The big demand for macapuno or the mutant nut in the Philippines as well as in other countries offers Filipino businessmen the opportunity to make it big in the business of producing planting materials, or the famous nut itself.

The production of “true-to-type” macapuno is now made easy, says Cristeta Cueto, one of the science researcher specialists at the Philippine Coconut Authority Albay Research Center who developed the Embryo-Cultured Macapuno in 2008.

Cueto said until now, because of the big demand for macapuno both here and abroad, the technology offers a big opportunity to prospective investors to venture into tissue culture laboratory and nursery operations, or to produce the nuts itself for domestic and foreign consumption.

Speaking before an investors’ forum at Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City last November 25, Cueto cited data from the Philippine Coconut Authority’s (PCA), which confirm the wide gap between the supply and demand for macapuno nuts.

In 1999, 134,000 Embryo-Cultured macapuno was required to plant 1,160 hectares and serve the eight million macapuno nuts required by the market, she said.

“Since then, massive planting of laboratory-raised seedlings had been encouraged to retain the status of being the largest macapuno nut-producing country among the coconut-growing regions.

Aside from the PCA-Albay Research Center, which has expanded its production in different parts of the country, several private laboratories have also been established to mass produce the “true-to-type” macapuno seedlings.

“These initiatives, however, covered only about 33 percent of the computed supply-demand gap,” she said.

According to Cueto, a large potential in nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and industrial macapuno-based products is waiting to be explored. She cited studies conducted by Dr. Ma. Judith B. Rodriguez of the PCA-ARC in the utilization of the nut’s highly viscous liquid endosperm that has high content of galactomannan, a polysaccharide, which can be used as alternative raw material for the production of hand and body lotion, hand sanitizers, facial masks, hair cream and hair gel, shampoo, conditioner, and even as biodegradable edible film.

Cueto said the use of the macapuno embryo culture technology gives rise to true-to-type macapuno seedlings which at the reproductive stage, yield 75-100 percent macapuno nuts.

The improved protocol, she stressed had successfully reduced the planting materials’ growing period from 13 to ten 10 months. Moreover, the protocol had been simplified by doing away with most of the complicated laboratory steps. The shortened period and the simplifications reduced the planting materials’ production cost, she said.

The macapuno embryo culture (ECM) technology is the only available technique for commercial production of true-to-type macapuno planting materials.

Investors for the mass production of Embryo Cultured macapuno seedlings will be provided complete technical training on the developed protocol, she said.