Is A Coconut A Nut. The factor that discriminates coconut from the nut category is its formation. Due to the hard shell and its name its tempting to think of the coconut as a nut. Is the coconut a nut a seed or a fruit. However coconuts lack many of the proteins that people with tree nut allergies are sensitive to so many people who have tree nut allergies can safely eat coconut without having an allergic reaction including our CEO.
Thus coconut can be both a fruit and a nut. Coconut can be a confusing food because it contains the word nut in its name. The exocarp mesocarp and endocarp. According to botanists a nut is a kind of fruit consisting of a shell and seed. Despite having the word nut in its name a coconut is a fruit not a nut. The endosperm is initially in its nuclear phase suspended within the coconut water.
A drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a pit of hardened endocarp with a seed inside.
Some other examples of drupes include nectarines pistachios almonds and mangoes. However its technically a special type of fruit called a drupe which contains its seed within a hard stone or shell which in turn is contained within a fleshy. Botanically speaking the coconut is a drupe fruit not a nut. The exocarp and mesocarp make up the husk of the coconuts. Coconut is still technically considered a fruit but the FDA grayed those lines. Thus coconut can be both a fruit and a nut.