pineapple (Ananas comosus)

  • The pineapple is the second most popular tropical fruit. Bananas are the first.
  • Christopher Columbus first introduced the fruit to Europe in 1493 on the second voyage to the new world.
  • Almost a third of the world's production of pineapples is from Hawaii.
  • The pineapple can be grown from a crown. These take about 18 months from planting to harvesting.
  • The pineapple has vitamins, minerals, fibre and enzymes.
  • Pineapple contains enzymes from the bromelain group of enzymes. These aid the digestion of protein. You can read more about this on one of the links below.
  • Bromelain helps the healing process for muscle injury in athletes. See the BBC link below.
  • Tinned pineapple doesn't contain any bromelain enzymes. This is because the heat used in the canning process destroys it all. So the tradition of adding a pineapple ring with a gammon steak to help digestion, can't actually work, unless fresh pineapple is used. It doesn't really help the dead pig either!
  • Pineapples are a good source of Vitamin C
  • Pineapples have minimal fat and sodium.

Links

pineapple

pineapple