quantity of a liquid, “coconut water”. This liquid is part of the system that will allow the embryo to emerge from the coconut and grow until the young plant can start doing photosynthesis. This is why the palm has invested so much energy into this fruit. It is used as a highly nutrient-rich drink containing cytokinins and other growth hormones to accelerate callus growth in tissue culture medium. It contains polysaccharides, polypeptides, and polynucleotides, along with essential minerals and vitamins. Coconut water is used as a supplement with plant cell culture media such as Murashige & Skoog media. Coconut water has been shown to stimulate shoot proliferation in many plant species.