Pineapples - The Well-Traveled Tropical Fruit (Good for You, Too!)
Ranked #1,833 in Education, #44,576 overall
Yup. The pineapple is a bromeliad! Now that you know that, it's enough to know they taste good!
Pineapples. Members of the Bromeliad family.
Pineapples are from Hawaii, right?

Buy at AllPosters.com
Well, now you can get them there--but they are originally from south Brazil and Paraguay--where they were native before the local tribes and exploring Europeans started moving them around.
The local natives found them useful for trade with other tribes, so pineapples spread as a fruit source through South and Central America to the West Indies before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492.
Columbus brought the fruit back to Spain in 1493 after finding the plant on the Carribean island of Guadalupe.

![]()
Buy at AllPosters.com
From then on, the pineapple spread around the world on Spanish and Portuguese sailing ships as a scurvy preventative. The Spanish fleet eventually introduced the plant to the Philippines and Guam (when Magellan's fleet circumnavigated the world in 1521).
Although some historians think that pineapples could have arrived on the Hawaiian islands as early as 1527 on Spanish sailing ships from the New World--other historians theorize that pineapples arrived on the Hawaiian islands, when Francisco de Paula Marin, a Spanish horticultural experimenter arrived in Hawaii in 1794, after being forced onto a sailing ship from the Spanish port of San Francisco, California province, in the New World.
Marin became a friend and advisor to King Kamehameha I and is recorded to have experimented with growing pineapples on the islands in the early 1800s.

Buy at AllPosters.com
During this time, the Europeans also worked on cultivating fruits with more desirable characteristics and introduced the pineapples to Australia and other parts of the world.
Pineapples had reached England in 1660 and because they didn't grow well in the colder European climates, they were eventually grown in greenhouses by 1720.
After Captain James Cook's fleet stumbled over the Hawaiian islands in 1778 and the islands became a regular stopping point for whaling ships--which would frequently carry pineapples as a scurvy preventative--some of the pineapples may have also made their way ashore to become a popular fruit on the Hawaiian islands.
They were first recorded by Andre Thevenet in 1555 to be called "nana" (from which their Genus name, "Ananas", is derived), which means "excellent fruit" in the Tupi language (tribe which lived around Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). European explorers thought the fruit looked a lot like pinecones and its flesh resembled that of an apple... thus the name, "pineapple".
By the 1950s, Hawaii was the top producer of pineapples in the world--growing more than 80% of the world's supply. This crop was second only to Hawaii's production of sugar cane at that time.

Buy at AllPosters.com
However, rising costs of labor have reduced both crops since that peak in the 1950s, when the Dole plantation alone had more than 20,000 pineapple-producing acres and more than 1000 workers--there had been eight pineapple growing companies on the islands--the production of pineapples has been steadily falling. Hawaii has lost its standing in pineapple production to China, Thailand, the Philippines, and Brazil, the combination of which produce about 50% of the world's pineapple crop today.
Hawaii's production now barely reaches about 2% of the world's crop, although Hawaii is still the largest producer of U.S.--consumed pineapples. The only other state that grows pineapples is Florida, but their gross production is negligible.
Pineapple Stuff You Can Wear or Stick On! And More....
Pineapple People Mousepad
Who are the Pineapple People? Why should we hail them? Why does this pineapple have a face? ... all good questions. If you figure out the answer, let me know.
Pineapple Man Ringer Tee
Who doesn't love ringer tees? And better yet, who doesn't love the Pineapple Man on a ringer tee? Come on. Admit it. You love it.
Varieties of Pineapples--Called "Cultivars"
Some of these varieties are called "cultivars". The term "cultivar" is derived from the words "cultivated variety"--and means a plant that has been selected for its desirable characteristics that separate it from others in the same species and that when propagated, it retains those characteristics.
There are wild varieties of pineapples that are not considered "cultivars". Wild pineapples are generally pollinated and produce seeds.
The most common pollinator of pineapple is the hummingbird--so in places where pineapple is cultivated on a commercial scale such as in Hawaii, importation of hummingbirds is illegal. Bat-pollinated wild pineapples do the opposite of most other flowers by opening their blooms at night and closing them during the day. This protects the pineapples from weevils, which are most active during daylight.

