Coconut

How each use is prepared

Parts used: fruit, husk, root, oil, young coconut milk.

• Cough and asthma

  Traditional use

  Cough and breathing · fruit, husk

  How it is prepared: Decoction of the pod, fruit or husk, taken by mouth

  People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

  Recorded in a compiled table of Nigerian ethnobotanical uses (Rafiu et al., 2025) from Oyo, Osun and Ogun States. The table names the local word Kuwapa (Hausa), Agbon (Yoruba) and Akubeeke (Igbo) for this species. No experimental support was opened. ^[3]

• Stomachache

  Traditional use

  Stomach and digestion · fruit

  People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

  Recorded from Ogun State in the Nigerian ethnobotany table (Rafiu et al., 2025). The preparation is not given in the table. No experimental support was opened. ^[3]

• Wounds

  Traditional use

  Wounds · root

  People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

  Recorded from Oyo State in the Nigerian ethnobotany table (Rafiu et al., 2025). The preparation is not given. No experimental support was opened. ^[3]

• Fever

  Traditional use

  Fever · root

  People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

  PROTA says the roots are considered antipyretic (fever-reducing). This is a traditional belief, and no study was opened that tests it. ^[1]

• Urine flow, constipation and diarrhoea

  Traditional use

  Stomach and digestion · young coconut milk

  People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

  PROTA says the milk of young coconut is diuretic, laxative and antidiarrhoeal, and that it counteracts the effects of poison. These are traditional beliefs. No study was opened that tests them. ^[1]

• Diseased skin

  Traditional use

  Skin · oil

  People use it this way, but it has not been tested.

  PROTA says coconut oil is used to treat diseased skin and in embrocations (rubbing preparations). No experimental support was opened. ^[1]

• Mouth thrush

  Studied in people

  Infections · oil

  How it is prepared: Flavour-enhanced mouthwash based on virgin coconut oil, used as a rinse for 14 days in a trial

  Tested in at least one human study. Read the note for how strong the result is.

  One randomised trial in 51 older adults in Thailand (Soodsakorn et al., 2025) found that the formulated mouthwash reduced oral Candida counts by day 14, with efficacy comparable to chlorhexidine. Chlorhexidine reduced bacteria more. This is one small, short trial of a formulated product, not of plain coconut oil or the plant, so the evidence is weak. ^[5]

About this plant

A tall palm whose fruit, husk, roots and oil are used in traditional medicine across the tropics. The one human study opened tested a coconut-oil mouthwash, not the plant itself.

How to recognise it

An unbranched palm up to about 30 m tall, with a terminal crown of large pinnate leaves (leaflets arranged along both sides of a central stalk) that are spirally arranged along the trunk. The trunk is pale grey and conspicuously ringed with the scars of fallen leaves, and it is often curved or leaning. The fruit is a large coconut with a thick fibrous husk. The Useful Tropical Plants and PROTA pages describe the thick husk as letting the fruit float long distances at sea.

Where it grows

PROTA describes coconut as a crop of the humid tropics that tolerates a range of temperatures and water supply. It is most often grown near the sea on sandy coastal land, where it is common even at the edges of its climate range.

Native to

Coastal regions of tropical Asia and the Pacific, according to PROTA. Its primary centre of origin is disputed.

In Nigeria

The GBIF occurrence search returns 113 records from Nigeria for this species, a record count and not a survey. The Nigerian ethnobotany table in Rafiu et al. (2025) records the cited traditional uses from Oyo, Osun and Ogun States.

States

Oyo, Osun, Ogun

Scientific details

Scientific name

Cocos nucifera L.

Family

Arecaceae

Older names

Calappa nucifera, Cocos indica, Cocos nana, Diplothemium henryanum, Palma cocos

Sources

Not yet reviewed Drafted with AI from the sources below. Treat with care.

1. Cocos nucifera L. (PROTA, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, Pl@ntUse). PROTA.
2. Cocos nucifera - Useful Tropical Plants. Tropical Plants Database (tropical.theferns.info).
3. Rafiu BO, Omotayo AO, Lawal IO, Aremu AO. Ethnobotanical uses of plants in Nigeria: an analysis of current research trends and patterns. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (PMCID PMC12369106), 2025. PMID 40841969.
4. Cocos nucifera L. - GBIF species match (accepted name, usageKey 2735117). Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
5. Soodsakorn A, Chaiyana W, Ittichaicharoen J, Wanachantararak P, Wongtapin M, Sookkhee S, Owittayakul D. A Randomized Trial in Older Adults of a Flavor-Enhanced Coconut Oil-Based Mouthwash: Clinical Safety, Antimicrobial Efficacy, and User Satisfaction. Healthcare (Basel), 2025. PMID 41302329.
6. GBIF occurrence search, Cocos nucifera, country NG (record count only). Global Biodiversity Information Facility.