Pineapple

Pineapples contain vitamins C and B1. Vitamin C is great for boosting your immune system and helping to reduce the impact of colds and flu. While vitamin B1, also known as thiamine, helps your body to produce energy from carbohydrates. Pineapples also contain bromelain. Bromelain is a digestive enzyme that can help to reduce bloating and acts as a natural anti-inflammatory. Finally, pineapples are rich in manganese, which is an antioxidant that is essential for maintaining a healthy body.

Over the past 100 years, the pineapple has become one of the leading commercial fruit crops of the tropics. Major producing areas are Hawaii, Brazil, Malaysia, Taiwan, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa and Puerto Rico. Currently we source our pineapple in Central and South America depending on the seasonal quality.

One of the first Europeans to taste the pineapple was Christopher Columbus in the 15th century. Pineapples are grown mainly in South America and Western Africa, with most of the pineapples eaten in Europe originating in Costa Rica.

The most common pollinator of the pineapple is the hummingbird, but some wild pineapples are also pollinated by bats. These wild pineapples open their flowers at night instead of in the day! It can take up to two years for one pineapple plant to produce fruit.

Unlike many fruits, pineapples don’t grow on trees or bushes. Instead, pineapples grow on the ground. Each pineapple grows at the centre of a leafy plant, with the leaves reaching up to 1.5 m. in length.

The pineapple is also known by its Latin name “ananas comosus”. The word ananas comes from nana, which is the Tupi-Guarani Indian name for pineapple and means “fragrant, excellent fruit”.