Pineapple

Overview

Pineapple comes from South America. In the 16th century the Spaniards brought pineapples to the Philippines and Peninsular Malaysia and possibly Indonesia as well. This plant is now widely grown throughout the tropics and subtropics.

Vernacular Names

Maneas, Moneah (Cambodia), Ananas, Pineapple (English), Pain de sucre (France), Nanas (Indonesia), Ananas, Nat (Laos), Nanas, Nanas pager (Malaysia), Piña (Spanish), Dúa, Thom (Vietnam).

Agroecology

Pineapple grows and develops in areas with a temperature range of 23-32 °C. The plant is tolerant of dry seasons and extensive rainfall; 1,000-1,500 mm per year is considered ideal. Pineapple grows well in well-drained sandy soil, with high natural ingredients and a pH of 4.5-6.5. However, pineapple can be grown in a variety of soil types, such as the corrosive peat (pH 3-5) in Malaysia.

Morphology

• Fruit - a coenocarpium shaped by an broad thickening of the pivot of the inflorescence and by the combination of the little berry-like person natural products; the difficult skin of the natural product is shaped by the tireless sepals and flower bracts, which more or less combine; on normal the natural product is round and hollow, almost 20 cm long and 14 cm in distance across, weighing 1-2.5 kg; the natural product is surmounted by a rosette of brief, firm spirally organized clears out, called the "crown"; tissue pale to brilliant yellow, more often than not seedless.
• Inflorescence - compact with numerous (up to 200) reddish-purple sessile flowers, each subtended by a pointed bract; sepals 3, short, fleshy; petals 3, forming a tube enclosing 6 stamens and a narrow style with 3-branched stigma.
• Leaves - sword-shaped, up to 1 m or more long, 5-8 cm wide, margin spiny or almost entire, top ending in a fine point, fleshy, fibrous, grooved on upper surface, arranged in a close spiral, clasping the main axis at their base.

Cultivation

Pineapples are bred by crowns, slips or suckers.

Chemical Constituents

Alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, phytosterols, phenol glycosides, bromeilin enzyme, citric acid, malic acid.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

Pineapple leaf extract has anti-diabetic, anti-dyslipidemic and anti-oxidative activity.