Basic idea and origin of the Medicinal plant Ananas comosus

Ananas comosus  is known as Anaras, pineapple. It is a herbaceous plant under the Bormeliaceae family. Leaves numerous, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, the margins sharply spiny-toothed, green and shining on the upper surface, the lower surface pale beneath, those subtending the inflorescence red, at least at the base, much reduced. Heads terminal, solitary, ovoid, much enlarged in fruit; bracteoles

reddish, numerous, triangular-ovate to oblong-ovate, acute, imbricate. Sepals 3, ovate, thick, purple above. Mature fruit long.

Flowering and fruiting: May to August.

Origin and Distribution

Native to southern Brazil and Paraguay (perhaps especially the Parana-Paraguay River) area where wild relatives occur, the pineapple was apparently domesticated by the Indians and carried by them up through South and Central America to Mexico and the West Indies long before the arrival of Europeans. Christopher Columbus and his shipmates saw the pineapple for the first time on the island of Guadeloupe in 1493 and then again in Panama in 1502. Caribbean Indians placed pineapples or pineapple crowns outside the entrances to their dwellings as symbols of friendship and hospitality. Europeans adopted the motif and the fruit was represented in carvings over doorways in Spain, England, and later in New England for many years. The plant has become naturalized in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Trinidad but the fruits of wild plants are hardly edible.

Spaniards introduced the pineapple into the Philippines and may have taken it to Hawaii and Guam early in the 16th Century. The first sizeable plantation 5 acres (2 ha)—was established in Oahu in 1885. Portuguese traders are said to have taken seeds to India from the Moluccas in 1548, and they also introduced the pineapple to the east and west coasts of Africa. The plant was growing in China in 1594 and in South Africa about 1655. It reached Europe in 1650 and fruits were being produced in Holland in 1686 but trials in England were not success ful until 1712. Greenhouse culture flourished in England and France in the late 1700's. Captain Cook planted pineapples on the Society Islands, Friendly Islands and elsewhere in the South Pacific in 1777. Lutheran missionaries in Brisbane, Australia, imported plants from India in 1838. A commercial industry took form in 1924 and a modern canning plant was erected about 1946. The first plantings in Israel were made in 1938 when 200 plants were brought from South Africa. In 1939, 1350 plants were imported from the East Indies and Australia. but the climate is not a favorable one for this crop.

Over the past 100 years, the pineapple has become one of the leading commercial fruit crops of the tropics. In 1952-53, world production was close to 1,500,000 tons and reportedly nearly doubled during the next decade. Major producing areas are Hawaii, Brazil, Malaysia, Taiwan, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa and Puerto Rico. By 1968, the total crop had risen to 3,600,000 tons, of which only 100,000 tons were shipped fresh (mainly from Mexico, Brazil and Puerto Rico) and925.000 tons were processed. In the period 1961-66, imports of fresh pineapples into Europe rose by 70%. Soon many new markets were opening. In 1973, the total crop was estimated at 4,000,000 tons with 2.2 million tons processed. The increased worldwide demand for canned fruit has greatly stimulated plantings in Africa and Latin America. For years, Hawaii supplied 70% of the world's canned pineapple and 85% of canned pineapple juice, but labor costs have shifted a large segment of the industry from Hawaii to the Philippines. Because production costs in Hawaii (which are 50% labor) have increased 25%or more, Dole has transferred 75% of its operation to the Philippines, where, in 1983, it employed 10,000 laborers on about 25,000, mostly rented, acres (10,117 ha).

Pineapples were first canned in Malaya by a retired sailor in 1888 and exporting from Singapore soon followed. By 1900, shipments reached a half million cases. The industry alternately grew and declined, and then ceased entirely for 3 1/2 years during World War II. The Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board was established in 1959. Thereafter there has been steady progress. The pineapple, was a very minor crop in Thailand until 1966 when the first large cannery was built. Others followed. Since then processing and exporting have risen rapidly. In 1977-78 many farmers switched from sugarcane to pineapple. Of the annual production of 1 1/2 million tons, 1/8 is canned as fruit or Julce.

