Are You Curious About What Plants Can Be Made Grass Jelly

If you have ever tasted a drink that has grass jelly in it, have you ever thought of what plants or grass jelly is made, then you are on the right page.

Grass jelly is one of the ingredients that is very freshly consumed, in my country, one of the famous drinks is Capuccino grass jelly ice, this drink is sold a lot and can be found easily on the side of the road, cappuccino jelly ice sellers sell these drinks with various brands , and very in demand.

Grass jelly usually consists of two colors, namely black and green, can be concentrated and can be clear, this color difference is caused because in making grass jelly can use several types of plants.

Grass jelly drink ingredients are not only a favorite in my country, but also many international circles who like to consume grass jelly, because not only is fresh when drunk, but there are many health benefits that we will get when we consume them.

For the health benefits of grass jelly you can find on sites that have competence about health issues, this time I just want a variety about what plants can be made into grass jelly that we may often consume daily.

Plants commonly used in making grass jelly

1. Mesona palutris

Mesona Palutris

Plants that have the scientific name Mesona palutris are plants that can produce black grass jelly, in my country Indonesia, these plants are found in many parts of the island of Java, people call this plant the name "Janggelan"

Janggelan can be easily found in several regions in Indonesia including Wonogiri, Magetan, Ponorogo, and Pacitan. These 4 areas are the center of Janggelan plants because the people there have cultivated these plants to meet the high demand for black grass jelly, not only for domestic consumption, This plant has been exported to many countries.

Aside from being cultivated by the community, Janggelan is still commonly found as a wild plant that can easily grow in mountainous areas.

To get black grass jelly from Mesona palutris plants, stems and leaves of Janggelan must be dried first, then it can be processed further to make grass jelly

2. Cyclea barbata

Green grass jelly plant

Vines with the scientific name Cyclea barbata is one of the green grass jelly-producing plants. This plant is a plant that is easily found, because this type of green grass jelly plant is widely planted in the yard, in my area usually this plant will be propagated on dry bamboo or tall trees, because green grass jelly plants can propagate at anything even it's very high, grass jelly produced from this plant will be green and very refreshing and cause a cold effect on the body when we consume it.

How to make green grass jelly from this plant also very easy, we just squeeze the green grass jelly leaves with water and after the water is green we leave it for about 1 hour, until it becomes jelly with gel form. for detailed process to make green grass jelly you watch the video below

At least there are still at least a few types of plants that can be used for making grass jelly which I will write in the next article

How To Plant Orchid Using Coconut Coir

One of the ornamental plants known by the whole world is orchid, one type of flower that is Epiphytic type, in its natural habitat, the orchid will live attached to the trunk of woody plants.

This is what then causes difficulties when this flower will be cultivated or planted to beautify the house. Orchid flowers consist of at least 20,000 species and as many as 1000 species of hybrid species have been discovered, this number will continue to grow with more and more people crossing various types of orchids that already exist, to get new species of orchids.

One of the easy methods applied in growing orchids is to use coconut coir. How to :

1. Prepare the coconut coir growing media

At the earliest stage, is to prepare the planting media in the form of coconut coir, try to choose coconut coir that is old and dry, with the characteristics of dark brown fiber, after that soak coconut coir for approximately 6 hours, soaking with water is done so that tannin compounds that are has toxic properties in the coconut husk is lost, after that repeat again soaking using a fungicide to remove fungus on the coconut coir so it does not interfere with the growth of orchids, after soaking with fungicide solution, then lift and dry until the coconut coir is not too wet and not too dry .

2. Choosing and preparing Orchid Seeds

Orchid seeds that you want to grow can be obtained by buying from a plant shop or your own cultivation, choose orchid seeds that have healthy and sturdy roots and leaves, with bright green leaf characteristics. and make sure there are no defects or sores on the roots of orchid plants.

3. Preparing the Pot

Pot that is usually used in growing orchids is a pot that comes from soil material, things that must be considered are the cleanliness of the pot, including ensuring that there is no fungus that can interfere with the growth of orchids, this can be done by soaking or washing the pot with a fungicide solution before use to plant.

