PCA ready to teach farmers to turn 'waste' coconut water into vinegar

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Coconut Authority is prepared to assist farmers in the production of vinegar and supply the local market amid reports of "fake" vinegar being sold to the public.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol has called for interagency validation of commercial vinegar brands after the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute said some brands were made from synthetic acetic acid. 

"The crackdown, if there is one, is a welcome development as far as the coconut industry, because we have now the chance to convert our coconut water as vinegar," said Efren Carba, PCA provincial coconut development manager for Zamboanga and Isabela cities.
 
Carba said coconut water is usually thrown away in copra making, but "because of this development we have now the chance to convert our coconut water from just being virtual waste into vinegar."

He said the process is very simple and vinegar can be made at home.

According to Carba, the simple process in making pure vinegar includes the collection of coconut water and boiling it for 20 minutes before adding sugar and yeast. The liquid is then left in a sealed container for about 15 to 30 days to let it ferment.

Carba said vinegar-making will not affect coconut production since the water is derived from mature nuts. This is different from cutting the flower sheath to gather the sap for coconut wine or ‘tuba’. The tuba can also be fermented into vinegar.

The PCA official projected that Zamboanga City, which produces around 130 million nuts a year, could source roughly about 1.3 million liters of coconut water for vinegar.

"So, from virtual waste, this will be another kitchen livelihood for the Filipino people," Carba said.