The Coconut: Phylogeny Origins and Spread comprehensively covers the botany phylogeny
origins and spread of the coconut palm. The coconut is used primarily for its oil fiber and
as an article of food including its tender-nut water. Until the 1950s coconut oil used to
rank first in the world in production and international trade among all the vegetable oils.
Since then lower-cost sources such as the African oil palm soybean canola and others have
overtaken the coconut in oil production and trade. The coconut Cocos nucifera L. (Arecaceae)
is a dominant part of the littoral vegetation across the tropics. In addition to discussing the
origins of the coconut and its use as a crop the book covers the resurgence in the use of the
coconut in food pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals.
