PHILIPPINE Coconut Authority (PCA) hopes to revive the production of the natural sweetener xylitol from coconut shells in Davao Region.
CJ Toyota Tsusho Philippines Inc. (CJTTP) first ventured in the production of the natural sweetener back in 2011 when the company opened a $57-million plant producing xylose in Darong, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur promising about 15,000 metric tons of xylose for the year exporting to different countries such as Japan, Korea, Canada, United States, and some countries in Europe.
CJTTP was a joint venture of Toyota Tsusho Corporation, trading unit of Japan’s Toyota Group, CJ Binggrae Company, South Korea’s food and beverage producer, and the Anflo Management and Investment Corp (Anflocor). The technology of extracting xylose from coconut shells was derived from Korea wherein the shells were put under high concentration and high temperature and pressure to be extracted.
Xylose is believed to be a good source of natural, healthy sugar with very low calorie content and is often used for confectioneries, gum, and toothpaste production as well due to its anti-cavity component.
It was earlier reported that although the industry was very promising, the company had initially predicted problems that may arise in terms of their coconut shells supply that may not go in parallel with the increasing demand in the export market.
“They operated for about three to four years but it closed down because of the lack of supply of the coconut shells to process so they can extract xyclose… We have seen the wasted opportunity. They ran out of supply for coconut shells. They even got some from their sources in Leyte just so they can supply, since the coconut shells here (during that time) had run out…It was a good operation up until the time they closed down,” PCA Board Member Roque Quimpan told Sunstar Davao.
He added the coconut shell supply was the only huge problem of the xylose industry but the demand for the product was actually high. Not only does xylose help in the economy of the region, it also will help with the health of the consumers. According to Quimpan, xylose sugar had been proven to have zero glycemic index which meant it wouldn’t cause diabetes. He added even ants could not recognize the sweetness of the sugar and wouldn’t even eat it.
But due to unfortunate events like the infestation of cocolisap, the damages done by typhoons, and illegal cutting of coconut trees, the country lost around 36 million trees for the past years.
“For the previous months, we have started with the moratorium on coconut cutting. There will be no cutting of coconut trees except for areas in Basilan and in the province of Quezon due to the cases of cocolisap infestation in these areas. Trees that cannot be rehabilitated anymore can be cut down. We bury some while the others are used as lumbers,” said Quimpan.
Another challenge that CJTTP used to face before was the competing demand of charcoal production from coconut shells which has a higher local market demand than xylitol.
“Now, to offset the coconuts we lost, I would propose maximum coconut planting. We have a budget of around P900 million and we are going to utilize all of the funds available for the coconut planting purpose so we’ll have an abundant supply of coconut shells where we can get xylose from. This was even exported to Canada and the United States way back,” he said also noting that coconuts have varied industry that it supports including the production of virgin coconut oil which is also starting to get popular in South Korea.
Quimpan is hoping in the future, when the supply of coconut shells in the region is back to its abundance, the CJTTP would consider venturing back to producing xylitol. He said PCA’s objective for now is to bring back the number of trees lost by replanting and in future, to show the investors and existing companies that the supply is already good for investments.