Cocos nucifera
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Coconut is a common fruit of the coconut palm tree belonging to the palm family Arecaceae. It is considered to be one of the most important crops in India as for its great uses and demands in the food industry. The flesh of coconut is known to be very high in fat and is used to make coconut milk and coconut oil. It consists of many bioactive compounds of different classes such as Flavonoids, Phenolic acids, Fatty acids and so on. It is because of the presence of these compounds; coconut is well known for exhibiting its antioxidant activities. And besides this, the flesh of coconut has high potential anti-inflammatory activities as reported it reduces NF-kB expression, TNF-alpha expression and helps to proliferate the collagen formation in ulcer cells. |
| Plant Details | Agro-climatic Zone | Vernacular Names | Pictures |
| Scientific Name: Cocos nucifera L. Family: Arecaceae Bercht. & J.Presl Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Arecales Genus: Cocos L. Fruiting Season: Throughout the year Fruting Condition: Ripe |
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Andhra Pradesh : Narikel Assam : Narikol Goa : Narlu Gujarat : Nariyel Jammu and Kashmir : Noril Karnataka : Tengu Kerala : Thenga, Thengu Maharashtra : Naral, Shripal Manipur : Yubi Punjab : Nariyal, Nariyal Tamil Nadu : Tengku Uttar Pradesh : Nariyal West Bengal : Narakela, Narokel |
 Coconuts on tree.  Coconut tree.  Coconuts. |
| Compound/Chemical | Immunomodulatory Activity | Pathway | Immunomodulatory Marker |
| Distilled liquid smoke (DLS) | Anti-inflamatory activity | Topical application of DLS showed expression of NF-kB and TNF-alpha on macrophage. The amount of collagen was also increased and indicated. | NF-kB and TNF-alpha[1] |
| Prolamine, Glutelin-1 and Glutelin-2 | Antioxidant activity | The biochemicals observed in the fruit has been reported to ABTS and DPPH superoxide radical scavenging activity. | [2][4] |
| Major Class | Metabolites |
| skimmiwallin(), isoskimmiwallin(), lauric acid(Endosperm), ortho-topolin(), kinein(), kinetin riboside(), Acetoin(Endosperm), limonene(Fruit), Octanoic acid(Seed), Octanoic acid(Endosperm), p-Coumaric acid(Leaf), p-hydroxy-benzoic acid(Leaf), Palmitic acid(Seed), Quinic acid(Seed), Shikimic acid(Seed), Sorbitol(Endosperm), Succinic acid(Seed) | |
| Fatty Acid | lauric acid(Seed), myristic(Seed), caprylic(Seed), palmitic(Seed), capric acid(Seed), caproic acid(Seed), stearic acid(), linoleic acid(), linolenic acid(), arachidonic acid(), eicosinoic acid(), Linoleic acid(Seed), Oleic acid(Seed), Tridecanoic acid(Seed), Undecanoic acid(Seed) |
| Flavanoid | Quercetin() |
| Glycoside | α-Galactosidase() |
| Phenol | Malic acid(Seed) |
| Phenolic acid | Ferulic acid(Leaf) |
| Phenylpropanoids | 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid() |
| Phytosterol | Stigmasterol(Seed Oil), Campesterol(Fruit) |
| Quinic acids | dicaffeoylquinic acid() |
| Sterol | ß-sitosterol(Fruit) |
| Storage protein | cocosin(), glutelin(), prolamin() |
| Sugar | zeatin-O-glucoside(), dihydrozeatin-O-glucoside(), D-galactose(Seed) |
| Terpene | lupeol methylether() |
| Terpineol | alpha-terpineol(Fruit) |
| Triterpenoid | Squalene(Seed) |
| Vitamin | Nicotinic acid(), pantothenic acid (), biotin(), riboflavin(Seed), folic acid(), pyridoxine(), thiamine(), ascorbic acid(), α-Tocopherol(Seed) |
| Triterpenoid | alpha-Amyrin(Seed Oil) |
| Traditional Practice | Diseases | Plant Part | Additional Knowledge |
| Siddha | Scabies, Itching, Eczema, Ulcer, Punctured wound, Non-healing ulcer | oil | Antiplaque Efficacy of Coconut Oil pulling is effective in controlling plaque levels.[5] |
| 4.1, 04.1.1, 04.1.1.1, 04.1.1.3, 04.1.2.11, 04.1.2.2, 04.1.2.6, 04.1.2.8, 04.1.2.9 |
| Incompatible with milk and other dairy products. |
| CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat-6, Assam, India
CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur-61,Himachal Pradesh, India |