I usually get the cheaper brown one, but I will get the white one (about $1 more) when there aren't any brown ones.

Can anyone fill me in on the difference? Origin, nutrition, other characteristics.

Same thing - one is mature(brown), the other is young(white)
The meat in the young coconut is softer and easier to digest as is.

...and easier to eat!

the mature one.. you can grind up..use in recipes

the young one..lovely and creamy..go into soups..all sorts..or just eaten plain...easy to eat.. lighter

Wish we could get the young ones here

I get the young coconuts by the case at an Asian Mkt for $8.99 for 9 young coconuts. I like to blend the juice and pulp together for a delicious coconut taste.

The white coconuts usually the young coconuts. They are white because they have the brown 'hairy' part shaved off.The young coconuts have more water, more tender meat, are easier to digest and are more nutritious. I think the young thai coconuts are best (usually white).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2008 08:22PM by Joanne81.

The young coconuts haven't had the brown hairy part shaved off. It's in there, but it's just not as developed. Because it isn't strong enough yet to support the coconut, the white outer material hasn't been removed as it has been with the mature, hairy coconut. Because the shell isn't as hard, the young coconuts are far easier to crack.

If I understand your question, Arugula, you're asking about the hairy, mature coconuts that happen to be white - not the young coconuts that are white but would be brown if they were mature. Is that right? I have bought a white, mature coconut just once. They aren't generally available at the stores in my area. Frankly, I didn't notice a difference in taste or texture. I tried to do some research online, but all I found was that coconuts are a lot more diverse than I had ever thought. I found huge lists of coconut varieties and was unable to identify the white variety I had purchased. My guess is that the nutritional difference is probably minimal. With a lot of crops, the most heavily cultivated variety gets a bad name as the least nutritious, but I'm not sure how often it's really true. Buying the less common variety probably does more good as a vote for biodiversity than it does for you nutritionally.

[if I understand your question, Arugula, you're asking about the hairy, mature coconuts that happen to be white ]

Yes. These are mature and look just like the hairy brown ones, except for the color. They are not really white but a cream color. I am guessing they come from SE Asia because I have never seen them anywhere but at the Asian store. They might be a new cultivar.

Sorry I can't find a pic.

mature ones brown and hairy


young ones green outer shell, but for shipping to US(and most of the world) they are shaved and chemical dipped

when we did have them here they were greenies

Here is the mature and young as most people know them

[www.nandyala.org]


here the young coco, as they are and shaved

[img.alibaba.com]

Yeah, sorry I can't be more help. I've only had one of the white ones. It wasn't white-as-driven-snow, but I don't remember it being noticeably creamy in color, either. Since there are apparently so many naturally occurring types of coconuts I don't see any reason to suppose that it had to be the variety you sometimes buy.

In the end, I can't be bothered most of the time to go to the extra trouble of working with mature coconuts of any variety. Those weeks when my shop doesn't have the young coconuts in stock, I usually just go without.