Pineapple production

A pineapple field in Veracruz, Mexico.

Pineapple comes from the tropics of South America, from the region which is nowadays covered by Brazil and Paraguay. Wild is not known in this region, but it grows there wilded. The distribution of pineapple is pantropical. It means that it is cultivated worldwide in tropics.

Taxonomy

Taxonomicaly pineaple belongs to the family Bromeliaceae. The most important species is Ananas comosus.

Common names

Due to its worldwide distribution, pineapple has several names:´

• piña - Spanish
• ananás - Portuguese
• ananas - French

Morphology

The plant is a short herbaceous perennial with 30-80 trough-shaped and pointed leaves 30–100 cm long, surrounding a thick stem. This shape of the plant has to drive water onto the stem. This water might be absorbed by axil. The eary inflorescences has about 100-200 flowers. Flowers are spirally placed and each is supported by bracteas. Each flower consist of 3 calyxes, 3 bluish corollas, 6 fillaments and a carpel with tree parts of stigma. Inflorescense goes to bloom about 3 weeks and it blooms from down to up. Pineapples are autosterile and fruits are developed partenocarpicly. From these inflorescenses aggregate fruits are developed. They weights from 0.3-4 kg. If the plants flowers hits pollens, seeds may develop.

Uses

Uses of Ananas comosus:

• fruit - source of vitamin B₁ and bromelin

Cultivars

Ananas comosus as one of the most cultivated crop worldwide has several cultivars and other subspecies taxa. Here they are pomologicaly (by fruit characteristics) sorted into 3 groupes:

• Spanish group - is a group which can be recognized by white flesh and leaves with spines on the edge
  • Red Spanish
  • Singapur Spanish
  • Sugar Loaf
• Queen group - they can be recognized by yellow and/or goldenyellow flesh and leaves with spines on the border
  • Abacachi
  • Cabazoni
  • Pernambuca
  • Queen
  • Victoria
• Cayenne group - can by recognized by yellow flesh and leaves without spines on the borders
  • Baronne Rothschild
  • Cayenne
    • Hilo
  • Monte Lirio

Environmental conditions

The pineapple use to grow in continental tropical mountains up to 250 m above sea level. It needs short period of draft during the ripening. The avarage varies from 25-30 OC ( OF)during the day and 15-17 OC ( OF) during the night. Especially the night avarage temperature influences the colective blooming, which is later on important for mechanical or semimechanical harvest. Root system not dense, thats why it needs fertaile drainy leaky soils. The optimal pH is 5.5-6.2.

Cultivation

A pineapple plantation in Ghana.

Propagation

pineapple are vegetatively propagated by shoot rising from the base of the fruit(slip) or the base of the plant(suckers).

Post harvest management

the pineapple fruits twice,and is planted again.There are one or two diffrent things you can plant to grow a pinaple plant,"suckers" or "slips" (little plant lets taken of a mature pineapple plant)or the leaves off the top of the last plant.

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Part of the Department of Pomology, Tropical and Subtropical Pomology I.

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