Buy at AllPosters.com
But since the presence of seeds produces lower quality fruit, commercially cultivated pineapples are grown from cuttings.
Here are the Most Popular and Common Cultivars:
Hilo--A compact 2 to 3 pounds and Hawaiian cultivar variant of the Smooth Cayenne. The fruit is cylindrical and produces many suckers but no slips.
Kona Sugarloaf--At 5 to 6 pounds, this cultivar has white flesh with no woodiness in the center. Cylindrical in shape, it has a high sugar content but no acid.
Natal Queen--At 2 to 3 pounds, this cultivar has golden yellow flesh, crisp texture and delicate mild flavor. Keeps well after ripening. Has spiny leaves.
Pernambuco (Eleuthera)--At 2 to 4 pounds, this cultivar has pale yellow to white sweet flesh. Has spiny leaves.
Red Spanish--At 2 to 4 pounds, this cultivar has pale yellow flesh and a nice aroma and has a square shape. Has spiny leaves.
Smooth Cayenne--At 5 to 6 lbs, this cultivar has pale yellow to yellow flesh. It is cylindrical and has a high sugar and acid content. This plant does not have spiny leaves. This Hawaiian fruit is the most common variety available in U. S. grocery stores and is the most common variety in the world markets. It has been successfully transplanted to Central America. The difference between the Hawaiian Smooth Cayenne and the Central American pineapple is golden tan or reddish-orange, while the Central American varieties are still green.
Champaka--This fruit is a subvariety of the Smooth Cayenne.
Del Monte Gold--This cultivar is a recent variety that has sweet, deep-yellow flesh and a subtle coconut flavor.
Pineapples--The Fruit!

Buy at AllPosters.com
The resulting fruit is both juicy and fleshy with the stem serving as the fibrous core. The fruit can range from 10 to 14 inches long and weigh from 1 to 10 pounds.
Pineapples are a good source of manganese (91 %DV in a 1-cup serving), vitamin C (94 %DV in a 1 cup serving) and vitamin B1 (8 %DV in a 1 cup serving). They are also a good source of dietary fiber.
Pineapples contain a proteolytic enzyme called "bromelain" that breaks down protein. Therefore, pineapple juice is useful as a marinade and tenderizer for meat.
However, this pineapple enzyme can interfere with the preparation of other proteinaceous foods--such as dairy products, jelly or other gelatin-based foods. So, if you must used pineapple with any protein-based food and you do not want undesirable effects, use the canned and rinsed pineapple, but do NOT use fresh pineapple.
And, these enzymes can be dangerous for those suffering from protein deficiencies or disorders such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Pineapple Stuff on eBay
Okay... all this information about the fruit.... But what's the best way to EAT it?
You can just cut the skin off the fruit, and make thin slices of it (called "pineapple spears"), you can cut the fruit into slices after you've "cored" it (which makes those "donut shaped" fruit pieces), or you can just cut the thing into chunks after you've skinned and cored it. After draining the chunks, you can mix them into fruit salads. And after you wash them briefly in fresh water, you can add them to Jello --but make sure you've washed them well, otherwise, the proteolytic enzyme in the pineapple chunks will mess up the Jello.
Or, you can get immensely creative with a few pineapples such as folks have done HERE.
Create your own Squidoo lens collection by starting here!
Just click on the icon below -- it's easy, it's fast, and best of all, it's FUN!
Squid graphic courtesy of Squidoo Squid Graphics For Your Lenses! by GreekGeek.
Drop a Note, Leave a Comment, Say Hi!
-
-
Einar_A
May 1, 2012 @ 11:30 pm | delete
- Excellent article! I love pineapple.
-
-
-
carredsal
Feb 1, 2012 @ 6:45 am | delete
- Great lens! I grew my own pineapple from the top of another. It was awesome and I live in the northeast..Thanks for all the wonderful info. Well done!
-
-
-
ForestBear
Nov 20, 2011 @ 9:26 pm | delete
- I love pineapples and often make juices with them. I didn't know there were so many different types though, thank you for sharing Great Lens
-
-
-
CruiseReady Sep 2, 2011 @ 8:48 am | delete
- It was very cool to learn that Columbus hauled Pineapples back to Spain. I found that really interesting.
There is a little fruit shop near us ... it's just north of one of the gates to Kennedy Space Station. The lady there grows the most absolutely lucious pineapple you can imagine!
-
-
-
Tipi
Aug 20, 2011 @ 2:34 pm | delete
- I didn't know there were so many types of pineapple. Those of us that live in the northland are limited to what we get at the grocery store and I may have to head that way because you sure have me wanting some fresh pineapple and a piece of my Mom's pineapple upside down cake. Wonderfully done!
-
- Load More
by EditorDave
If you need documentation or editorial help, or assistance with financial services, please drop me a note.
Living on Guam is what now "defines" me. ...
more »
- 329 featured lenses
- Winner of 25 trophies!
- Top lens » Japanese Movies - The Old, Modern, Fun, and Bizarre!
Explore related pages
- Papayas - Carica papaya - Full of Healthy Enzymes Papayas - Carica papaya - Full of Healthy Enzymes
- Bananas - An Appealing Fruit! Bananas - An Appealing Fruit!
- Mango Mania! Don't Mangle Your Mango! Mango Mania! Don't Mangle Your Mango!
- Breadfruit - Potato-like Food from the Tropics Breadfruit - Potato-like Food from the Tropics
- Jackfruit - Strange-looking Fruit of the Asian Tropics Jackfruit - Strange-looking Fruit of the Asian Tropics
- Sugar Cane - Sweet Tropical Member of the Grass Family Sugar Cane - Sweet Tropical Member of the Grass Family








