Coconut
Completeness scorecard
Deterministic gap audit — no score is composite, no cell is LLM-judged. Each chip is re-derivable by re-running tools/evidence/build-ingredient-scorecard.mjs. review: residuals and missing data are worked autonomously via data/evidence/ingredient-scorecard-review-flags.csv and wiki/completeness-gaps.md.
| Dimension | Status | What’s there (auditable counts) | What’s missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Analyte coverage (tier: occasional) | GAP | 0/10 HMTc analytes, total n=0 | only 0/10 analytes have evidence |
| D2 Regional coverage | OK | 17 jurisdictions, top US 38% | — |
| D3 Anthropogenic evidence | GAP | no upstream/attribution sources | link a supply-chain/ hub page |
| D4 Background mechanism | GAP | section present, 0 drivers, 0 upstream source(s) | drivers[] empty; no upstream source to substantiate |
| D5 Pooling depth | GAP | no priority analytes | — |
| D6 Speciation | OK | iAs, tHg, tAs declared | — |
| D7 Basis declaration | GAP | 0/10 populated cells declare a basis token | 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, tAs, U |
| D8 Provenance integrity | OK | 0 claims checked, 0 supported; 0 citations, 0 orphan, 0 foreign | — |
| D9 Mitigation | GAP | 0 cited lever(s), 6 mitigation/ link(s) | section present but no source-cited lever |
| D10 Regulatory coverage | OK | 2 rule link(s), 0 metal(s) covered | — |
| D11 Standards-readiness | NOT-READY | no priority analytes | basis: 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, tAs, U; depth below occasional bar |
| Principle balance | flag | consumer-protection 0.50, contamination-reduction 0.00, brand-value 0.00, legal-defensibility 0.75, scale 0.00 | spread 0.75 — starved: contamination-reduction |
This is a structural ingredient node created so product pages can link to a real wiki target. Occurrence values remain pending until a source is promoted for this ingredient.
Heavy metal contamination profile
Per-analyte snapshot derived from the machine-readable contamination_profile in the frontmatter above. data gap indicates the literature has been reviewed for this commodity-analyte combination and no usable occurrence data was found (a finding, not a placeholder). The Key sources column shows the top 2-3 contributing sources by year and sample size, with numbered wikilink aliases.
| Analyte | Coverage | Typical (ppb) | p95 (ppb) | Confidence | Key sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pb | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Cd | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| iAs | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| tAs | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| tHg | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Ni | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Al | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Cr | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| Sn | data gap | — | — | — | — |
| U | data gap | — | — | — | — |
Routing
This node is linked from plant-milks-non-soy-non-rice.
Contamination Profile State
The machine-readable contamination profile is pending. Ingredient-level values belong here once parsed; finished-product values belong on the relevant product-category page.
Sources
Auto-generated from source-page frontmatter. The “Used on this page for” column is populated by the orchestrator’s POPULATE-SOURCE-LEGEND action; pending entries appear as *[awaiting synthesis]*.
| # | Citation | Year | Type | Used on this page for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Begday et al. 2026. Integral assessment of the environmental safety of plant-based milk alternatives based on heavy metal analysis, Izvestiya KGTU (KSTU News) | 2026 | Peer-reviewed | RU Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu occurrence in Eight plant-based milk samples assessed on the Russian market: four commercial ready-to-drink beverages (one each of almond, rice,… (n=8) |
| 2 | Good et al. 2026. Comparative exposure and risk assessment of heavy metals, nutrients, and organochlorine pesticides in cow and plant-based milks, Scientific Reports | 2026 | Peer-reviewed | US Cr, tAs, Cd, Pb occurrence in Twenty-two commercially available milk products purchased from major grocery retailers in Houston, Texas, USA. Eight milk-type categories: cow… (n=22) |
| 3 | Zvěřina et al. 2025. Essential and toxic elements in plant-based dairy alternatives: implications for vegan diets, European Food Research and Technology | 2025 | Peer-reviewed | CZ/EU Pb, Cd occurrence in Fifty-four plant-based dairy alternative (PBDA) samples sourced from the Czech market in Brno, Czech Republic. Composition: 35 milk… (n=54) |
| 4 | Famurewa et al. 2023. Comparative assessment of different coconut oils: Chromatographic and spectrometric analyses of pesticide residues, toxic heavy metals, and associated contents, Measurement: Food | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | NG/PK Pb, Cd, tHg, tAs, Ni, Al, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn, Be, Ag, Mo, Se, Au occurrence in Three coconut oil samples sold or produced for the Nigerian market: one imported oil and two locally produced… (n=3) |
| 5 | Rebellato et al. 2023. Inorganic Contaminants in Plant-Based Yogurts Commercialized in Brazil, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | BR Al, Cr, Co, Ni, tAs, Mo, Cd, Sb, Ba, tHg, Pb occurrence in Forty-three samples of plant-based yogurt (17 different flavors across 5 brands) and 1 sample of cow-milk natural yogurt… (n=44) |
| 6 | Rebellato et al. 2023. Composition and bioaccessibility of inorganic elements in plant-based yogurts, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | BR Al, Cr, Co, Ni, Mo, Ba occurrence in Forty-four plant-based yogurt sample-lots and one cow-milk natural yogurt sample-lot purchased from August to October 2022 in commercial… (n=45) |
| 7 | Redan et al. 2023. Analysis of Eight Types of Plant-based Milk Alternatives from the United States Market for Target Minerals and Trace Elements, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | US tAs, Cd, Pb occurrence in Eighty-five plant-based milk alternative product units from 19 brands purchased from 10 retail markets and an online retailer… (n=85) |
| 8 | Scutarasu et al. 2023. Heavy Metals in Foods and Beverages: Global Situation, Health Risks and Reduction Methods, Foods | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | IR/CN/GR Pb, Cd, tAs, Ni, Cr, tHg, Al, Cu, Zn occurrence in Narrative literature review covering heavy metals in fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy, meat, edible oils, wine, and… |
Why this commodity accumulates heavy metals
Coconut (Cocos nucifera) accumulates heavy metals at generally low concentrations relative to other tropical commodities. The palm grows on coastal sandy soils in tropical Asia, the Pacific, and increasingly Latin America; coastal-substrate soils typically have lower Cd and Pb than the volcanic-tropical soils that host cocoa and coffee. Coconut endosperm (the white meat) is the fruit tissue that humans consume, plus coconut water (the liquid endosperm) and coconut oil (extracted from copra-dried meat). Each of these consumption forms partitions metals differently between the source coconut and the finished form.
