Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. The name copra is derived from the Tamil word koparai for dried coconut. Coconut oil is traditionally extracted by grating or grinding copra, then boiling it in water. It was developed as a commercial product by merchants in the South Seas and South Asia in the 1860s. Nowadays, the process of coconut oil extraction is done by crushing copra to produce coconut oil; the by-product is known as cake. This 19th century copra trading inspired Robert… (More on Copra)