4. Planting orchids in coconut coir media.

After coconut coir media, healthy orchid seeds and are not deformed, and pots are available, the next step is to plant orchids on coconut coir, the method is:

- Add wood charcoal to the bottom of the pot

- Then wrap the roots of the orchid plant on the coconut fiber

- Then put it in a pot

- Place it in a place and try not to be exposed to direct sunlight.

- Flush the orchid plant after one week of planting it in a pot.

5. Care and maintenance

Caring for and maintaining orchid plants is not too difficult, some of which are:

- Sprinkling

Watering the plants is done twice a day  in the morning and evening, pay attention to the temperature and weather in your area, if it is the rainy season then you should not do watering, because one of the characteristics of coconut coir is that it can store water well, do intensive watering during the dry season or summer.

- Fertilizing

You can start fertilizing orchids if they are one month old after planting, fertilizers that can be used are organic fertilizer or Slow release fertilizer (SRF), and can also use leaf fertilizer at a dose of 5 grams / liter every 3 weeks.

- Replacement of planting media

Although coconut coir is a good growing medium for orchids, it still needs to be replaced, because coconut coir is easy to decay and rot, and can cause orchid growth to be sub optimal, replacing the coconut coir planting media every 4-6 months, be careful when replacing so that the roots of orchids are not damaged.

That's how to grow orchids using coconut coir media, hopefully useful and good luck trying at home.

Benefits of Young Coconut Water for Endurance

Benefit coconut water for endurance

For centuries, people from the tropics have known the health benefits of coconut water derived from light green coconut. Young coconut water is a low-calorie natural drink that is tasty and refreshing. Many studies show that coconut water is a rich source of nutrition, including: essential amino acids (lysine, leucine, cysteine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, histidine, and tryptophan), palmitic and oleic acids, and minerals such as iron, zinc, and manganese. The main sugars in coconut water are glucose, fructose, and sucrose, while tartaric, citric and malic acids are abundant organic acids and are contained in young coconut water

Besides being very refreshing and helping to eliminate thirst well, it turns out coconut water also has a myriad of healthful benefits for the body. Moreover, when coconut water is consumed regularly every day. The benefits of coconut water for health include the following:

Strengthened Endurance

Coconut water is an excellent drink because it contains B vitamins, especially nicotinic acid (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), biotin, riboflavin (B2), folic acid, thiamine (B1), and pyridoxine (B6). Furthermore, coconut water also contains vitamin C, folic acid, free amino acids, phytohormones, enzymes and growth support factors. Coconut water can also be used as a substitute for glucose dextrose in medical emergencies and provides an isotonic electrolyte balance. During World War II, young coconut water was used as a supply of glucose in the emergency department because of the absence of sterile glucose. Micronutrients in coconut water also help boost the immune system

Regularly consuming coconut water can help your body's immune system increase. It also ensures that the body's immune system is well preserved so as to avoid various health problems. We will also avoid viruses and bacteria that might threaten health.

Coconut Water Helps Lose Weight

By consuming coconut water for a week, you are more likely to look slimmer. Why? This happens because coconut water can be a supplement that keeps our appetite from increasing. When appetite is maintained properly, the portion of food can be reduced and the body weight can slowly go down.

Ageless Skin

When you routinely consume coconut water, this will make the body synchronized properly. When the body is well hydrated, this will make the skin of the body always stay young, shiny and well groomed. Drinking coconut water is also believed to help overcome the problem of acne and other skin problems.

DIY Mini Drill To Make Handicrafts from Coconut Shell

In making handicrafts from coconut shells, we will encounter a problem where coconut shells have a very hard texture, while the tools we have at home are usually used to cut large objects.

Like a handsaw for example, this tool is difficult to use if we will use it to cut coconut shells, or drill machines to perforate coconut shells, these tools are rarely owned for ordinary people, usually drilling tools are owned by those who work in the field of wood processing, or iron craftsmen .

In my opinion, the most appropriate tool for us to use to make handicrafts from coconut shells is a mini drill, with this tool, we will easily make holes and even cut coconut shells for us to adjust to the design we want.

