The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a xerophyte plant, native to South America, more specifically from Paraguay, northeastern Argentina and southern Brazil. It is mainly known for its edible fruit, which is actually a compound fruit. The word pineapple comes from the tupi-guarani naná naná, which means "perfume of perfumes". The term pineapple is also an ambiguous vernacular name which can designate several other species of Bromeliaceae, not easily edible like the species Glomeropitcairnia penduliflora designated by the terms “wild pineapple”, “wooden pineapple” and “zananas mawon”, or even several botanical species Pineapple such as Ananas bracteatus under the names of "wild pineapple" and "brown pineapple".
CulturePineapple is a tropical plant. Sensitive to frost, it requires well-drained, rich and acidic soil. A pH of around 4.5 to 5.5 is important for good growth: diseases originating in the soil are thus reduced. The pineapple does not like standing water at all, hence the importance of drainage.
Pineapples tolerate low soil fertility, but better production is achieved on fertile soil rich in organic matter and potassium. High levels of soil-soluble aluminum and manganese are tolerated.
A pineapple requires fourteen to twenty months from planting to harvest: six to eight months for the vegetative phase, and five to six months from forcing to harvest. The same plant generally fruits two or even three times: a first time after twenty months, and a second time fifteen months later.
When a small fruit is desired for the fresh fruit market, cultivation can be forced earlier than when a large fruit is required, such as canning. The larger the plant at the time of forcing, the larger the size of its fruit.
Varieties
Pineapple cultivars come from six groups recognized for the character of their more or less thorny foliage, the location of their culture, as well as their morphological characteristics such as the habit of the plant, its propensity to form bulbils and cayeux, the height of the peduncle compared to that of the fruit, the color of the petals, the characters of the fruit and resistance to diseases and parasites. These six groups are:
- Smooth Cayenne (in English: Sweet Cayenne or Smooth Cayenne) Firm, acidic, with a fairly fibrous yellowish flesh, with flat eyes. It is quite large, and is colored orange towards the plume when it reaches full maturity. The most cultivated variety, almost "monopolistically".
- Pineapple "sugar loaf" bottle, from Guadeloupe; it would have been introduced there formerly by the Caribbean Indians, and it is the first to have been described by Christophe Colomb, in 1493, during his second voyage. This pineapple is specific to this island, where it acquired its originality by successive mutations or by hybridizations and local selections. It can however be compared to a number of thorny varieties: Black Antigua and Sugar Loaf, from the Antilles and Branco in Brazil.
- Spanish: purple skin, pale yellow flesh, fibrous, and tangy.
- Mordilonus-Perolera-Malpure: large and elongated, with dry and brittle flesh. It can weigh four kilograms. It comes from South and Central America.
- Pernambuco: yellow or whitish flesh, very sweet, soft and not very acidic; from South and Central America, and Malaysia.
- Queen: less known, smaller, with prominent eyes, and pale yellow flesh; with mild flavor and crisp texture. In Reunion, we find the Queen Victoria, a tiny pineapple with very spiky serrated leaves. It is very tart and has a sweet taste.
- Victoria: cultivated in Reunion Island and Mauritius, it is not very expensive on the markets. Tasty and fragrant during its fruiting period in summer in the southern hemisphere, its flesh is juicy. When found in winter and therefore in the off season, it is much more bland and acidic.