PINK Coconut Water, Help?

[walnutty]

I use coconut water, fresh from young white/thai coconuts, in my smoothies. The water is usually clear to white and cloudy. TODAY, though, the water came out PINK!!! Does anyone know if something is wrong with the coconut or its water? Does anyone know what would cause it to be pink?

Thanks!

[walnutty]

...bump...

[lodestar]

had the same thing happen last week...drank the water...the meat was kind of slimey so i skipped that part...good question though.

[ReneeH]

Hey, I had the exact same question a while ago! Here is the thread:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=29652&highlight=Pink+Coconut

BTW, I'm still alive.... :eek: :)

[Rubyred]

Is it purple? Very young coconuts are purple and their flesh is gooey and slimy. There is nothing wrong with them. Its the gray ones that are bad.

[John95816]

Yea...just happend to me this morning. The juice was a very light purple. There was very little meat inside. It was kind of a purple slime. So, it seems just to be a young cocnut. I drank the juice, and feel good so far. : )

[Revvell]

True that? We're thinking the pink/purple ones are baaad! Anyone know for sure??? (o.k., googling!) :D

[Aleesha Sattva]

i do this... taste it. if it tastes off... dump it.

;)

[Revvell]

Variety of opinions. Some say that it's water from VERY young coconuts and if it tastes and smells good it's o.k. Someone else said, it's mold and should be returned to the store for another. Someone else said it was the formaldehyde leaking into the coconut then offered a link to Matt Amsden's site where he tested it and found this last to be not true. (the link was wrong)

Everyone who has drunk the pink/purple water (including Himself ~ aka my guy) says it tastes fine and they're still here! *shrugs*

[DebB]

I was watching one of John Kohler's videos this week and he said if it's purple, it's bad. He seems to know his coconuts!

I use a coconut a day and now if they're discolored inside, I return them. I recently had to return an entire case - yuck! *Ü*

[steveoregon]

I've been using green/Thai coconuts for over a year in my smoothies. I've seen many with the pink water and pink meat. In call cases, the pink water always occurs with thinner, less developed meat. This tells me the coconut isn't completely ripe. The purple-ish water or meat has never tasted bad. I always use them, and never noticed anything different about the taste of my smoothies compared to the white meat, clear water.

I've only run across one bad Thai coconut. The water was very cloudy, meat white, and when I stuck my finger in for a taste, it was very sour. Into the trash.



.

[rachamakua]

We eat coconuts we have picked at a neighbors', here in Hawaii, and the meat and milk do turn pink within a few days, so at least in this case I know the coconuts were not treated with formaldehyde. I also would like to know if whatever the bacteria are that are turning it pink are okay to consume! I have used our homemade coconut milk that has turned a bit pink to cook with (not a raw foods person), ie in soup and pie, and those have been just fine to eat.

[ChewNRAWnoobS]

what i first noticed about these frustrating pink watered, pink thin meat or no meat coconuts was something suspicious before cracking it open. after shaving the white husk off to reveal the hard shell i noticed the shell wasnt really that hard, it was kinda soft, and it was a dark brown color. usually healthy thai coconuts are white husked, with a shell that is hard, white color, or a color that matches the husk.
seeing that dark brown, soft shell made me think there was going to be something wrong with this one. i have the crappiest luck, the past 2 times i got a box of 9, the first one i crack open has a soft brown shell...so instead of eating 2 coconuts, im forced to used 3 right away lol. such luck, i guess it's just not meant to be for me. and an extra kick in the butt is they charge $20/9, the price has gotten higher by $1 each time they renew stock, and they only get 2 cases each time as their stock.
does anyone see this commonality as well?
maybe it is b/c the coconut is overly young and dying off at the same time of harvest...
:confused

[DebB]

and an extra kick in the butt is they charge $20/9, the price has gotten higher by $1 each time they renew stock, and they only get 2 cases each time as their stock.
does anyone see this commonality as well?
maybe it is b/c the coconut is overly young and dying off at the same time of harvest...
:confused

I picked up a case of young Thai coconuts at my local Asian market on Friday and wow - $21.50 for a case of 9. That was the highest I've ever seen them. If I buy them at the Asian market, they do not allow returns. If I buy them at the local grocery store (usually twice the price of the Asian market) they allow returns. I buy them at the Asian market and hope for the best... *Ü*

[ChewNRAWnoobS]

If I buy them at the local grocery store (usually twice the price of the Asian market) they allow returns. I buy them at the Asian market and hope for the best... *Ü*

I just cracked open my second pink coconut which is going to force me to open 3 from the box of 9 again. The shell again was dark brown and softer than usual. This time the pink meat had a thickness that lined the whole inside of the shell. Although I didn't include it in my Coconut Brazil nut yogurt... I did scrape out all the meat and ate it all up and drank all the water just to see if I could taste something rancid or fermenting.
I have never, and it has never made me feel sick. Just feeling something doesn't mean it's healthy...but I'll continue to eat them if they taste alright.

