It is not easy to get hold of coconut water here in South Africa and
yet it is a wonderful additive to use for orchid tissue culture. Coconut water
has been used in plant tissue culture as far back as the 1940s and more
recently many publications have confirmed its effects on stimulating cell
differentiation and proliferation in a variety of orchids grown in vitro. Coconut water is the liquid suspending
the developing endosperm of immature coconuts. As the coconut matures the
properties of coconut water also change and it is the coconut water from young
immature coconuts which are still developing which contains most of the ingredients
which are beneficial for stimulating cell response in orchid tissue culture. In
addition, the composition of the coconut water also differs from cultivar to
cultivar and between geographic regions. I recently read a very interesting review
paper on coconut water which goes into some lengthy detail regarding these
variables which other papers unfortunately do not include. The review, Prades,
A., Dornier, M., Diop, N., and Pain, J. P. (2012) Coconut water uses,
composition and properties: a review. Fruits
67(2): 87–107 is available at the following DOI: 10.1051/fruits/2012002 or from
the journal webpage: www.fruits-journal.org. In another paper published in
2012, Nambiar, N., Tee, C. S., and Maziah, M. (2012) Effects of organic
additives and different carbohydrate sources on proliferation of protocorm-like
bodies in Dendrobium Alya Pink. Plant Omics Journal 5(1): 10–18, coconut
water used at 10% as an additive to culture medium together with sucrose
resulted in a 400% fresh weight increase in protocorm-like bodies in four
weeks. Similarly, coconut water was responsible for successful germination and
further protocorm differentiation and further growth of Grammatophyllum scriptum when sown on Knudson C (very basic basal
medium compared to some others) – Abbas, B., Listyorini, F. H., and Amriati, B.
(2011) In vitro seeds germination and
plantlets development of Grammatophyllum
scriptum Lindl. (Orchidaceae). International
Research Journal of Plant Science 2(5): 154–159.
So what’s in it then? I have taken the below information from the
Wikipedia article as cited. Although the table highlights the nutritional
components of consideration for human consumption it does not list the
phytohormones or cytokinins which are responsible for the stimulation of the
orchid cells in tissue culture. According to Prades et al. (2012) nine cytokinins have been identified from coconut
water including Zeatin-o-glucocide, Dihydrozeatin-o-glucocide, trans-zeatin-riboside-5-monophosphate,
Kinetin (free-base and riboside), Gibberillins (GA1 and GA3),
Indole-3-acetic acid, and ABA (Absciscic acid). One of the most important points
which Prades et al. (2012) make in
their review is that although coconut water has been shown repeatedly that it
is of benefit for use in orchid tissue culture, without controlling for each of
these phytohormones separately, it is impossible to know which one(s) are
having the desired effects. Alternatively, could combinations of these
phytohormones be working together to create the desired effects, and could this
be optimised for controlled use of these phytohormones in future orchid tissue
culture? This is especially relevant taking into consideration the obvious
variation of the constituents of coconut water between geographic localities
and between coconuts of different ages of maturity. In other words, although we
use coconut water in orchid tissue culture we still don’t actually know that
the results will be scientifically repeatable… Other questions which also need
answering include whether any of the phytohormones are destroyed or negatively
influenced by heat during autoclaving.
One thing is certain though. Coconut water does work (and after
autoclaving). I have used it previously with great results at 10% in the
medium. I recently found a supplier here in Hermanus selling the King Island
Coconut Water brand at a local health shop. I was most surprised so I bought a
few (250ml tetrapak boxes) and decanted them into glassware to freeze for
future use. I previously could only get young coconut water frozen from the
Wellness Warehouse in Cape Town and only when they had limited stock available
from their supplier in Mozambique. In July 2011 I was furiously making
thousands of various species at home and was consuming much coconut water (when
I could get hold of it). It just so happened that at the height of my addiction
to coconut water, Kylie Minogue was in Cape Town for her “Aphrodite” world tour
and happened to send out one of her minions to the Wellness Warehouse to purchase
what coconut water they had for her to use in her breakfast while staying in
Cape Town. I had sent out our work’s driver who was to return from an errand
past the Wellness Warehouse to purchase ALL the bottles of frozen coconut water
on the same morning. As Murphy would have it, as the driver was paying for the
bottles at the check-out counter, there was much flustering from the
late-arriving minion who was told that he (the driver) had the last of it. I received
a frantic phone call from the driver with a passionate plea from the minion to
part with my coconut water… and you guessed it, I kept every last bottle! I did
feel a little guilty though (to all those die-hard Kylie fans out there) but if
I recall correctly, I had my own “Aphrodite” to consider at that time… Phalaenopsis aphrodite! Sorry Kylie, you
are beautiful but so are my orchids…
So, to redeem myself I have done some digging and thanks to Ntsoaki
Phillips from Harrewyn Organics, King Island Coconut Water can be obtained from
the following additional suppliers in the Western Cape, Kylie: Die Boord
(Stellenbosch) 021-8879400, Faithful to Nature (Sunnydale) 021-7853268, Ethical
Co-op (Philippi) 021 3710216, Health Matters (Seapoint) 021 434 5490, Organic
Living (Constantia) 021 794 5078, Spar Cape Quarter (Constantia), The Good
Stuff (Claremont) 021 674 4380, The Healing Tree (Seapoint) 021 439 8147, The
Health Kick (Somerset) 021-8523733, Yoga Life (Waterkant) 021-418 2884.
| Coconut water |
|
Nutritional
value per 100 g (3.5oz)
|
|
| Energy |
79
kJ (19 kcal) |
| Carbohydrates |
3.71 g |
| - Sugars |
2.61 g |
| - Dietary fibre |
1.1 g |
| Fat |
0.2 g |
| Protein |
0.72 g |
| Water |
94.99 g |
| Vitamin A equiv. |
0 μg (0%) |
| - beta-carotene |
0 μg (0%) |
| - lutein and zeaxanthin |
0 μg |
| Thiamine (vit. B1) |
0.03 mg (3%) |
| Riboflavin (vit. B2) |
0.057 mg (5%) |
| Niacin (vit. B3) |
0.08 mg (1%) |
| Pantothenic acid (B5) |
0.043 mg (1%) |
| Vitamin B6 |
0.032 mg (2%) |
| Folate (vit. B9) |
3 μg (1%) |
| Vitamin C |
2.4 mg (3%) |
| Vitamin E |
0 mg (0%) |
| Vitamin K |
0 μg (0%) |
| Calcium |
24 mg (2%) |
| Iron |
0.29 mg (2%) |
| Magnesium |
25 mg (7%) |
| Phosphorus |
20 mg (3%) |
| Potassium |
250 mg (5%) |
| Zinc |
0.1 mg (1%) |
