Copra

Copra is dried coconut meat from the core is obtained from coconut oil. The name comes from the word koppara from Malayalam, which means dried coconut in this language.

Production

The copra production in the coconut plantations is conducted in several steps. First the coconuts are peeled and split. The coconut fibers are used as filler for mattresses. The cleaved coconut halves are then heated for about 24 hours in an oven or heated space to the pulp to remove moisture. After cooling, the flesh dissolves, now called copra, easily accessible from the shell. The shells are processed into activated charcoal or utilitarian objects, such as vessels, buttons, rings or souvenirs. The recovered copra is processed into coconut or pressed into an oil mill and collected the oil. Remaining Koprareste serve as animal feed.

Economic Importance

The Philippines with an annual volume of 15.54 million tons in 2010, the world's largest coconut oil supplier (exports 85%) and face stiff competition from palm oil suppliers in Malaysia and Indonesia. While it was traded for example, in December 1998 coconut oil with 770 U.S. $ / t FOB ( free on board), the price of palm oil stood at 625 U.S. $ / t FOB. Currently, the price of palm oil is just under U.S. $ 923 / t

An often occurring en masse on copra beetle is the Koprakäfer