Botanical Name

Cocos nucifera L.

Family

Arecaceae.

Synonyms

Calappa nucifera (L.) Kuntze, Cocos indica Royle, Cocos nana Griff., Palma cocos  Mill.

Regional Name

English : Coconut Palm, Hindi : Nariyal, Gola, Sanskrit : Narikela, Trnaraja, Urdu : Narjil, Narial, Assamese. : Khopra, Bengali : Narikel, Narikel, Gujrati : Naliar, Nariyel, Shriphal, Koprun, Kannada : Khobbari, Tengnamara, Temgu, Thengu, Thenginamara, Malayalam : Nalikeram, Ten, Thengu, Keram, Marathi : Naral, Oriya : Nariyal, Punjabi : Narela, Khopra, Garigola, Tamil : Tenkai, Kopparai, Telugu : Narikelamu, Tenkay, Kobbari.

Part Used

Kernel, Epicarp & Fruit liquid.

Description

It is a tall palm growing up to 30 m (98 ft) tall, with pinnate leaves 4–6 m (13–20 ft) long, and pinnae 60–90 cm long; old leaves break away cleanly, leaving the trunk smooth.  It is cultivated in coastal and deltaic regions of South India, West Bengal and Assam. It is grown both over the Asian continent (India, Ceylon, Indonesia) and in Central and South America (Mexico, Brazil); in Africa. The largest producing countries are Mozambique, Tanzania and Ghana. Drug available whole as well as in broken pieces of endosperm, whole drug 8 -14 cm in size; ovoid, three angled, outer surface brown, somewhat rough due to shallow, reticulated striations; transversely broken; whole drug shows 0.8-1.2 cm thick, white endosperm and a large central cavity; fracture, short; odour, faint; taste, sweetish andoily.

Phytoconstituents

It contains Fixed Oil. It also contains 36.3 % H₂O,  4.5 % protein, 41.6 % fat, 13.0 % total carbohydrate, 3.6 % fiber, Ca, P, Fe and traces of beta-carotene.

Ayurvedic Properties

Rasa : Madhura, Guna : Guru, Snigdha, Virya : Sita, Vipaka : Madhura, Karma : Balya, Hrdya, Vrsya, Vatahara Pittahara, Kaphakara, Brmhana, Bastisodhaka, Vistambhi.

Ayurvedic Applications

Daha, Ksata, Ksaya, Raktapitta, Trsna, Sosa, Sula.

Medicinal Uses

Nariyal are used for treatment of tumors, abscesses, alopecia, amenorrhea, asthma, blennorrhagia, bronchitis, bruises, burns, cachexia, calculus, colds, constipation, cough, debility, dropsy, dysentery, dysmenorrhea, earache, erysipelas, fever, flu, gingivitis, gonorrhea, hematemesis, hemoptysis, jaundice, menorrhagia, nausea, phthisis, pregnancy, rash, scabies, scurvy, sorethroat, stomach, swelling, syphylis, toothache, tuberculosis, typhoid, fungal infections, viral infections, venereal diseases, and wounds.