Phytohormone of coconut water

Coconut (Cocos nucifera) is believed to have its origins in the Indo-Malayan region, from whence it spread throughout the tropics. Its natural habitat was the narrow sandy coast, but it is now found on soils ranging from pure sand to clays and  from moderately acidic to alkaline. It is non-invasive, and  people have been largely responsible for its spread, particularly inland from its natural habitat. It thrives under warm  and humid conditions but will tolerate short periods of  temperatures below 21°C (70°F). Its crown of feather-like fronds and bunches of large fruits carried atop long slender stems makes it easily recognizable.

Preferred scientific name
Cocos nucifera L.
There are no other known species in the genus Cocos.
Family
Arecaceae (palm family)
Subfamily
Cocoideae
Non-preferred scientific names
Palma cocos Miller
Common names
coconut, coconut palm (English)
Kelapa, Nyiur  (Indonesia/Melayu)

Coconut water (coconut liquid endosperm), with its many applications, is one of the world’s most versatile natural product. This refreshing beverage is consumed worldwide as it is nutritious and beneficial for health. There is increasing scientific evidence that supports the role of coconut water in health and medicinal applications. Coconut water is traditionally used as a growth supplement in plant tissue culture/micropropagation. The wide applications of coconut water can be justified by its unique chemical composition of sugars, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and phytohormones. This review attempts to summarise and evaluate the chemical composition and biological properties of coconut water.

Phytohormones are a group of naturally occurring organic compounds that play crucial roles inregulating plant growth in a wide range of developmental processes. Initially, the term phytohormone was synonymous with auxin. Later on, the other plant growth regulators such as gibberellins (GAs), ethylene, cytokinins, and abscisic acid (ABA) were categorized together with auxins as the “classical five” hormones. Coconut water contains auxin, various cytokinins, GAs and ABA

Source information	[1]	[2-4]	[5]
Coconut type		young green	mature*
Auxin		nM	µg mL-1
·indole-3-acetic acid		150.6	0.25± 0.03 0.75± 0.04 1.46± 0.13 0.71± 0.12 0.78± 0.10
Cytokinins
·N6-isopentenyladenine ·dihydrozeatin    ·trans-zeatin ·kinetin ·ortho-topolin    ·dihydrozeatinO-glucoside ·trans-zeatinO-glucoside ·trans-zeatin riboside ·kinetin riboside ·trans-zeatin riboside-5’-monophosphate		0.26 0.14 0.09 0.31 3.29 46.6 48.7 76.2 0.33 10.2
14-O-(3-O-[β-D galactopyranosyl-(1→2) -α-Dgalactopyranosyl- (1→3)-α-L arabinofuranosyl]-4-O- (α-L-arabinofuranosyl)-β- D-galactopyranosyl)-transzeatin riboside	Present
Gibberellins
·gibberellin1 ·gibberellin3		16.7 37.8
Auxin
·indole-3-acetic acid ·Abscisic acid ·Salicylic acid		150.6 65.5	0.010 ± 0.002 ND 0.023 ± 0.002 0.061 ± 0.019 0.071 ± 0.018 1.01 ± 0.10 0.67 ± 0.04 1.03 ± 0.12 1.79 ± 0.21 1.22 ± 0.07

* Five coconut water samples were analysed.
Ref:

1. Kobayashi, H.; Morisaki, N.; Tago, Y.; Hashimoto, Y.; Iwasaki, S.; Kawachi, E.; Nagata, R.; Shudo, K. Structural identification of a major cytokinin in coconut milk as 14-O-(3-O-[β-Dgalactopyranosyl-(1-->2)-α-D galactopyranosyl-(1-->3)-α-L-arabinofuranosyl]-4-O-(α-L-arabinofuranosyl)-β-D-galactopyranosyl)-trans-zeatin riboside. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1997, 45, 260–264.
2. Ge, L.; Tan, S.; Yong, J.W. H.; Tan, S.N. Capillary electrophoresis for cytokinin analyses: A review. Electrophoresis 2006, 27, 4779–4791.
3. Ge, L.; Peh, C.Y.C.; Yong, J.W.H.; Tan, S.N.; Hua, L.; Ong, E.S. Analyses of gibberellins by capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry combined with solid-phase extraction. J.Chromatogr. A 2007, 1159, 242–249.
4. Ma, Z.; Ge, L.; Lee, A.S.Y.; Yong, J.W.H.; Tan, S.N.; Ong, E.S. Simultaneous analysis of different classes of phytohormones in coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) water using high-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry after solid-phase extraction, Anal. Chim. Acta 2008, 610, 274–281.
5. Wu, Y.; Hu, B. Simultaneous determination of several phytohormones in natural coconut juice by hollow fiber-based liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction-high performance liquid chromatography, J. Chromatogr. A 2009, 1216, 7657–7663.
6. Jean W. H., The Chemical Composition and Biological Properties of Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) Water, ISSN 1420-3049 www.mdpi.com/journal/molecule 
7. http://www.agroforestry.net/tti/Cocos-coconut.pdf
8. http://teknis-budidaya.blogspot.com/2007/10/budidaya-kelapa.html