What is Macapuno/Makapuno?

The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) calls Macapuno “coconut sport,” which is technically the very soft endosperm of a coconut that does not develop normally like regular coconut endosperm. Endosperm is the tissue produced inside the seeds of most flowering plants during fertilization, at which time it surrounds the embryo and provides nutrition in the form of starch, although it can also contain oils and protein, making it a good source of nutrition for humans; it has the same nutrients as regular coconuts. This unusual development results in a coconut fruit whose shell is packed with gelatinous coconut meat with little or no liquid. [Photo from marketmanila.com.]

It is a dwarf coconut mutant tree, which used to be naturally occurring until the PCA was able to develop trees that now yield 80 per cent macapuno fruits; the trees grow in abundance in Albay, a province in the Bicol region in Southeastern Luzon, where the PCA has its research center. The macapuno fruit looks exactly like a regular coconut fruit on the outside, but long-time coconut sellers can easily tell the difference by the sound that it makes when they knock on the fruit with their bolo knives. [Photo from market manila.com.]

Macapuno is not known to many countries, but it is very popular in Asia, where it is a prized delicacy. It is traditionally made into sweets and desserts that command higher prices than those made with regular coconut, which are more plentiful in the local markets.

Macapuno has a firm but not hard texture, and has a pleasantly nutty taste to it. If you are not among the most discerning macapuno experts, it is quite a challenge determining whether a dessert or sweet being passed off as macapuno is genuine or not, or whether it has been mixed with the less expensive young coconut meat to add bulk. Indeed, it is possible to process young coconut meat and make it look, feel, and taste like macapuno. So, beware!

(Photos courtesy of marketmanila.com.)

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopyor_coconut

(Consulted 27 June 2015)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endosperm

(Consulted 27 June 2015)

http://thecoconutsite.com/types-of-coconut/coconut-sport-or-macapuno

(Consulted 27 June 2015)

http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/macapuno

(Consulted 27 June 2015)