The price of the box started off at $13. Within 4-3 months it is now $20. And this is at the cheapest market I have found. Everywhere else one coconut costs $2.50. I have taken pink coconuts that were just too unbearable back to the store with the receipt and showed them I got a bad one in the box. He was ok with it and let me get another one. It seems like a big deal to make over one coconut and it's only $2.5 at most. But it really does add up one after another, box after box. It's not like I buy 1 box every six months. Finding two bad coconuts in 1 box, and three haven't been opened. I'll have to let it slide this time since my ego got in way and lost the receipt.
:ROFL:
:goodday:

[Rubyred]

I just happened to crack open a coconut that was pink inside. :juicy: I took a small sip and it tasted fine, though not not as sweet or as coconutty tasting as the ones with thicker shells. I drank the whole thing, and just felt great not ill at all (I'm sensitive to molds too). The only 'bad' coconut I've had is one I opened up and was it greyish inside, and there was no question it was bad. (No way I was even tasting it.) :eek:

I believe these pinkish-purplish nuts are very young, baby coconuts, as some have stated. Until I see some sort of science study that actually took one of these nuts and and tested it, and then determined the pink ones are rancid/bad I'll just continue to enjoy them. :talljuice:

[Mary Kay]

I think it's because they've been sitting around too long that they get pink. I've purchased a few young coconuts, eaten one, then a couple weeks have gone by before I've gotten to the second one and I notice some pink on the OUTSIDE that wasn't there when I got it. Then, inevitably, the ones I've hung on to for too long are pink inside.

But I've decided to no longer mostly buy the "fresh" ones, dipped in sodium metabisulfite and irradiated....sigh. I'm buying organic, fresh frozen from Body Ecology.

Mary Kay

[MysticTree]

I can't get them in Bristol :(

Georgina

[blue_soda025]

I actually read somewhere that you should not eat or drink from a coconut that's pink inside. Apparently it's spoiled or something. But seeing as how so many people here have claimed to have survived from drinking pink coconut water, maybe it's not bad afterall, lol.

[my5sunests2b2]

Coconut water contains naturally occuring variations in levels of antioxidants, such as phenols, which can make it turn pink. Pink coconut water is as good if
not better than clear coconut water. Consider yourself lucky that you found one with pink water!!! :-) PINK IS ACTUALLY BETTER FOR YOU!!! SO ENJOY! :-))

[walnutty]

Boy my original post is old...lol...

I know longer worry about the color of the coconut water. I always have a spoon on hand to taste a little before I dump the water into the blender or into a recipe. Taste is the best way to KNOW if it's good!

[JoyceHollis]

I was just searching about this...and whattaya know it's on the first page! Lucky me :)

Thanks for the advice walnutty. I trust my tongue more than anything else. Unless we're talking poison...then I leave my tongue out of it.

[LisaC]

I buy Harmless Harvest 100% raw coconut water from Whole Foods. This information is directly from their label... "Got a pink one? Lucky You! Raw coconut water contains naturally occurring variations in levels of antioxidants such as phenols, that can make it turn pink. it's as good if not better) as the others."

[DebB]

I buy Harmless Harvest 100% raw coconut water from Whole Foods. This information is directly from their label... "Got a pink one? Lucky You! Raw coconut water contains naturally occurring variations in levels of antioxidants such as phenols, that can make it turn pink. it's as good if not better) as the others."

How interesting LisaC! Thanks for sharing that :)

[Raw Angel Mom]

I just saw this today that pink is fine, it is the purple color that you want to dispose.

I didn't know

All the best!

[angelique713]

I have opened many a coconut and I don't care for ones with the thinner meat or purplish water. I have always found it easy to spot a good one by turning it over and checking for discoloration on the bottom. If it is white and firm on the bottom the meat always is too.

[Mary Kay]

Well you've all convinced me that the pink ones aren't bad after all!!!!!!

But I'm sorry to be such a party pooper-----as I believe they are all old and dipped in fungicide and possibly irradiated. therefore I will not buy fresh ones any more here in the states, but rather the frozen meat and water. Sorry to be so repetitive!

Thanks again everyone.

Mary Kay