Pineapple

:This article is about the fruit. For the former Our Gang child actor known as Pineapple, see Eugene Jackson

Fruit

The pineapple fruit develops from many smaller berries fusing together (called a multiple-accessory fleshy fruit). It is large and ovoid with a tough, spikey, waxy shell of many hexagonal sections, containing large amounts of white or yellow flesh with a tough, fibrous core. Depending on variety, the fruit can be up to 30 cm long and weigh more than 4 kg. Wild pineapples will contain one seed for each flower that produced the fruit. However, most commercially grown pineapples do not contain any seeds.

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Pineapple is commonly used in desserts and other types of fruit dishes, or served on its own. 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.The pineapple juice has been fermented into an alcoholic beverage commonly called pineapple wine which is a type of fruit wine, most commonly found in Hawaii.

Related Topics:
Dessert - Alcoholic beverage - Pineapple wine - Fruit wine - Hawaii

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Signs of a ripe pineapple include:

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• Flesh that is firm but yielding;
• Leaves that can be readily removed with a sharp tug;
• An odor of pineapple at the bottom of the fruit.

Dietary effects

Pineapple contains a proteolytic enzyme bromelain, which digests food by breaking down protein. Pineapple juice can thus be used as a marinade and tenderizer for meat. The enzymes in pineapples can interfere with the preparation of some foods, such as jelly or other gelatin-based desserts. Some have claimed that pineapple has benefits for some intestinal disorders while others claim that it helps to induce childbirth when a baby is overdue.

Related Topics:
Proteolytic - Enzyme - Bromelain - Jelly - Gelatin - Childbirth - Baby

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