Brasília, May 13, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - A genuinely Brazilian discovery with benefits that fan out to sports medicine runs the risk of becoming just one more successful research project. Powdered coconut water, which was four years in the making, is now in need of special equipment to be produced on an industrial scale.

The researchers at the State University of Ceará who developed the project are seeking partnerships with private firms to produce the product commercially. "The biggest difficulty with research is precisely removing it from the shelves and delivering it to the producer," explains Professor José Ferreira Nunes, one of those responsible for the research on the product.

Powdered coconut water can be used in medicine to conserve transplanted organs and as a membrane for burns; in veterinary medicine, as a diluter in the process of artificially inseminating animals; and in agro-industry, to prolong the durability of poultry vaccines. It can also be used to restore the energy of athletes or rehydrate children. In powdered form the product maintains all its original characteristics and has a later expiration date and lower cost than other diluters.

Translator: David Silberstein