South Africa produces 2.7 million cartons of canned pineapple yearly and exports 2.4 million. In addition, 31,000 tons of fresh pineapple are sold on the domestic market and 500,000 cartons exported yearly. As in many areas, pineapple culture existed on a small scale on the Ivory Coast until post WW II when cultural efforts were stepped up. By 1950, annual production amounted to 1800 tons. By 1972, it had risen to 200,000 tons for shipment, fresh or canned, to western Europe. Cameroun's annual production is about 6,000 tons.

In the Azores, pineapples have been grown in green-houses for many years for export mainly to Portugal and Madeira. They are of luxury quality, carefully tended and blemish free, graded for uniform size and well padded in each box for shipment.

As of 1971, the ten leading exporters of fresh pineapples were (in descending order): Taiwan (39,621 tons), Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Guinea, Mexico, South Africa, Philippines and Martinique (5,000 tons). The ten leading exporters of processed pineapples were (in descending order): Hawaii, Philippines, Taiwan, South Africa, Malaysia (Singapore), Ivory Coast, Australia, Ryukyu, Mexico, Thailand (10,500,000 tons).

In Puerto Rico, the pineapple is the leading fruit crop, 95% produced, processed and marketed by the Puerto Rico Land Authority. The 1980 crop was 42,493 tons having a farm value of 6.8 million dollars.

For 250 years, pineapples have been grown in the Bahama Islands. At one time plantings on Eleuthera, Cat Island and Long Island totaled about 12,000 acres. The pineapple was a pioneer crop along the east coast of Florida and or, the Keys. In 1860 fields were established on Plantation Key and Merritt's Island. And in 1876 planting material from the Keys was set out all along the central Florida east coast. Shipping to the North began in 1879. In 1910 there were 5000 to 10,000 acres stretching as far north as Ft. Pierce. There were more than a dozen families raising pineapples on Elliott's Key where an average crop was 50,000 to 75,000 dozen fruits, mostly sent by schooner to New York. When the industry was flourishing, Florida shipped to New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore one million crates of pineapples a year from the sandy ridge along the Indian River. It was believed in those days that the pineapple benefitted by closeness to salt water.

Wood-lath sheds roofed with palmetto fronds, Spanish moss or tobacco cloth were constructed to provide shade which promoted vigorous plant growth and high fruit quality. Wood-burning ovens were scattered through the sheds for frost protection in winter. Small, open boxcars operating on steam or horsepower ran on wooden rails the length of the shed to transport loads of fruit to the packing station. In open fields, plants were sheltered by palmetto fronds from mid-December to mid-March. 'Smooth Cayenne' had to be grown in sheds. It was not successful in the open. One early planter on Eden Island moved his farm to the mainland because bears ate the ripe fruits. With the coming of the railroad in 1894, pineapple growing expanded. The 1908-09 crop was 1,110,547 crates. Then Cuban competition for U.S. markets caused prices to fall and many Florida growers gave up. The ridge pineapple fieldsbegain to fail as the humus was exhausted by cultivation. Fertilization was steadily raising the pH too high for the pineapple. World War I brought on a shortage of fertilizer, then several freezes in 1917 and 1918 devastated the industry.

In the early 1930's, the United Fruit Company supplied slips for a new field at White City but the pressure of coastal development soon reduced this to a small patch. Shortly after World War II, a plantation of 'Natal Queen' and 'Eleuthera' was established in North Miami but, after a few years, the operation was shifted inland to Sebring, in Highlands County, Central Florida, where it still produces on a small scale.

Soil

The best soil for pineapple culture is a well-drained, sandy loam with a high content of organic matter and it should be friable for a depth of at least 2 ft (60 cm), and pH should be within a range of 4.5 to 6.5. Soils that are not sufficiently acid are treated with sulfur to achieve the desired level. If excess manganese prevents response to sulfur or iron, as in Hawaii, the plants require regular spraying with very weak sulfate or iron. The plant cannot stand waterlogging and if there is an impervious subsoil, drainage must be improved. Pure sand, red loam, clay loam and gravelly soils usually need organic enrichment. Filter presscake from sugar mills, worked into clay soils in Puerto Rico, greatly enhances plant vigor, fruit yield, number of slips and suckers.

