“Do coquo chamado, scilicet, do coquo comum”: Garcia de Orta em diálogo com a ciência

The scientific work of Garcia de Orta, the Colóquios dos simples e drogas da Índia, was reflected in contemporary and later treatises like the Tractado de las drogas y medicinas de las Indias, of Cristóvão da Costa, or the Hortus Indicus Malabaricus, of Hendrik Van Rheede. Taking into account the scientific dialogue between these and other works of materia medica, we will analyze, from the description of the
common coconut (cocos nucifera L.), the intertextual aspects that denote the scientific knowledge about this nutriment throughout the seventeenth century.