Crafts from coconut shells have limitations on the surface of coconut shells that are round but with limited fields, handicrafts that are usually made from coconut shells, including, key chains, necklaces, earrings, soap holders, spoons, bowls, and shirt buttons.

From the examples of handicrafts from the above shell, generally the shell is made with a small design but still with a smooth surface and cut lines tend to be difficult to do if we use tools that are commonly available in the market.

In this article, I will share about making a mini drill, which will greatly help us in making handicrafts from coconut shells.

This mini drill that will be made this time requires a number of tools that we can buy at very cheap prices and are easily available, especially if we buy at an online store, what are the tools needed to make a mini drill at home.

Tools to make DIY Mini Drill to make coconut shell handicraft

1. Dynamo 

Printer Dynamo

For the dynamo I use the dynamo found on the printer, on a printer usually there will be two dynamos, I use a dynamo from a printer that has been damaged with the Epson T11 printer brand, I have also tried to disassemble the other printer brands namely Canon IP 2770, and it turns out that the dynamo on the printer is the same size.

2. Laptop charger

Laptop Charger DC 12 Volt and 19 Volt

Laptop chargers are a power source that will be used to rotate the dynamo, because the former printer dynamo is a dynamo with a DC voltage, a charger that we can use can be a charger with a voltage of 12 Volt to 19 Volt, the greater the voltage the laptop charger is used, will make the dynamo spin faster.

3. Charger socket 

Socket For Laptop Charger

Which is a self-made socket with pieces of copper cable and a piece of plate that is inserted in the pieces of the pen into which the laptop charger plugs are inserted.

4. Mini drill head and chuck

Mini drill head and chuck

Mini drill heads and chucks are an important part, because mini drill heads are parts that will work by locking the tool we will use to cut and drill coconut shells. here I am using a Mini 0.3-3.5mm Drill Bit Set for Electronic Drill.

5. Solder

Used for connecting cables, If you can use it

6. 3/4 Inch pipe joints or 1 Inch pipe size 

Pipe for body mini drill

Used as a body, the dynamo has been assembled in such a way then we put it in the pipe.

7. Mini drill

Mini drill 

Used to make a small hole in a coconut shell, the drill bit that I use is 0.3 -3.4mm in size.

8. Grinding eyes Mini diamond saw

Grinding eyes Mini diamond saw

Can be used to cut or scrape coconut shells, for coconut shell handicraft forms such as key chains, spoons, necklaces and earrings, very suitable if done with a mini grinding eye, I use a grinding eye with a size of 22 mm

9. Drill Bits with HSS High Speed Steel Size 3 mm

Used to make larger holes in coconut shell crafts.

How to make your own mini drill when the tool above is available is very easy.

Difference Between Kopyor Coconut (Macapuno tree) VS Coconut Tree

Macapuno or Kopyor Coconut

Difference between kopyor coconut (macapuno tree) vc coconut tree - First time I want to explain that Kopyor  Coconut (Indonesia), Macapuno (Philippine), is one of the same type, only different names because of different countries, and further, if I call the Kopyor coconut it's the same as Macapuno.

Kopyor Coconut is very different from ordinary coconut. This coconut is an abnormal fruit. in ordinary coconut, the meat sticks to the shell apart from coconut water. The flesh is not attached to the coconut shell. when shaken, the sound it produces is very distinctive, unlike ordinary coconut.

Difference between Kopyor coconut or macapuno tree and coconut tree

Kopyor coconut and coconut trees are 100% the same structure and shape, have the same scientific name, the difference is only in fruits that have different meat characteristic and shapes caused by many factors, one of which is genetic.

Fruit in kopyor Coconut (macapuno) and ordinary coconut have a very significant difference. Starting from the differences in the physical fruit, to the difference in economic value. Regarding the difference between kopyor coconut with ordinary coconut from its physical indeed requires special abilities.

The way to differentiate coconut kopyor from coconut is usually done at harvest time, when the fruit is not too young and not too old, because the kopyor coconut will take its flesh and water, and the best time to taste meat and water is in the condition of the fruit not too young and not too old.

