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Coconut Sugar
presented by the Economic Bureau of the Biological Base
Producing coconut sugar is a regional knowledge of coconut gardeners that has been
relayed for many generations. They observed and learnt that plants could produce sweet liquid
from the flowers. Therefore, they extracted the sweet liquid from the sap of cut flower buds.
Boil till reduced. The thickened brown โ€coconut sugarโ€ is used to season both Thai dishes and
Thai desserts.
They knew how to make sweet juice from Talata Nodes before coconuts. It was then
simply called โ€sugarโ€. Later, they make sweet juice from the sap of cut flower buds of the
coconut palm. This is known as โ€coconut sugarโ€. The evidence is seen on the stone inscription
of King Ramkamhaeng.
In King Rama 2โ€s reign, in the Ratanakosin era, there is a strong evidence that coconut is
one of the 8 important plants for which gardeners have to pay tax. In King Rama 5โ€s reign, it was
stated in the book entitled โ€Vajirayanvisesโ€, volume 6, ror-sor 110, that there were abundant
coconut trees in Nonthaburi more than anywhere else. Now, there was hardly any of it left.
The Rajburi Book, in King Rama 6โ€s reign, recounted that there was a contest of agricultural
plants in 1925. It was found out that, in Rajburi, there were 662,200 coconut trees and 346,000
Cocos Nucifera. โ€Coconut Sugarโ€ is mostly produced in Samutsongkram Province.
The coconut tree with the scientific name of Cocos Nucifero Linn is in the palm family
found in Southeast Asia, a perennial with trunks in segments, 10 metresโ€ tall with serrated leaves
looking like approximately 1-2.5 inch bird feathers. The flowers come out at the coir known as
โ€spadix of a palmโ€, small flowers of about 6 petals. The coconut itself is in a round or oval shape,
approximately 8.14 inches in length; 8-9.5 inches in diameter, with smooth shells. They are green
in colour when young and turn brown when old. The middle part is soft fiber. The inner shell is
hard while the flesh is white and soft with clear juice that is insipid or sweet.
There are 2 breeds of coconut trees in Thailand: the tall one and the small one. The tall
one could last for 100 years. The fruits are round, big with thick shells. They are mostly found in
96 เธญเธฒเธซเธฒเธฃเนเธ—เธข เธกเธฃเธ”เธเธ เธกเธน เธเธด เธฑเธเธเธฒเธ—เธฒเธเธงเธ’เธฑ เธเธเธฃเธฃเธก
Thai Food : Thai Cultural Heritage ๆณฐๅผๆ–็-ไผ ็ป้ฅฎ้ฃๆ–ๅ–้—ไบง