Pineapple is a delicious fruit. Some say that they acquired a taste for it over the years. Some just love it anyway.
Irrespective of what your and our stand is for this fruit, it remains one of the most insanely popular fruits in this world.
That’s the reason why we are going to put together 40 awesome pineapple facts that you are going to love.
So, what are you waiting for? Dig in and enjoy!
Pineapple Facts: 1-5
1. Did you know that though pineapple is today available worldwide, it actually originated in a place between today’s Paraguay and Brazil? This means, this fruit is indigenous to South America.
2. Though the fruit had a modest beginning, it quickly spread across South America and soon made its way into places like Mexico, Central America and Caribbean.
3. Ancient civilizations like the Mayans and the Aztecs were very well-familiar with this fruit. However, it reached Europe after a very long time in 1493.It was Christopher Columbus who took the fruit back to Europe.
4. The first ever record of the word ‘Pineapple’ dates back to 1398. However, back then, the word was actually a description of ‘pine cones’. In 1694, for the first time in history of humankind, ‘pine cones’ were called as pine cones and not ‘pineapples’!
5. In year 1664, European explorers reached Americas. They saw the fruit and the found a striking resemblance between pine cones and the fruit. No wonder they called it ‘pineapple’. So actually, between 1664 and 1694, the word ‘pineapple’ referred to both the fruit and the pine cones.
Pineapple Facts: 6-10
6. A pineapple (fruit) can take up to 3 years for growing and becoming mature on a plant. But, harvesting is done earlier than that. However, if cultivation is done by crown cutting and plantation, results are faster.
7. Growing a pineapple is really easy. All you have to do is cut off the top of the pineapple and put it back in soil but before that, the crown has to be dried partially. Simply plant the top of the fruit and it will grow. So, want to start a pineapple business?
8. Once pineapples are harvested, they just won’t ripen any further. This simply means that if you keep the fruit you just bought for a few days or a week or so, do not expect the fruit to ripen even further. What you bought is how it will stay.
9. The reason why a pineapple is harvested slightly before it fully ripens is that once that happens, it becomes difficult to store it.
10. A pineapple that is fully ripen will stay for a maximum of 2 days under normal conditions and maximum for a week under refrigerated conditions. This means that the fruit is very perishable once fully ripe.
Pineapple Facts: 11-15
11. Here is something more interesting – only one pineapple is produced by a single plant in a single season.
12. Pineapple is pollinated by some birds and even bats. Hummingbird is one such bird which is responsible for pollination of pineapples.
13. The only US state where pineapples are still grown is Hawaii. The first cultivation of pineapple in Hawaii took place in 18th century.
14. Pineapple is commercially grown in several countries. The countries with maximum pineapple production are:
| Vietnam | 0.66 million tonnes |
| Mexico | 0.82 million tonnes |
| Nigeria | 1.46 million tonnes |
| India | 1.74 million tonnes |
| Indonesia | 1.84 million tonnes |
| China | 1.889 million tonnes |
| Thailand | 1.915 million tonnes |
| Philippines | 2.51 million tonnes |
| Brazil | 2.65 million tonnes |
| Costa Rica | 2.916 million tonnes |
15. Here is something really surprising – more than 200 flowers are produced by a single pineapple plant. These flowers have their individual fruits which look like scales. These individual fruits join together to form a single pineapple.
Pineapple Facts: 16-20
16. Each pineapple has individual segments. These segments interlock with each other in two helices – 13 in one direction and 8 in the other direction – each of which is a Fibonacci number.
17. The 200 flowers that we talked about usually have different colors ranging from purple to red and even lavender. There are some cultivar which get way more than 200 flowers.
18. A pineapple plant can, in the wild, stay alive and continue giving fruits for up to 50 years.
19. Pineapple belongs to the family called bromeliad. Of all the plants that belong to this family, pineapple is the most economically profitable.
20. Did you know that almost every party of pineapple can be used for alcohol and vinegar production? Apart from that, the non-edible parts (the parts that humans cannot eat) can actually be used as food for animals that are domesticated!
Pineapple Facts: 21-25
21. We said in our previous article that pineapple belongs to bromeliad family. We didn’t say that it is actually one of the very few plants in that family that produces a fruit that we can eat.
22. A pineapple fruit has a central core. It is around this central core that individual berries fuse together to form the fruit. You are right! Pineapple is a perfect example of “Multiple Fruit”.
23. Talking of berries, every scale that you see in a pineapple is actually an individual berry.
24. In Philippines, the leaves of pineapple are used for producing a particular type of fiber called piña. This piña is actually a textile fiber and is a common material in Barong Tagalog and Baro’t Saya – dresses worn by men and women respectively.
25. It may be a bit surprising but did you know that piña is not just used for making clothes. It is also a major component in furnishings and wallpaper.
Pineapple Facts: 26-30
26. Hummingbird importation is completely restricted in Hawaii in areas where agricultural cultivation of pineapples take place.
27. Can you guess the reason why Hummingbird importation is restricted in Hawaii? Because these birds pollinate pineapple and when that happen, seeds form. Good quality pineapples must not have seeds. So, pollination should not be allowed.
28. There are some wild pineapples that are pollinated by bats. Those pineapples have been seen to open flowers only when it is night.
29. Can you guess the number of varieties of pineapple? Purdue University’s Agriculture Department lists 37 cultivars or varieties. However, when it comes to broad categorization, there are primarily four – Aabacaxi, Queen, Red Spanish and Smooth Cayenne.
30. All 37 known varieties are grouped in one of the four primary groups. Grouping is done based on sweetness, commercial availability and size.
Pineapple Facts: 31-35
31. Smooth Cayenne is by far the most popular variety in world. It is also known as Cayena Lisa or simply Cayenne.
32. Smooth Cayenne has two other names – Kew and Sarawak – usually used in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
33. Many people consider the Abacaxi as ‘the most’ delicious pineapple in whole world. However, there is a problem with this group of pineapples. They are too tender and hence, commercial handling is a serious problem.
34. Pineapple is a tropical perennial herbaceous plant. Being tropical, it has special requirements for growth in terms of temperature and soil conditions. For instance, pineapple is unable to tolerate any low temperature. An awful lot of sunlight is required during the day.
35. The optimum temperature for growing healthy pineapples is 32°C during day times at 20°C during night times. In case you didn’t know, if the temperature dips by even 1°C or increases by even 1°C, the growth rate of pineapple decreases by 6%!
Pineapple Facts: 36-40
36. If the temperature rises above 35°C, the fruit will get sunburns! The site of production should be absolutely frost-free.
37. If pineapple is grown in an area which in not irrigated, it is absolutely necessary that there should be proper distribution of rainfall round the year and the minimum yearly rainfall should be 750 mm.
38. Come to soil, pineapple requires clay loams, sandy loams or free-draining loams. The soil should be properly aerated and non-compacted. There should not be any rock or hard clay within a meter of top soil surface.
39. Also, the land where cultivation is done, drainage system should be very good. If the drainage is not good, root rot and heart rot diseases will set in because the root system will become weak.
40. Because drainage system has to be robust, it is necessary that the land should have a slope of anywhere between 2 and 6 percent. Any less than that and drainage will not work properly and any more than that and erosion control and operational costs will skyrocket.
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