YES, WE KNOW.
YOU CALL IT
SOMETHING ELSE.
We list it as Coconut Apple. You might know it as sprouted coconut, coconut sponge — or by a completely different name from home. The comments already let us know. Here's the good news: we're all talking about the same strange, spongy, naturally edible thing hiding inside a coconut that has started to sprout.
SO WHAT EXACTLY
IS THIS THING?
It isn't an apple growing inside a coconut. When a mature coconut begins germinating, part of the seed expands inside the shell into a sponge-like structure. Its scientific name is the haustorium. Its job is to help transfer the coconut's stored nutrients to the developing palm.
A Coconut.
A mature coconut contains water, coconut meat and the embryo that can eventually become a new palm.
Starts Sprouting.
As germination begins, the developing seed starts using the coconut's stored resources to support new growth.
Forms Inside.
The cotyledon expands into the spongy haustorium that people eat — the part LABAY calls Coconut Apple.
CALL IT WHAT
YOU GREW UP
CALLING IT.
Coconut-growing cultures don't all use the same terminology. That's not a problem. That's actually what made this product interesting enough to go viral. We chose Coconut Apple for the LABAY listing. Your family can keep its name too.
SWEET.
SPONGY.
VERY DIFFERENT.
This isn't coconut meat and it isn't coconut jelly. The interior develops its own distinctive sponge-like texture as the coconut germinates. If you've never eaten one before, that's the entire reason to try it.
Sponge-Like
Sweet
Simple.
COCONUT APPLE.
OR WHATEVER
YOU CALL IT.
The name can be debated. The product doesn't need to be. It's a sprouted coconut containing the edible sponge-like structure formed during germination. If you've eaten one before, you already know. If you haven't, welcome to the comment section.
Apple
Also known as sprouted coconut. An edible coconut haustorium formed naturally during germination.
Rare fruit selected by LABAY Market · Little Caribbean · Brooklyn