Pineapple

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For other uses, see Pineapple (disambiguation).

{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Pineapple | image = Pineapple1.JPG | image_width = 240px | image_caption = Pineapple plant with fruit | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Magnoliophyta | classis = Liliopsida | ordo = Poales | familia = Bromeliaceae | genus = Ananas | species = A. comosus | binomial = Ananas comosus | binomial_authority = (L.) Merr. }}

The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant and its fruit, native to Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. The plant is a bromeliad (family Bromeliaceae), a short, herbaceous perennial with 30 or more trough-shaped and pointed leaves 30–100 cm long, surrounding a thick stem. The leaves of the Smooth Cayenne cultivar mostly lack spines except at the leaf tip, but the Spanish and Queen cultivars have large spines along the leaf margins. The fruit was named "pineapple" because of its resemblance to a pine cone. The native Tupi word for the fruit was anana, meaning "excellent fruit". This word became the source of the word ananas, which is the word for pineapple in many languages. Its natural pollinators are Hummingbirds.

1 Fruit
2 Dietary effects
3 Cultivation history
4 External links and references

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Fruit

The pineapple fruit develops from many smaller berries fusing together (called a multiple-accessory fleshy fruit). It is large and ovoid with a tough, spikey, waxy shell of many hexagonal sections (fruitlet). The exterior of each fruitlet is composed of three fused sepals and one subtending bract beneath which are found large amounts of white or yellow flesh. The fruitlets are attached to a tough, fibrous core, which is an extension of the fruit peduncle. Depending on the cultivar, the fruit can be up to 30 cm long and weigh more than 4 kg. Wild pineapples will contain one seed for each flower that produced the fruit. However, most commercially grown pineapples do not contain any seeds.

The fruitlets of a pineapple are arranged in two interlocking spirals, eight spirals in one direction, thirteen in the other; each being a Fibonacci number. This is one of many examples of Fibonacci numbers appearing in nature.

At one time, most canned and fresh pineapples were produced on Smooth Cayenne plants. Since about 2000, the most common fresh pineapple fruit found in U.S. and European supermarkets is a low-acid hybrid that was developed in Hawaii in the early 1970s.

Pineapple is commonly used in desserts and other types of fruit dishes, or served on its own. Fresh pineapple is often somewhat expensive as the tropical fruit is delicate and difficult to ship. It will not ripen once harvested, so must be harvested ripe and brought to the consumer without delay. Pineapple is therefore most widely available canned. The pineapple juice has been fermented into an alcoholic beverage commonly called pineapple wine which is a type of fruit wine, most commonly produced in Hawaii.

Truly ripe pineapples are not found in the supermarket because almost all pineapple fruits are harvested at the mature-green stage of maturity. Fruit of the low-acid hybrid, usually containing "gold" in the brand name, are of good and consistent quality. Fruit of the best quality will have a fresh crown and little or no obvious shrinkage or wrinkling of the shell.

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Dietary effects

Pineapple contains a proteolytic enzyme bromelain, which digests food by breaking down protein. Pineapple juice can thus be used as a marinade and tenderizer for meat. The enzymes in pineapples can interfere with the preparation of some foods, such as jelly or other gelatin-based desserts. Some have claimed that pineapple has benefits for some intestinal disorders while others claim that it helps to induce childbirth when a baby is overdue. It can also be used in savory dishes to enhance digestion.

Pineapple is a good source of manganese, as well as containing significant ammounts of vitamin C and Vitamin B1.

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Cultivation history

Image:Pineapple field.jpg The pineapple spread from its original area through cultivation, and by the time of Christopher Columbus it grew throughout South and Central America and the Caribbean (West Indies). Columbus may have taken a sample back to Europe. The Spanish introduced it into the Philippines, Hawai'i (introduced in the early 19th century, first commercial plantation 1886) and Guam. The fruit was successfully cultivated in European hothouses beginning in 1720. Common cultivated varieties include Red Spanish, Hilo, Smooth Cayenne, St. Michael, Kona Sugarloaf, Natal Queen, and Pernambuco. The flesh is very tart, except for varieties such as the Del Monte Gold which are bred for sweetness.

Southeast Asia dominates world production: in 2001 Thailand produced 1.979 million tons, the Philippines 1.618 million tons and Brazil 1.43 million tons. Total world production in 2001 was 14.220 million tonnes. The primary exporters of fresh pineapples in 2001 were Costa Rica, 322 000 tonnes, Côte d'Ivoire, 188 000 tons and the Philippines, 135 000 tons.

In commercial farming flowering can be artificially induced, and the early harvesting of the main fruit can encourage the development of a second crop of smaller fruits.

The pineapple is an old symbol of hospitality and can often be seen in carved decorations.

A pineapple	Pineapple fruit on display at a supermarket.	'Victoria', a cultivar of small, sugary and flavourful pineapples, is particularly popular on Réunion Island.	Pineapple etching
Split pineapple