Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
presented in three different forms: whole, pineapple spears,
and single-strength juice (Ramsaroop and Saulo, 2007).
'Josapine' is a hybrid between 'Johor' ('Spanish')
and 'Sarawak' ('Smooth Cayenne') released by the
Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development In-
stitute (MARDI) in 1996 (Chan and Lee, 1996). This
Malaysian hybrid is recommended as a table variety be-
cause it has a good storage life and is resistant to black
heart disorder or internal browning caused by low temper-
atures.
'Scarlett' is a hybrid between 'Smooth Cayenne' and
'Manzana' developed by Agricultural Research for Devel-
opment, France (CIRAD-FLHOR) (Chan et al., 2003).
The fruit of the cultivars and hybrids mentioned above
vary in size from small to enormous, 0.8-15 kg (2-33 lbs)
(Ritzinger, 1987; Chan et al., 2003), and are distinguished
by the color of their fruit (red or purple), fruit shape (cylin-
drical, ovoid, barrel-shaped, etc.), presence of spines in the
leaves, and the color of the leaves (green, red, with a red
stripe) and flowers (yellow, orange or red) (Table 18.2).
Most breeding programs are focused on the development
of cultivars for the fresh market that have resistance to
pests (fruit borers, mites, symphillids, nematodes), dis-
eases (mealybug wilt, fusariosis, fruitlet core rot, butt rot,
gummosis, Phytophthora heart rot, fruit collapse), soil and
climatic conditions (drought, high temperatures, high man-
ganese), natural flowering, and fruit characters such as re-
sistance to internal browning, chilling injury, flesh translu-
cency, and the capacity to attract consumer interest and
create international market opportunities. Further evalua-
tion of the germplasm recently collected in the basins of
the Amazon and the Orinoco will provide many new traits
of interest for varietal diversification (Chan et al., 2003).
in weight (Teisson, 1973). The tough, waxy rind, made up
of hexagonal units, is dark-green, yellow, orange-yellow
or reddish when the fruit is ripe. The juicy flesh ranges
from nearly white to yellow. If the flowers are pollinated,
small, hard seeds may be present, but generally one finds
only traces of undeveloped seeds. Offshoots, called “slips,”
emerge from the stem around the base of the fruit and
shoots grow in the axils of the leaves. Aerial “suckers” are
shoots arising from the base of the plant at ground level and
are used for propagating the plant; those proceeding later
from the stolons beneath the soil are called basal suckers or
“ratoons” and are used for the second harvesting (Morton,
1987) (Fig. 18.2).
When the plant reaches the appropriate stage of develop-
ment it becomes sensitive to climatic factors (day length,
decrease of minimum temperature, and cloud cover) that
determine whether the apex differentiates into an inflo-
rescence. Natural flowering is one of the major agronomic
problems in pineapple cultivation. Approximately 110 days
elapse between the end of flowering and fruit ripening
(Sommer and Arpaia, 1992).
HARVESTING, POSTHARVEST HANDLING,
AND STORAGE
Under ideal conditions (warm climate, optimum water
and soil, and no infestation), the pineapple plant takes
24-36 months to yield fruit. During maturation, the fruit
increase in weight, soluble solids and acidity. During ripen-
ing, the shell at the fruit base loses chlorophyll, synthesizes
carotenoids; soluble solids remain stable and the acidity de-
clines and the fruit attains its maximum aesthetic and eating
quality. Fruit maturity is usually evaluated on the extent
of fruit “eye” flatness and shell yellowing (Paull, 1993).
Consumers similarly judge fruit quality by shell color and
aroma. Schulbach et al. (2007) found that the sweetness,
pineapple flavor intensity, and off flavor were the most
important quality factors in determining acceptability. A
minimum reading of 12% total soluble solids (TSS) is re-
quired for fresh fruit in Hawaii (Anon, 1968), while others
have suggested 14% (Smith, 1988; Soler, 1992). However,
a sugar to acid ratio of 0.9-1.3 is recommended (Soler,
1992).
MORPHOLOGY
The pineapple is an herbaceous perennial plant, 0.75-1.5 m
tall with a spread of 0.9-1.2 m with a very short and stout
stem and a rosette of waxy, straplike, long-pointed green
or red-striped leaves, usually needle tipped and generally
bearing sharp, up-curved spines on the margins (Fig. 18.2).
At blooming time, the stem elongates and enlarges near
the apex and puts forth a head of small purple or red flow-
ers, each accompanied by a single red, yellowish, or green
bract. The stem continues to grow and acquires at its apex
a compact tuft of stiff, short leaves called the “crown” or
“top.” Occasionally, a plant may bear 2 or 3 crowns, or as
many as 12 fused together, instead of the normal 1.
As individual fruitlets develop from the flowers, they
fuse together to form a cone, ovoid, or cylindrical shaped
fruit, 30 cm or more in height and 0.8-3 kg ( 1.8-6.6 lbs)
Harvesting
As a nonclimacteric fruit, pineapples should be harvested
when ready to eat as compositional changes after harvesting
are mostly limited to shell degreening and acidity decrease.
Immature fruit should not be shipped, since they do not
develop good flavor, have lower TSS and are more prone to
chilling injury (Rohrbach and Paull, 1982).
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