Accession Data

Ananas comosus

Common Name: Pineapple

Family: Bromeliaceae

Country of Origin: Costa Rica to S. Trop. America

Description: Perennial herb native to Brazil. The only common food plant in the Bromeliaceae. Cultivated commercially in the tropics and parts of the subtropics of the Old and New Worlds, with Hawaii producing one-third of the worlds crop. First domesticated by the Guarani Indians in what is now northern Paraguay before the arrival of the Spanish. Unlike other edible plants from the new world, the pineapple was quickly accepted by the Europeans.

The pineapple itself is a multiple fruit formed by the partial fusion of numerous fleshy segments from several separate flowers in which the hardened sepals from a continuous rind over the outside. The fruit is normally seedless due to self incompatibility and the use of Triploid cultivars.

The major portion of the pineapple crop is canned. They are also eaten raw, dried, in confectionaries and a juice is extracted. Cores have been made into candles. The juice is the source of denatured alcohol and an alcoholic beverage, 'Vin d' Ananas'. Pressed peels and cores are used as food for livestock. Pineapple waste is made into vinegar. Leaves are a source of a hard fiber called 'Pina Fibre'. The fruit which must be ripened on the plant contains about 15 percent sugar plus fruit acids, vitamins and minerals. There are many different varieties cultivated.

[Thai: sapparot (laai)]

Uses: Medicinal: Contains Bromelain, which acts as an anti-inflammatory and proteolytic.

Accession Data

USDA Zone: 11

Accession #: 198500386

Accession Date: 1985-12-31 00:00:00

Bloom Status: 🪴 Not Flowering

Location: 1315

Quantity: 2

Source: Unknown

Classification

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Liliopsida

Subclass: commelinids

Order: Poales

Family: Bromeliaceae

SubFamily: Bromelioideae

Flowering Data:

This accession has been observed in bloom on:
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008

References

  1. EEB greenhouse tour guide prepared by Richard Piacentini, no date given, original source material from Uphof, 1968 & Schery, 1972
  2. The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Last accessed on Friday, July 21, 2017.
  3. WCSP (2016). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Last accessed on Friday, July 21, 2017.
  4. Ananas comosus at Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Last accessed on Friday, July 21, 2017.

Images

Ananas comosus
Ananas comosus