Pollination

Pollination is required for seed formation, but the presence of seeds negatively affects the quality of the fruit. In Hawaii, where pineapple is cultivated on an agricultural scale, importation of hummingbirds is prohibited for this reason. Certain bat-pollinated wild pineapples open their flowers only at night.

Chemistry

Per 100 g, the fruit is reported to contain 47–52 calories, 85.3–87.0 g H₂O, 0.4–0.7 g protein, 0.2–0.3 g fat, 11.6–13.7 g total carbohydrate, 0.4–0.5 g fiber, 0.3–0.4 g ash, 17–18 mg Ca, 8–12 mg P, 0.5 mg Fe, 1–2 mg Na, 125–146 mg K, 32–42g -carotene equivalent, 0.06–0.08 mg thiamine, 0.03– 0.04 mg riboflavin, 0.2–0.3 mg niacin, and 17–61(-96) mg ascorbic acid. Cultivars may contain 1–5% citronic acid (wild forms up to 8.6%), ca 3.5% invert sugars, 7.5% saccharose, approaching 15% at maturity. Also reported are vanillin, methyln-propyl ketone, n-valerianic acid, isocapronic acid, acrylic acid, L (-)-malic acid, methylthiopropionic acid methyl ester (and ethyl ester), 5-hydroxytryptamine, quinic acid-1, 4-di-p-coumarin (my translation from List and Horhammer, 1969–1979). The aromatics from the essential oils of the fruit include methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isobutanol, n-pentanol, ethyl acetate, ethyl-n-butyrate, methylisovalerianate, methyl-n-capronate, methyl-n-caprylate, n-amyl-n-capronate, ethyl lactate, methyl-methylthiolpropionate, ethyl-methylthiolpropionate, and diacetyl, acetone, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, furfurol, and 5-hydroxy-2-methylfurfurol. Steriod fractions of the lower leaves possess estrogenic activity.

Toxicity

Workers who cut up pineapples have their fingerprints almost completely obliterated by pressure and the keratolytic effect of bromelain (calcium oxalate crystals and citric acid were excluded as the cause). The recurved hooks on the left margins can painfully injure one. Mitchell and Rook (1979) also restated earlier work on "pineapple estate pyosis" occurring in workers who gather the fruits, probably an acarus infestation with secondary bacterial infection. Angular stomatitis can result from eating the fruit. Ethyl acrylate, found in the fruits, produced sensitisation in 10 of 24 subjects "by a maximisation test." Ethyl acrylate is used in creams, detergents, food, lotions, perfumes, and soaps. In "therapeutic doses", bromelain may cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, and menorrhagia. Watt and Breyer-Brandwijk (1969–1979) restate a report, unavailable to me, of unusual toxic symptoms following ingestion of the fruit, heart failure with cyanosis and ecchymoses, followed by collapse and coma and sometimes death (Duke, 1984b).