This differentiation process will apply to coconut trees where the percentage of kopyor coconuts is not 100%, meaning that in one coconut bunch not all of them produce kopyor coconuts, kopyor coconuts will be harvest and sold, while ordinary coconuts will be left to age and made into kopyor coconut seeds.

Coconut becomes macapuno/kopyor because meat is not attached to the shell, cellulose (raw fiber) from kopyor coconut meat is also not formed. Until the kopyor coconut texture remains soft and tender. Therefore, many people think that Kopyor coconut is a young coconut. Though kopyor coconut is actually picked after the age is ripe but not old yet. All types of coconuts, tall type and dwarf type, can also be kopyor coconut, the only difference is the percentage of how coconut can be a kopyor in a bunch.

The ability to recognize kopyor coconut or not is not easy. It takes practice and hands-on practice to be able to distinguish coconut kopyor from ordinary coconut when it is still in the form of fruit complete with it’s husk and shell , and the fruit is still in a tree. On this occasion we will review the differences between kopyor coconut and ordinary coconut.

Difference between Kopyor coconut (Macapuno) tree VS coconut tree :

1. Different Knocking Sounds from nut fruit

Kopyor coconut when tapped with a finger and a certain rhythm will make a sound. Likewise with ordinary coconuts when knocked will also make a sound. It's just that the sound produced by coconut kopyor and the sound produced by ordinary coconut is very different.

The sound produced by kopyor coconut when tapped with a certain rhythm produces a softer sound than ordinary old coconut which is usually louder and sounds louder.

2. Different Sounds of Water Shocks

Another way to differentiate kopyor coconut from ordinary coconut is to shake it. When kopyor coconut is shaken, the water inside the coconut will emerge a clear and soft sound, this is due to the mixing of water with kopyor coconut meat. Whereas if the coconut is shaken, it will cause loud water noises, this is because the water crashes into coconut meat.

3. Different meat shapes and textures

If you want to clearly differentiate between kopyor coconut and ordinary old coconut, it is by splitting the coconut. When it is cut, it will show a clear difference in the meat kopyor coconut meat will fall out and be separated from the shell. Unlike ordinary coconuts that stick, thick and hard on the shell.

4. Difference in terms of price

There is no doubt about this difference. The price of kopyor coconut is much higher than the price of ordinary coconut. Kopyor coconut prices reach 10x the price of ordinary coconuts.

Those are some differences between kopyor coconut/Macapuno tree vs coconut tree. Hopefully this review about the difference between kopyor coconut and ordinary coconut can clarify your knowledge and answer your curiosity about both tree.

How to Make Activated Carbon from Coconut Shell

How to make activated carbon from coconut shell - When talking about coconuts, then we get very many benefits, especially the consumption of meat and coconut water for human life, such as coconut milk, is an ingredient obtained from the results of the old coconut meat juice.

But the huge consumption of coconuts also adds a new problem, namely waste generated from coconut processing, one of which is coconut shell.

Coconut shell if not processed further will not have a sale value, one of the uses that have been made to change the coconut shell waste is to make it into handicrafts or make them into charcoal.

Coconut shell charcoal so far in my area is only used as fuel in food processing, such as baking sate (Indonesia), burning fish or chicken, and to smoke fish.

But if we want to increase the economic value of charcoal, we can make coconut shell charcoal into briquettes or activated carbon charcoal.

How to make activated carbon from coconut shells

How to make activated carbon from coconut shells is relatively easy, activated carbon from charcoal serves as a filter for water purification, gas purification, beverage industry, pharmaceuticals, catalysts, etc.

Coconut shell has a superior quality to be used as activated carbon, but we must also pay attention to the shape and size, and type of coconut shell used.

A good coconut shell shape that is used is half or as much as a circle, if the size is too small, then the quality of activated carbon will decrease, and in terms of quality, the old coconut shell is the best, which means we can use shells from the copra processing industry.

The coconut which is chosen in the copra industry to have good quality must use old coconut, and the type of tall coconut in the most demanded in making copra, tall coconut has a large and thick shell.

Important note if you want to make activated carbon from coconut shells, make sure that the shell is completely clean from coconut fiber.

