Pineapple
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Fruits
Pineapple
Latin:
Ananas comosus
Origin:
Pineapple is the fruit-bearing plant Ananas comosus (L.) Merr., of the family Bromeliaceae. Native to Brazil, the plant is cultivated commercially in the tropics and parts of the subtropics of the Old and New Worlds. First domesticated by the Guarani Indians in what is now northern Paraguay before the arrival of the Spanish. Unlike other edible plants from the new world, the pineapple was quickly accepted by the Europeans.
The Portuguese were apparently responsible for early dissemination of the pineapple. They introduced it to Saint Helena shortly after they discovered that island in 1502. Soon after, they carried it to Africa and, by about 1550, to India. Before the end of the 16th century, cultivation of the plant had spread over most of the tropical areas of the world, including some of the islands of the South Pacific. Pineapples have historically been considered symbols of hospitality.
Total world production of pineapples ordinarily averages about 8,300,000 metric tons annually, of which an estimated 20 percent is produced in Thailand, which during the 1970s replaced the former leading producer, the Hawaiian Islands. Other areas of substantial production include the Philippines, China, Brazil, Mexico, India, and Taiwan.
The pineapple plant resembles the agave or some yuccas in general appearance. It has from 30 to 40 basal, erect, stiff, sharp-pointed and spiny-margined leaves closely spaced in a rosette on a thick, fleshy stem; the flowers and berries are in an erect, tight cluster.
With commercial varieties, a determinate inflorescence forms about 15 to 20 months after planting on a flower stalk 100━150 mm in length. The originally separate lavender flowers, together with their bracts, each attached to a central axis core, become fleshy and fuse to form the pineapple fruit, which ripens five to six months after flowering begins. Fruits of commercial varieties range from 1 to 2 kg in weight.
When pineapple is cultivated on modern plantations, an asphalt-impregnated mulch paper is usually first laid on well-tilled soil in rows, with the edges covered to anchor the strips of paper. The pineapple propagating pieces are inserted through the paper into the soil, so spaced as to give a population of 15,000━20,000 plants per acre.
Fresh pineapples weigh from 908 to 2270 g and contain the enzyme bromelain, which is useful as a tenderizing agent but can be damaging to skin. In fact, workers who regularly handle the raw fruit must wear gloves to protect their skin.
Pineapple varieties are plentiful, but only a few leading types travel well and are sold commercially. The Cayenne variety is large, firm, and quite sweet, and is perhaps the one most commonly available. Queen pineapples are small, and a little drier and less sweet than the Cayenne. The medium-sized Red Spanish pineapples have purple-hued skin and light yellow flesh. Among the other varieties found at the market are the sweet and medium-sized Pernambuco, the large, heavy, and mildly sweet Sugarloaf, and the sweet, white-fleshed Variegated.
The pineapple has become a characteristic ingredient in the meat, vegetable, fish, and rice dishes of what is loosely termed Polynesian cuisine, a blend of various Oriental styles of cooking. The fruit is eaten fresh where available and in canned form worldwide. In the United States and in Europe it is sometimes used as a pastry filling or in baked desserts.
Fresh pineapples are available year-round, peaking March through July. Canned and dried pineapple are available year-round.
Properties:
Sweet, slightly sour in flavor, cool in nature, it is related to the channels of the spleen, stomach and gall-bladder.
Functions:
Clears summer heat, quenches thirst, improves digestion, stops diarrhea, promotes urination.
Applications:
1. For thirst due to summer-heat or drinking, or deficiency of stomach yin, constipation, vomitting:
Consume fresh fruit or drink pineapple juice.
2. For difficulty in urination, edema with heat:
Boil the pineapple juice and drink it.
3. For tiredness due to prolonged illness, deficiency of the kidney qi, difficulty in urination, dizziness:
Consume fresh pineapple, or cook it in water and drink the solution.
Dosage and Administration:
Blended in the food processor by itself, frozen pineapple becomes a delectable treat rivaling ice cream, but with fewer calories. The fruit is very versatile, and can be juiced, dried, candied, and used in baking; it is often served as an accent with meat and seafood. Pineapple is often the sweet quality in sweet-and-sour preparations. Served with cottage cheese, rice, or in fruit salad, it makes a healthful meal. When slicing pineapple, use a dish with curved sides to preserve the juice.
Pineapples do not ripen after harvest, and are therefore difficult to export. Avoid green ones as they will not be sweet. Inspect the fruit and avoid those with soft or dark spots and mold. The ripe fruit should have a pleasant fragrance; if not, it may indicate that fermenting has begun. Another indication of ripeness is if one of the green spikes can be removed easily from the crown. Fresh pineapple can be stored in the refrigerator up to five days. For longer storage, the fruit may be frozen; just remove the rind and core and cut the fruit into chunks.
Cautions on Use:
Large doses of pineapple juice may cause uterine contractions.
Workers who cut up pineapples may have their fingerprints almost completely obliterated by pressure and the keratolytic effect of bromelain (calcium oxalate crystals and citric acid were excluded as the cause).
Angular stomatitis (inflammation and fissuring radiating from the commissures of the mouth secondary to predisposing factors such as lost vertical dimension in denture wearers, nutritional deficiencies, atopic dermatitis, or Candida albicans infection) can result from eating the fruit.
Reference Materials:
Toxic or Side Effects:
Modern Researches:
Pineapple contains sugars, protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, bromelin, vitamin C, etc. The enzyme bromelin is an aid to digestion.
The pineapple fruit, peel, or juice is used in folk remedies for corns, tumors, warts, diphtheria (an acute febrile contagious disease marked by the formation of a false membrane especially in the throat), gonorrhea (a contagious inflammation of the genital mucous membrane), hypochondria (melancholy), scarlet fever, indigestion, scurvy, sore, sprains, etc.
Reported to be abortifacient (induces the expulsion of an embryo or foetus), cholagogue (promotes the flow of bile into the intestine), depurative (purifying the blood), diaphoretic (promotes perspiration), digestive, discutient (disperses morbid matter), diuretic (promotes the excretion of urine), ecbolic (promotes the expulsion of the contents of the uterus), emmenagogue (promotes the menstrual discharge), estrogenic, hydragogue (causing a discharge of water), intoxicant, laxative, parasiticide, purgative, refrigerant, styptic (stops bleeding), and vermifuge (expels worms from animal bodies).
An anti-endemic substance has been reported from the rhizome. Many real or imagined pharmacological effects are attributed to bromelain: burn debridement, anti-inflammatory action, smooth muscle relaxation, stimulation of muscle contractions, cancer prevention and remission, ulcer prevention, appetite inhibition, enhanced fat excretion, sinusitis relief.
Bromelain is given as an antiinflammatory agent following dental, gynecological, and general surgery, and to treat abscesses, contusions, hematomas, sprains, and ulcerations.
Pineapple juice from unripe fruits acts as a violent purgative, and is also anthelmintic and ecbolic. Ripe fruit juice is diuretic, but in large doses may cause uterine contractions.
Sweetened leaf decoction drunk for venereal diseases. Juice of the leaves consumed for hiccoughs, vermifuge, and as purgative. Juice of ripe fruit regarded also as antiscorbutic, cholagogic, diaphoretic, refrigerant, and useful in jaundice. Young vegetative buds are used for respiratory ailments among Choco children.