Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
12
Pineapple (
Ananas comosus
(L) Merr.) is also called piña (Spanish), abacaxi
(Portuguese), annachi pazham (Tamil) or nanas (Malaysian), with many
languages using the South American Tupian language name ananas. This
is the only species in the bromeliad family grown commercially for its fruit.
The fruit was called 'piña' by 15th-century Spanish explorers because of its
resemblance to a pine cone. The fruit develops by fusion of fl oral parts (Fig.
12.1). Pineapple is eaten fresh and canned, and the juice is sold singly and in
combination with other fruit juices. Cut pieces are used as a dessert, in salads
and cooked meat dishes, and in fruit cocktail mixes. Today, the pineapple is
found in almost all the tropical and subtropical areas of the world, and it ranks
third in production of tropical fruits, behind bananas and citrus.
BOTANY
Introduction
Pineapple is in the bromeliad family, which has about 45 genera and 2000
species. The
Bromeliaceae
originated in tropical America except for one species,
Pitcairnia felicana
(Aug. Chev.) Harms & Mildbr., a native of tropical West Africa
(Collins, 1960). Plants are herbaceous or shrubby and classifi ed as epiphytic
or terrestrial. Pineapple (
A. comosus
(L.) Merr.) is by far the most economically
important bromeliad. Other species of
Ananas
and
Bromelia
yield edible fruits:
Ananas bracteata
(Swartz) Grisebach,
Ananas kuntzeana
Mez.,
Ananas longifolia
(Rudge) L.B. Smith & M.A. Spencer,
Ananas nudicaulis
(L.) Grisebach,
Bromelia
antiacantha
Bertoloni,
Bromelia balansae
Mel.,
Bromelia chrysantha
Jacquin,
Bromelia karatas
L.,
Bromelia hemisphaerica
Lamarck,
Bromelia nidus-puellae
(André) André ex Mez.,
Bromelia pinguin
L.,
Bromelia plumieri
(E. Morren) L.B.
Smith, and
Bromelia trianae
Mez. The more common are consumed locally,
under names such as cardo or banana-do-mato (bush banana), piñuelas
(small pineapple), or
karatas
,
gravatá
and
caroata
(derived from Amerindian
