Pineapple

PINEAPPLE HISTORY :

The name pineapple in English comes from the similarity of the fruit to a pinecone.The word "pineapple" first recorded in 1398, was originally used to descrbe the reproductive organs of conifer trees.The pineapple spread from its original area through cultivation, and by the time of Christopher Columbus it grew throughout South and Central America and the Caribbean (West Indies). Columbus may have taken a sample back to Europe. The Spanish introduced it into the Philippines, Hawaii (introduced in the early 19th century, first commercial plantation 1886) and Guam. The fruit was successfully cultivated in European hothouses beginning in
1720. Commonly cultivated varieties include Red Spanish, Hilo, Smooth Cayenne, St. Michael, Kona Sugarloaf, Natal Queen, and Pernambuco. Canned pineapple is almost always Smooth Cayenne.

In 1996, Del Monte began marketing its Gold Extra Sweet pineapple, known internally by the much more prosaic name MD-2. MD-2 is a hybrid that originated in the breeding program of the now-defunct Pineapple Research Institute in Hawaii, which conducted research on behalf of Del Monte, Maui Land and Pineapple, and Dole. Two similar seedlings, numbered 73-114 and 73-50, were found to have bright-gold, very sweet, low-acidity flesh, high resistance to parasites and internal rot, skin that turned amber when ripe and, best of all, the ability to survive cold storage for up to two weeks. Both versions were briefly marketed, but at the time, couldn't dent the Smooth Cayenne stranglehold on the Hawaiian industry.

Since about 2000,the most common fresh pineapple fruit found in U.S. and Eutopean supermarkets is a low-acid hybrid that was developed in Hawaii in the early 1970s. Fresh pineapple is often somewhat expensive as the tropical fruit is delicate and difficult to ship. It will not ripen once harvested, so must be harvested ripe and brought to the consumer without delay. Pineapple is therefore most widely available canned.

HEALTH :

Pineapple is a good source of manganese, as well as containing significant amounts of Vitamin C and Vitamin B1.

USAGE :

Pineapple is commonly used in DESSERTS and other types of fruit dishes,or served on its own. Pineapples are also used as topping for American and European pizza, most commonly in the "Hawaiian" type pizza. The pineapple juice has been fermented into an alcoholic beverage commonly called pineapple wine, which is a type of fruit wine, most commonly produced in Hawaii. The root and fruit are either eaten or applied topically as an anti-inflammatory and as a proteolytic agent. A root decoction is used to treat diarrhea.

MATHS APPEAR IN NATURE :

The fruitlets of a pineapple are arranged in two interlocking spirals,eight spirals in one direction,thirteen in the other,In the other, each being a FIBONACCI NUMBERS. This is one of many examples of Fibonacci numbers appearing in nature.

My second favorite fruit is pineapple. I love to drink juice of pineapple but when I am not free otherwise I eat as it is.