purple coconut?

hmmm….. so I hacked open my young Best brand coconut this morning to discover that the flesh inside is purple! ??? I tasted the water, and it tasted bitter, so I’m assuming that when the coconut turns purple, it must not be good anymore. Is this true? I haven’t seen this before.

I would think that would be mold. I’ve never heard anyone else mention that. Don’t eat it!

I’ve had (best) coconuts with purple water before, there was less meat in them, and it was more like jelly. I think they might just have been very underripe.

I had this happen the other day with a batch of coconuts I bought from the store. Unfortunately, I belive the purple to be a sign that it has gone rancid, however, I removed the worst areas and ate it anyways :>, and well three days later I am fine. So I would hate to say go ahead and eat it and you get sick, but it also seems like a huge waste if it is only a bit off color.

Well… the water didn’t taste sweet, so I tossed it, although the purple meat was really quite pretty. I was really looking forward to a nice fresh coconut this morning, but I’d rather not be sick. I was so surprised, though, and didn’t know what it meant. Maybe it’s an omen…. ;)

DON’T EAT IT!!!!!!
purple coconut is rotten, trust me, i have had experience in this matter.

Good to know!! Thanks, Elizabeth, for the confirmation!

yeah, I wondered the same thing. it’s almost like it is underripe as there is barely any meat, it’s more jelly like. I also found that the juice was not as sweet, almost with a little metallic taste to it.

yeah definitely rotten

I understand the purple is a reaction to an external preservative sprayed on the outside of the coconut, meaning that it leaked inside the coconut. Definitely toss all of it.

I’ve seen that before. Not lately. Good to know not to eat the purple ones anymore. :P

I bought four of the (best) young coconuts the other day and three of them were purple. I didn’t know what to do with them at first but this forum helped, thanks!

Does anyone know a source where I can order organic Thai coconuts shipped to me? From what I have read, a few raw restaurants no longer serve foods made from these because there is no source for organic ones. As a preservative, many growers are soaking fresh coconuts in formaldehyde for 5 minutes before shipping to prevent spoiliation. Hard to believe that someone would think this practice was acceptable. Anyway, I know two raw foodist here in my area and we are trying to find a sources for the food items we need, including coconuts. Thanks.

Very young coconuts are purple in color. Sort of a purplish pink color. They turn whiter as they get older and the meat becomes more solid. Taste the water. If the water tastes "off" then take the coconut back to the store and get a new one at no cost. There is another forum on here that goes into detail about it...

I was throwing away purple coconuts and it ends up that they were fine...BUT I did not taste the water first, I just thought, gross, purple coconut and tossed it. Taste that water :) That is the main thing, you must taste it and judge by that. I taste the water even if it has white meat. The other day I opened up 3 coconuts, one had clear water, one had golden water, and one had purple water. The white and clear water coconuts had thick meat, the purple one had thin and watery meat. All 3 tasted fine.

We eat a lot of coconuts. I have only had 1 bad coconut. It was gray in color and the water had a very strange aftertaste, so I did return that one. I also have read on goneraw.com that people say it also might smell badly if it is bad, but that was not the case with the one I had that was bad, it just tasted wrong, no bad odor. When in doubt, don't eat it :), but don't throw away your money. Grocery stores want you to be happy with your purchase and will give you another one, even if it is days later. Giant Grocery Stores have a 200% money back guarantee on produce, if you have your receipt, you get your money and a new coconut. If you don't have your receipt, you get a new coconut. I think others are beginning to have that also.

I have seen a recipe for making coconut yogurt (inoculated with probiotics and cultured in the dehydrator. - sorry, no I don't remember where I read it.) that said if the yogurt turns purple it has grown something bad, and not to eat it.

That would make me think that a purple coconut is one that has somehow gotten infected with something bad. I wouldn't eat it.

Mine was purple this morning. It tasted good and smelled good. I'll let you know if I get sick. =0)

I'm new to raw and have a raw coconut. How do I prepare it to eat?

I just opened my coconut and the meat was purple too. I'm so glad you guys knew about this, although there are differing answers. It does seem as though it was very very young cause the meat was really jelly and the water tasted very fresh, almost a green taste, but also very sweet.
The brand was mellisa's. I got it from winco so wasn't sure what to think. I know i paid too much for it! Back the the asian markets for me.

The purple/pink color of the coconut water and flesh indicates a super young coconut. They usually do not have much meat on them, but they are very sweet .

They turn whiter as they get older and the meat becomes more solid....

THEY ARE FINE TO EAT - YOU WILL NOT GET SICK FROM PURPLE COCONUT MEAT!!!