Germplasm

Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, pineapple, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate aluminum, drought, insects, laterite, low pH, peat, slope, and virus (Duke, 1978). Some selection and improvements had been done by the Indians in pre-Columbian times. All members of A. comosus are cultigens with no wild ancestral forms. Triploid varieties are reported from Brazil, Ecuador, and the West Indies. Numerous tetraploid are known with larger fruits and longer maturing periods. New varieties are currently being selected, one of importance is resistant to mealybug wilt incorporated into the Cayenne variety. Varieties of A. comosus are self-incompatible, hence seedless when self-pollinated. Seeds may be produced by artificial cross-pollination. In its native areas, hummingbirds effect natural cross-pollination. Hundreds of cvs have been developed, some of the presently important cvs are,
'Cayenne or Smooth Cayenne'—fruits 1350–2500 g, cylindrical, flesh yellow, high acid and sugar content, has largest acreage in cultivation, 90% of world's canned fruit comes from this variety. Grown primarily in Hawaii, Australia, Philippines, and South Africa.
'Red Spanish'—fruits 1350–2250 g, squarish, flesh pale yellow, fibrous, aromatic, acid flavor, used for fresh and candied fruit industry. Grown in Florida, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba; a good shipper.
'Queen or Table Queen'—900–1350 g, flesh rich yellow, mild flavor, crisp, low acid, popular as fresh fruit. Grown in South Africa.
'Pernambuco'—1350–1800 g, cylindrical, flesh yellow-white, tender, juicy, mild, sweet flavor, popular as fresh fruit. Grown in northern Brazil.
'Monte Lirio'—Grown in Mexico and Central America for its fresh fruit.
'Sugarloaf'—Fruit conical to globular, flesh yellow-white, rich, sweet flavor, eaten fresh. Grown in Mexico and Cuba.
'Cabazoni' (Cabezona)—2250–4500 g, flesh yellow-white, fairly good flavor. Grown in Puerto Rico.
Other varieties of local importance are: 'Abachi' (Abakka or Abacaxi), 'Monte Lirio', 'Singapore Spanish', and 'Vermelho'. Cultivars with smooth-edged leaves are desirable and frequently planted to make harvesting easier. x = 25; 2n = 50 (Reed, 1976).

Propagated by:

 vegetative bud on the top and at the base of the fruit.

Planting:

 In small plots or on very steep slopes, planting is done manually using the traditional short-handled narrow-bladed hoe, the handle of which, 12 in (30 cm) long, is used to measure the distance between plants. Crowns are set firmly at a depth of 2 in (5 cm); slips and suckers at 3 1/2 to 4 in (9 10 cm). Butts, after trimming and drying for several days, are laid end-to-end in furrows and covered with 4 in (10 cm) of soil.

Double-rowing has been standard practice for many years, the plantlets set 10 to 12 in (25 30 cm) apart and staggered, not opposite, in the common rows, and with 2 ft (60 cm) between the two rows. An alley 3, 5 1/2 or 6 ft (.9, 1.6 or 1.8 m) wide is maintained between the pairs, allowing for plant populations of 17,400, 15,800 or 14,500 per acre (42,700, 37,920 or 33,800 per ha) respectively. Close spacing gives highest total crop weight—e.g.. 18,000 plants/acre = 28.8 tons (43,200 plants/ha = 69.12 tons). However, various trials have shown that overcrowding has a negative effect, reducing fruit size and elongating the form undesirably, and it reduces the number of slips and suckers per plant. Density trials with 'P.R. 1-67' in Puerto Rico demonstrated that 21,360 plants per acre (51,265/ha) yielded 35.8 tons/:acre (86 tons/ha) in the main crop and 18.9 tons/acre (45.43 tons/ha) in the ratoon crop, but only one slip per plant for replanting. Excessively wide spacing tends to induce multiple crowns in 'Smooth Cayenne' in Hawaii and in 'Red Spanish' in Puerto Rico.

Some plantings are mulched with bagasse. In large operations, asphalt-treated paper, or black plastic mulch is regarded as essential. It retards weeds, retains warmth in cool seasons, reduces loss of soil moisture, and can be laid by machines during the sterilization and pre-fertilization procedures. Mulch necessitates removal of basal leaves of crowns, slips and suckers and the use of a tool to punch a hole at the pre-marked planting site for the insertion of each plantlet. The mulch is usually rolled onto rounded beds 3 1/4 ft (1 m) wide.

Mechanical planting: Research on the potential of machines to replace the hard labor of planting pineapples was begun in Hawaii in 1945. A homemade device was first employed in Queensland in 1953. Early semi-mechanical planters were self propelled platforms with driver and two men who made the holes in the mulch and set the plants in place. With a 2-row planter, 3 men can set 7,000 plants per hour of operation. Frequent stops are necessary to reload with planting material. With improved equipment, mechanical planting has become standard practice in large plantations everywhere. The most sophisticated machines have attachments which concurrently apply premixed fertilizer and lay a broad center strip of mulch, set the plantlets along each edge, and place a narrow strip along the outer sides. The only manual operation, apart from driving, is feeding of the plantlets to the planting unit. With this system, up to 50,000 plants have been set out per day.