Found some post by a "marliseK" here and thought the response seemed good. I'm pasting it below:
I did a quick google search about
pesticides in coconuts and here are my
findings:
On the website of Genefit Nutrition, a
seller of organic young coconuts, I
found the following information:
"The problem with conventional
coconuts: As young Thai coconuts have
become a highly commercialized
product, the use of large quantities
of fertilizer, pesticides and
herbicides is omnipresent on exporting
farms. In addition, coconuts are
treated with post harvest treatments
such as bleaching agents, fungicides
and preservative to survive the 3-week
boat trip to the US and still arrive
with weeks of shelf-life thereafter.
Without treatment, the fiber of the
coconut will get reddish brown within
hours after husking, the fiber is
prone to mold and fungus development
and the water will ferment naturally
within a few days at ambient
temperature and 2 to 3 weeks under
refrigeration. These natural processes
can only be prevented with the use of
chemicals which often leave a bitter
after-taste.
Our alternative: • Young Thai
coconuts, grown on organically
certified farms (free of chemical
fertilizers, pesticides and
herbicides) • Maximum freshness with
weekly harvest and weekly shipments •
Pealed by hand and polished to remove
all fibers down to the hard shell in
order to skip the conventional
post-harvest treatments (chemicals,
heat, freezing) • Flown in overnight
allowing no time for mold and
fermentation, • Sold/shipped within 48
hours upon arrival in the US."
Source:
http://www.genefitnutrition.com/coconuts.html
On the other hand, I found a paper in
a pretty high ranked scientific
journal (Journal of Chromatography A)
about pesticide residues in coconut
water. In this publication, the
researchers came to the following
result: Two simple methods were
developed to determine 11 pesticides
in coconut water. Limits of detection
ranged from 0.002 to 2.0 mg/kg. The
analytical procedures were applied to
15 samples and no detectable amounts
of the pesticides were found in any
samples under the conditions
described.
I did not read the whole paper and
have therefore no idea if these tests
were sensitive enough or if the whole
setting was reasonable.
Source: Determination of pesticide
residues in coconut water by
liquid–liquid extraction and gas
chromatography with electron-capture
plus thermionic specific detection and
solid-phase extraction and
high-performance liquid chromatography
with ultraviolet detection (N. M.
Britoa et al., Journal of
Chromatography A, Volume 957, Issue 2,
31 May 2002, Pages 201-209)
And then, I found another article,
about formaldehyde in young coconuts.
Matt Amsden, a raw food chef sent some
coconuts to a laboratory in California
and no formaldehyde was detected in
the coconut water. The full article
can be found here:
http://www.basilandspice.com/journal/matt-amsden-tells-the-truth-about-thai-coconuts-and-formalde.html