In making activated carbon with coconut shells, there are two stages :
 1. Tools used in the process of burning coconut shells into charcoal must have a lid
 2. The process of grinding charcoal to produce charcoal powder can be done with a simple machine.

Where I live, the tool used to make coconut shell charcoal is to use a drum.

The following stages of the process of burning coconut shell charcoal :

 1. At the bottom of the drum is given four holes to supply air, then propped up with 3 pieces of bricks so that the drum does not stick to the ground.

2. The charcoal combustion process is done in layers, the first layer is a stack of coconut shells with a size of 1/4 drum height, then the fire is ignited, after the first layer burns completely, then put the shell again on the second layer, repeat this process until the drum is full.

3. When the topmost layer of the shell has burned, take the brick block under the drum so that the bottom of the drum sticks to the ground and will stop supplying air to the drum hole.

4. Make sure the topmost shell layer has burned, and when the fire is still burning, then the drum is closed, the closing process of this drum will stop the supply of air and will make the fire in the drum will die by itself, because if it's not closed, then the burning shell will become ash.

If the first stage of burning charcoal is successful, a black, whole, hard, and easily broken charcoal will be obtained, this is a characteristic of good quality charcoal.

Composition of activated carbon charcoal

Charcoal is a porous solid containing 85-95% carbon, produced from materials containing carbon by heating at high temperatures.

When heating takes place, efforts are made to avoid air leakage in the heating chamber so that the carbon-containing material is only carbonized and not oxidized. Besides being used as fuel, it can also be used as an adsorbent.

Absorption is determined by the surface area of ​​the particles and this ability can be higher if the charcoal is activated with chemicals or by heating at high temperatures. Thus, charcoal will experience changes in physical and chemical properties. Such charcoal is referred to as activated charcoal.

Activated carbon or charcoal is material in the form of granules or powder derived from carbon-containing materials such as coal, coconut shells, and so on.

With certain processing, namely activation processes such as treatment with high pressure and temperature, activated carbon can be obtained which has a large inner surface.

Activated carbon is very active and will absorb anything that comes in contact with the carbon.

Within 60 hours the activated carbon usually becomes saturated and no longer active. Therefore, activated charcoal is usually packaged in airtight packages.

To some extent, some types of activated charcoal can be reactivated again, although many suggest that activated carbon is used for single use.

Processing stages coconut shell carcoal

In many tropical countries which are ideal places for coconut growth, coconut shell charcoal proccesing is still found traditionally, using drums or holes in the ground, with the following processing stages :
 1. The shell to be burned is put in a hole or drum made of iron plates.
 2. Then the fire is ignited so that the shell burns, when burning, the drum or hole is closed so that only the ventilation is left open. This aims as a way out of smoke.
 3. When the smoke is bluish, ventilation is closed and left for approximately 8 hours or one night.
 4. Carefully open the hole or lid and check if there is any burning coals. If there is still a drum or closed again. It is not justified to use water to turn off burning coals, because it can reduce the quality of charcoal.

But in general the process of making activated charcoal can be divided into two, namely:

1. Chemical Process.
Charcoal is mixed with certain chemicals, then made solid. Then the solid is formed into bars and dried and cut into pieces. Activation is carried out at a temperature of 100 °C. The activated charcoal is produced, then washed with water and then dried at a temperature of 300 °C. With chemical processes, raw materials can be carbonized first, then mixed with chemicals.

2. Physics Process
The raw material is charcoal made first. Furthermore, the charcoal is ground, sifted and then activated by heating at a temperature of 1000 ° C accompanied by vapor flow.

Activation process charcoal 

The activation process is an important matter in addition to the raw materials used. What is mean by activation is a treatment of charcoal that aims to enlarge the pore by breaking the hydrocarbon bonds or oxidizing surface molecules so that the charcoal undergoes changes in both physical and chemical characteristics, i.e the surface area increases and affects the adsorption power. Activation methods commonly used in making activated charcoal are:

1. Chemical Activation.
This activation is the process of breaking the carbon chains of organic compounds by the use of chemicals. Activators used are chemicals such as: alkali metal hydroxides, carbonate salts, chlorides, sulfates, phosphates from soil alkaline metals and specifically ZnCl2, inorganic acids such as H2SO4 and H3PO4.

