Exotic fruit pineapple is familiar to most of us. Not everyone likes it, but it can be seen on the shelves of any large store. True, this fruit cannot be called cheap, it costs quite decently, and its miniature varieties are especially expensive, which are much superior in taste to their full-sized counterparts. Not surprisingly, in Southeast Asia, large pineapples are considered second-rate and are used only in cooking, and only their mini-varieties are eaten fresh.
Interesting facts about Pineapple
- Brazil is considered the official homeland of pineapples. There, this perennial plant can be found in the wild.
- This plant itself has a trunk up to a meter high, which becomes wider over the years, and can reach a couple of meters in diameter. And the pineapple fruit is at its top, in the center.
- In the past, pineapple was considered a dangerous fruit for pregnant women, but later scientists proved that a woman must eat at least 10 fruits at once in order for them to cause a miscarriage.
- Not only sweets, fruit salads and jams are made from pineapples, but and pineapple wine.
- It usually takes 12 to 18 months from planting to flowering (interesting facts about flowers).
- Each plant produces only one fruit, and after maturation, which takes from 3 to 6 months, the mother pineapple rosette dies off, forming side shoots. But the plant itself lives far from one year.
- From a botanical point of view, pineapple is not a fruit. This is not even a berry, but several dozen berries fused around a common center.
- There are more than 80 varieties of pineapples in the world.
- The fruits of all types of pineapples look very similar to each other, but the weight they can range from 0.5 kg to 4 kg depending on the species.
- In Asia, they came up with a special device for extracting pineapple pulp, which is now widely used around the world.
- Pineapple pulp is 86% water. For comparison, in cabbage, water accounts for about 91% of the mass, and in cucumbers – up to 97% (interesting facts about cabbage).
- Experts have not yet decided what to classify pineapple as: vegetables or fruits.
- In mid-latitudes, pineapples can be grown indoors.
- At the beginning of the 19th century, the famous French writer Honore de Balzac, dreaming of getting rich, built greenhouses for growing pineapples in the Parisian suburbs. Alas, his idea failed.
- Pineapple pulp does not contain fat, but it contains a lot of fiber useful for digestion.
- It takes almost 3 years for a pineapple to fully ripen, if you count from the moment planting until the ripe fruit can be picked.
- Pineapples are very popular among those who want to lose weight, as they contain bromelain, a substance that is a mixture of enzymes that break down protein and fats.
- Now about 30% of all pineapples in the world are grown in the US state of Hawaii (interesting facts about Hawaii).
- All cultivars of pineapple are, strictly speaking, sterile. They do not form seeds, but reproduce exclusively vegetatively, with the help of shoots. At the same time, if you cross them with wild varieties, the ability to reproduce by seeds in newly formed hybrids will be.
- Ripe pineapple spoils very quickly – it must be eaten a maximum of two days or stored in the refrigerator – where it will remain fresh for about a week.
- If you cut off the crown of a purchased pineapple and plant it in moist soil, it will give roots and begin to grow actively. Particularly lucky even manage to grow a real homemade pineapple in this way.
- In Brazil, there is an idiomatic expression “peel a pineapple”, which means a difficult and difficult task.
- Pineapple does not continue to ripen after being picked, unlike most fruits. Bananas, for example, do become tastier if you pick them green and let them ripen in this form (interesting facts about bananas).
- South American Indians have used the fiber of dense and tough pineapple leaves since ancient times for weaving mats and even making clothes. In the modern world, pineapple leaves, which are waste products, are used to make an environmentally friendly fabric, strong and durable.
- Ripe pineapples can be green, yellow, and even pink. It depends on the variety and country of origin.
- The pineapple fruit can be seen on the coats of arms of two countries – Jamaica, as well as Antigua and Barbuda.
- All over the world, pineapples are still harvested only by hand, without the help of special equipment.
- Pineapples were first discovered by Europeans at the end of the 15th century on the island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean (interesting facts about the Caribbean).
- Pineapple fits perfectly into any diet for weight loss – 100 grams of the fruit contains only 48 kilocalories.
- In China, pineapple is considered a New Year’s fruit.
- A glass of freshly squeezed pineapple juice can relieve the discomfort of people who get motion sick in cars and planes, as well as on board ships.
- These fruits are strictly contraindicated for people with diseases of the stomach and digestive tract in general.
- In large quantities, pungent pineapple can cause damage to the lips and oral mucosa accompanied by bleeding.
- Unripe pineapples are unsuitable for eating – their juice burns the lips especially strongly and has a potent laxative effect.
- In Brazil, breeders have developed a new kind of pineapple that does not need to be peeled from the prickly peel, and it can be easily divided into slices, like a tangerine.
- Pineapple pulp applied to them overnight as a compress will help get rid of corns.
- Mexicans, especially in rural areas, do not throw away the pineapple peel, but make a refreshing drink like mash out of it. They pour sweet water over pineapple peels and put them in a warm place.
- 100 grams of pineapple pulp contains about 50 kcal, which makes it a dietary product.
- In most European languages, with the exception of English, the word “pineapple” sounds the same.