The HMTc panel concerns for coconut are low across the board. Lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic in coconut meat are typically at trace levels. Aluminum in coconut water is documented but at concentrations well below dietary-significance thresholds. Where coconut products carry elevated metals, the contribution is usually post-harvest contamination (processing equipment, packaging) rather than source-fruit metal load.
Ranges by source, region, and variety
Geographic variance is small relative to other tropical commodities because coconut palm grows on relatively clean coastal substrate across its production range (Philippines, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Brazil, Caribbean, Pacific islands). Within these origins, post-harvest contamination from processing facilities (older coconut-meat-shredding equipment, copra-drying yards with contaminated drying surfaces) is the dominant variance driver rather than source-region soil differences.
Variety effects: Tall coconut varieties and dwarf varieties (and hybrids) carry approximately similar metal profiles per unit meat. Mature coconuts versus young (green) coconuts differ in water-versus-meat ratio but not appreciably in per-mass metal concentration.
Processing effects
Coconut processing has multiple steps with implications for metal partitioning:
Husking removes the fibrous outer coir; no effect on meat metal content.
Cracking and meat extraction yields fresh coconut meat. No metal transformation; meat carries the source-fruit profile.
Drying to copra (industrial-scale air-drying or smoke-drying of coconut meat) is a step where smoke-source contamination can introduce trace metals to traditionally smoked copra. Modern air-dried or solar-dried copra avoids this pathway.
Coconut oil extraction (expeller-pressed for cold-pressed virgin coconut oil; solvent-extracted for refined coconut oil) partitions metals between oil and the residual cake. Cold-pressed virgin coconut oil typically carries lower metal content than the source meat because metals do not partition strongly into the oil fraction. Refined coconut oil carries varying profiles depending on the refining process (bleaching, deodorizing, refining steps can introduce trace contamination).
Drying to coconut flour and coconut chips (the dehydrated, sometimes defatted, fiber-rich derivatives) concentrates metals on a dry-mass basis through water removal.
Coconut water extraction and packaging (the liquid endosperm packaged as a beverage) inherits the source-fruit water metal profile. Packaging-source contamination (aluminum from foil-lined cartons, leaching from plastic or PET) is the dominant variance for packaged coconut water versus fresh.
Ingredient-derivative risk
Coconut derivatives that concentrate metals: coconut flour (dehydrated, defatted coconut meat; 3-4× the per-mass dry weight concentration of fresh meat), desiccated coconut (dried meat; 2-3× concentration), coconut sugar (rendered from coconut palm sap; carries Cd from palm sap, distinct from coconut-fruit profile).
Coconut derivatives that dilute metals: coconut milk (coconut meat blended with water; typically 30-50 percent coconut meat by mass; metals roughly proportional), coconut oil (low metal content because metals partition out of oil), coconut water (low metal load reflecting the fruit-water profile).
Coconut-based dietary supplements (MCT oil, coconut-based protein powders) inherit the source-derivative metal profile with concentration adjustments per processing step.
Mitigation options
Sourcing levers (supply-chain-screening) include single-origin sourcing from documented low-contamination coconut-producing regions, supplier-facility QC verification (modern air-dried copra over smoked copra), and packaging-material specification for packaged coconut water and oil. The coconut metal load is generally low; sourcing optimization focuses on consistent quality rather than dramatic reductions.
Agronomic levers (agronomic) are not consequential at scale because coconut metal load is already low; soil-pH and fertilizer interventions that matter for high-Cd commodities have small effects on coconut.
Processing levers (processing) include air-dried vs smoke-dried copra specification, expeller-pressed vs solvent-extracted oil specification, and food-grade processing-equipment specification for grinding and drying steps.
Formulation levers (formulation) are minor for coconut-containing products because the per-coconut metal load is low; the dominant variance comes from non-coconut ingredients in mixed products.
Testing and QC levers (testing-and-qc) include lot-level testing for finished products targeting infant and young-child markets, where the baseline tolerance is lower. See icp-ms.
Packaging and storage levers (packaging-and-storage) include aluminum-foil-lined-carton specification for packaged coconut water (Al-migration potential) and PET-bottle specification for coconut oil.
Regulatory limits that apply
- eu-2023-915 — EU Reg. 2023/915 sets general fruit and vegetable maximum levels for Pb and Cd; coconut as a tree fruit falls under these general MLs.
- Codex Alimentarius does not maintain a coconut-specific Pb or Cd ML; the general fruit and tree-nut MLs apply.
- FDA does not maintain a binding action level for coconut.
- California Prop 65 (california-prop65) Pb MADL applies to coconut-containing products sold in California; the serving-based screen governs.
Page history
The five most recent substantive edits to this page. The full version history lives in git; when DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.
| Commit | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| b0f3d38 | 2026-06-12 | batch | corpus rescreen b04 old terminal skips |