2. Physics Activation.
This activation is the process of breaking the carbon chains of organic compounds with the help of heat, steam and CO2. Generally the charcoal is heated in a furnace at a temperature of 800-900 ° C. Oxidation with air at low temperatures is an exothermic reaction so it is difficult to control it. While heating with steam or CO2 at high temperatures is an endothermic reaction, making it easier to control and most commonly used.

Some raw materials are easier to activate if they are chlorinated first. Furthermore, it is carbonized to remove chlorinated hydrocarbons and finally is activated by steam.

In some material goods which are activated by mixing chemicals, a second activation is given with steam to give certain physical properties.

With the duration of distillation and the increasing distillation temperature, resulting in the smaller amount of charcoal produced, while the greater the distillation and absorption capacity.

Even though the distillation temperature increases, the absorption of activated charcoal is getting better, it still needs a temperature restriction that does not exceed 1000 C, because there is a lot of ash formed so that it covers the pores that function to adsorb.

As a result the absorption of activated charcoal will decrease. Then the mixture of charcoal and activator is heated at a certain temperature and time. The results obtained were tested for absorption of Iodine solution.

The most important characteristic of activated charcoal is absorption. Activated carbon is a multifunctional material in which most of it has been used by various types of industries.

Embryo Culture Kopyor Coconuts 100% in one Coconut Bunch

Kopyor coconuts 100% in one coconut bunch

Kopyor coconuts 100% in one coconut bunch - One variant of coconut is kopyor coconut, has many names in various countries, called macapuno in the Philippines, kopyor in Indonesia and Malaysia, and coconut sport in the US.

Kopyor coconut is often also referred to as a failed coconut, because in one bunch of coconut which usually contains 5-10 nuts, there will be around 2-3 nuts which fail to form coconut meat.

Although it is called a failed nut, this type of coconut turns out to have a high demand, because its texture and taste are very unique. Kopyor coconut or macapuno, much in demand, especially for the food and beverage industry.

Kopyor coconut has meat which texture separate from shell, with a savory and sweet taste almost like young coconut meat but crisp, the water content in Kopyor coconut is less when compared to normal coconut, but has a sweeter and fresher taste.

Quoting from https://www.sciencedirect.com, The chief constituent of kopyor water was sucrose (about 92% of the total sugar); in contrast, the young or normal-mature nut water contained glucose and fructose as the main sugars. α-Tocopherol was detectable in the kopyor water. Total amino acid content of kopyor water was higher than that of the young or normal-mature water. Like the young or normal-mature nut water, kopyor water seemed to be a good source of dietary minerals, with potassium as the predominant one.
The relatively high contents of sucrose, glucose, fructose, citric and malic acids might contribute to the deliciousness of kopyor meat. The lipid content of kopyor meat was lower than that of the normal-mature meat, but fatty acid profiles were similar.

To meet the increasing market demand for Kopyor coconut, the steps that must be done is to plant. Here was the problem of  kopyor coconut seeds, for nut seeds derived from coconuts, only able to produce 25% kopyor coconuts in one coconut bunch.

To be able to produce 100% kopyor coconut in one bunch, the way is to do embryo culture techniques that can only be done in the laboratory.

Kopyor coconut seed embrio culture

Embryo culture is done by taking shoots on kopyor coconuts, in this way, we can be sure that when planted and already harvested, 100% of kopyor coconuts will be obtained in one bunch.

Kopyor coconut seed

Kopyor coconut seedlings produced by embryo culture have very high prices in my country, maybe because of its complicated process and guaranteed quality of all 100% kopyor seeds, for 1 kopyor coconut seeds produced from embryo culture are sold at Rp. 1,000,000 - Rp. 1,250,000, this price is very far compared to the usual coconut seeds or hybrids that are sold at Rp. 35,000 - Rp. 50,000 only.


Kopyor coconut seedlings from embryo culture have the characteristic absence of coconuts as a reserve of nutrients to grow.