The Pineapple, the tropical fruit par excellence

Pineapple

Christophe Colomb discovered the pineapple in 1493 upon his arrival in Guadeloupe where a slice of pineapple was offered to navigators as a welcome gift to quench their thirst after a long journey.

Later, pineapples travelled to Tropical America to
get Martinique in 1548. In the West Indies, it was considered as the king of fruits, thanks to its crown that God has placed on its head.

The Portuguese planted it in India, to Java, where
it adapted perfectly as the climate was similar to the one of its origin, and it spread throughout the Far East.

Today, the Pineapple is a very widespread fruit in the Pacific Islands, appreciated for its exquisite flavor and its refreshing power.

When ripe, pineapple is a very sweet fruit with an excellent nutritional value. It is a protective and fortifying food, rich in fibers, in minerals, in Vitamin C helping to boost the metabolism and to strengthen the tissues, and in Vitamin B1 (thiamin), helping the body to assimilate carbohydrates and to take calories out.

 

CULTIVATION

Pineapple is a tropical plant that requires a temperature of more than 10°C, and a well-drained soil, rich and acid. It is usually multiplied with shoots division formed at the base of the plant, or by cuttings of the crown of leaves carried by the fruit. The plant is said to have a vegetative multiplication. Pineapple requires 14 to 20 months from plantation to harvest :
- Six to eight months for the vegetative phase.
- Five to six months from forcing to harvest.
It is important that picking occurs when the pineapple is ripe. When picking occurs while is still green, pineapple will not become sweeter as usual for other types of fruit. The more abundant is the sun when the fruit grows, the sweetest is the pineapple. The fruit weight is proportional to the weight of the bottom when flowering: the planter’s art is therefore to make it «blossom» at the right time.

USES

Thanks to bromelain, pineapple is known to facilitate digestion, thus making a perfect dessert. It has a desinfiltrating power and is recommended in diets to treat water retention or cellulitis. Many cosmetic virtues are also given to this fruit, especially against acne: pineapple would neutralize fatty acids of the skin but also the fatty part of the epidermis.