Coconut Cure

By Craig Cox and Utne Reader
Published on October 30, 2007

The humble coconut may hold the key to controlling the spread of malaria–which kills about 2.7 million people each year–without the use of toxic chemicals. E Magazine (Jan./Feb. 2001) reports that Peruvian scientist Palmira Ventosilla has found that coconuts are the ideal incubators for a spore-forming bacterium called Bt (Bacillus/Thuringiensis) that kills the mosquitoes that carry the disease. A cotton swab containing Bt is placed in a split coconut and allowed to ferment for a couple of days. Then the coconut is opened and left in mosquito-breeding ponds. The insect larvae eat the Bt, which is lethal to them, but safe for the environment.

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