Question

The coconut water from tender coconut represents
A. Free nuclear endosperm
B. Free nuclear proembryo
C. Fleshy mesocarp
D. Endocarp

Answer 1

Hint: In a coconut (Cocos nucifera), the surrounding meaty flesh is the cellular endosperm. The primary endosperm nucleus during cell division first undergoes rapid free nuclear divisions without wall formation which form the free nuclear endosperm. As the fruit grows these cells start settling at the periphery of the cavity, and layers of cellular endosperm start forming.

Complete answer: Coconut is considered to be a drupe, which refers to fruits with hard outer covering or shell. Like all drupes, the coconut also has three distinct layers. The three layers include the exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp. And inside the coconut is the endosperm. The outermost layer of the coconut, which is visually is typically smooth and the greenish-brown color is the exocarp. The next inner layer to the exocarp is the fibrous husk called the mesocarp, which envelops the hard-woody layer of the coconut which is called the endocarp. The endocarp surrounds the seed.

All three layers are considered to be the embryo. Inside the coconut is the endosperm. There is free nuclear endosperm and cellular endosperm. During the initial stages of cell division, the endosperm cells divide rapidly without wall formation which is what we know as coconut water. As the fruit grows the free nuclear endosperm starts depositing on the walls of the endocarp forming the cellular endosperm, which is the coconut meat.
Therefore, the correct option is A.

Note: In plants a proembryo is a cellular clump that is formed right after fertilization within the ovule which then ultimately aggregates to form the embryo. The mesocarp of a coconut is the fibrous husk that protects the hard-shelled endocarp. The quantity of free nuclear endosperm reduces, and the cellular endosperm increases as the fruit matures. This can be seen as the difference in water and meat content in a tender coconut and that of a mature coconut.