50 Fun Facts About Pineapple

On which continent is the pineapple plant native?

The wild plant comes from the Paraná–Paraguay river basins between southern Brazil and Paraguay.

What is the pineapple's scientific name?

'Ananas' comes from the Tupi word nanas, which most European languages still use for the fruit.

Pineapples belong to which plant family?

It is by far the most economically important bromeliad; most of its relatives are ornamental air plants.

Which explorer was the first European to encounter a pineapple, on Guadeloupe in 1493?

He carried it back to Spain and called it piña de Indes, 'pine of the Indians'.

Why did 17th-century English speakers apply a word for 'pine cone' to the tropical newcomer?

'Pine apple' originally meant a pine cone; John Smith applied it to the tropical fruit in 1624.

Botanically, what is a pineapple?

Each 'eye' on the skin was once a separate flower whose berry fused with its neighbours.

Roughly how many flowers does a pineapple plant produce to make one fruit?

Some large-fruited cultivars produce even more before the individual fruits join into one.

In the wild, pineapples are mainly pollinated by what?

Hawaii banned importing hummingbirds to keep commercial fruit seedless; some wild plants are pollinated by bats at night.

A pineapple's spiral 'eyes' run in helices of 8 and 13, numbers from which famous series?

Sunflower seeds and pine cones show the same pattern.

Which unusual type of photosynthesis lets pineapples take in carbon dioxide at night?

They store the CO2 as malate and release it by day, a water-saving trick shared with cacti.

Who developed the greenhouse method that finally let Europeans grow pineapples, in the 1600s?

Plants spread from the Netherlands to English gardeners in 1719 and French ones in 1730.

Which French king was presented with a pineapple grown at Versailles in 1733?

Peter the Great had already imported the Dutch growing method into St Petersburg in the 1720s.

Why did pineapples become a symbol of wealth in 18th-century Europe?

Rich hosts often displayed a single pineapple at dinner after dinner until it rotted, without eating it.

In architecture, a carved pineapple traditionally symbolises what?

You still see them on gateposts and finials, a legacy of the fruit's status-symbol days.

The Dunmore Pineapple, a hothouse topped by a 14-metre stone pineapple, is in which country?

It was voted the most bizarre building in Scotland in 1995; its chimneys are disguised as Grecian urns.

Which cultivar accounts for most of the world's pineapple production?

It was first imported to France in 1820 and its clones spread via the Pacific to Australia and Africa.

Which 'Pineapple King' arrived in Honolulu in 1899 and built the company that still bears his name?

Nicknamed the 'Pineapple King', he was a cousin once removed of Sanford Dole, president of the Republic of Hawaii.

Which entire Hawaiian island did the Pineapple King buy in 1922 to turn into a plantation?

At over 20,000 acres it became the largest pineapple plantation in the world.

What did Dole engineer Henry Ginaca invent in 1911 that transformed the canning industry?

James Dole had started commercial processing of the fruit; the Ginaca machine made canned rings possible at scale.

Which company shut its Honolulu pineapple cannery in 1991 as Hawaiian production declined?

By 2013 only the Dole Plantation on Oahu still grew pineapples in Hawaii, about 0.1 percent of world output.

Which country led world pineapple production in 2024?

Costa Rica, the Philippines and Indonesia each grew about 3 million tonnes of the 29-million-tonne total.

What is the name of the pineapple enzyme that tenderises meat and stops gelatin from setting?

It is found in every part of the plant, and it is why fresh pineapple makes your mouth tingle.

Raw pineapple is a rich source of vitamin C and which mineral?

A 100 g serving supplies about 40% of the daily value of manganese and 53% of vitamin C.

Roughly what percentage of raw pineapple flesh is water?

The rest is mostly carbohydrate, with about 50 calories per 100 grams.

What happens to a pineapple's ripeness after it is picked?

It is a non-climacteric fruit; growers spray ethephon a week before harvest to turn the skin golden.

How can you grow a new pineapple at home from a shop-bought fruit?

Commercial growers plant the side shoots, called suckers, and slips instead.

How long does a pineapple plant typically take to mature and fruit?

Growers can induce flowering artificially and harvest early to encourage a second crop of smaller fruits.

Where was Hawaiian pizza invented?

Sam Panopoulos created it at his Satellite Restaurant in 1962 and named it after the brand of canned pineapple he used.

Which country's president joked in 2017 that he would ban pineapple on pizza if he could?

Guðni Th. Jóhannesson made the remark to high-school students and it went viral worldwide.

Pineapple juice, coconut cream and rum make which cocktail?

It is served blended or shaken with ice and garnished with a pineapple wedge or cherry.

Which territory declared the coconut-and-pineapple cocktail its official drink in 1978?

The Caribe Hilton in San Juan claims bartender Ramón 'Monchito' Marrero invented it there in 1954.

What is tepache, a traditional Mexican drink?

Pineapple juice is its main ingredient, and Mexican pineapple vinegar is made from the peels.

Which cartoon character lives in a pineapple under the sea?

Stephen Hillenburg, a marine science educator, created the show for Nickelodeon in 1999.

Who stars alongside James Franco in the 2008 stoner comedy Pineapple Express?

Rogen co-wrote it with Evan Goldberg; Franco earned a Golden Globe nomination for playing the dealer.

Which country's traditional piña fabric is woven from pineapple-leaf fibres?

The lustrous cloth was made into the barong tagalog and prized by European aristocrats in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Which cultivar was originally grown in Southeast Asia for its leaf fibres rather than its fruit?

The Spanish brought it from Latin America, and its fibres fed a luxury textile trade until World War II wrecked the industry.

Under what brand name did Del Monte launch the 'MD-2' pineapple in 1996?

It replaced Smooth Cayenne in US supermarkets and sparked a lawsuit when Dole started growing it too.

Which US state grew the pineapples that dominated the world trade until the 1960s?

Refrigerated shipping and cheaper competitors ended its reign; today only tiny volumes are grown there.

The Aztecs and Mayas cultivated pineapples in Mexico as early as which era?

Even older evidence, from 1200 to 800 BC, has been found in Peru.

Which people did André Thevet see eating pineapples near Rio, giving the fruit its name 'nanas'?

His 1568 English translation is the first mention of the fruit in the language.

Which region supplied fresh pineapples to European markets in the late 19th century?

Florida and the Caribbean handled North America, keeping shipping times short.

What Hawaiian name, meaning 'foreign' plus the name of a native tree, was given to the pineapple?

The Spanish had introduced it in the 18th century; the first commercial plantation dates from 1886.

What is nata de piña, a traditional Philippine dessert?

It has been made since the 18th century by fermenting the juice with Komagataeibacter xylinus.

Which is the most serious affliction of pineapple plants, spread by mealybugs?

Pink disease is the one that turns the flesh brown-black when canned; heart rot is caused by Phytophthora fungi.

Which European country imported the most pineapple juice in 2012-2016?

The EU as a whole drank half of the world's pineapple juice in that period.

A pineapple plant usually grows to about what height?

It is a herbaceous perennial with 30 or more tough, spiny-edged leaves around a stocky stem.

Which seafaring nation took the pineapple from Brazil to India by 1550?

The Spanish meanwhile carried it across the Pacific to the Philippines.

Costa Rican pineapple exports to Europe are notorious as a cover for what?

Containers are routinely impounded at both ends of the route.

To protect its pineapple industry, Hawaii banned the importation of which animal?

Pollination produces seeds that lower fruit quality, so growers wanted no natural pollinators around the plantations.

Roughly how many tonnes of pineapples were produced worldwide in 2024?

Costa Rica, the Philippines and Indonesia each contributed about 3 million tonnes.