Pineapple
Selection Information
Usage: Eaten fresh, in salads, gelatins and cooking. Pineapples are also coveted for their juice which has a high vitamin C content and wonderful flavor.
Selection: Good-quality Pineapples are firm, large and have fresh-looking green tops. Pick a Pineapple with skin that is as yellow as possible with no soft spots. Yellow Pineapples were allowed to ripen longer and have a higher sugar content. Once a Pineapple is picked, it will not ripen. Plucking leaves from the top of the Pineapple does not indicate ripeness. It may indicate the leaves are old, but says nothing about the ripeness of the fruit.
Avoid: Avoid product with dry brown leaves, soft spots, watery bruises with an unpleasant smell or patches of mold.
Seasonal Information
Available year-round from Hawaii, Australia, Philippines, Thailand, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Costa Rica.
Pineapple Nutritional Information
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Pineapples are very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. They're also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Thiamin, Vitamin B6 and Copper, and a very good source of Vitamin C and Manganese.
Pineapple Tips & Trivia
- Plucking leaves from the top of the pineapple does not indicate ripeness. It may indicate the leaves are old, but says nothing about the ripeness of the fruit.
- Pineapple has its own super-powerful tenderizer. It's an enzyme called bromelain. For this reason, fresh pineapple should not be used in gelatin recipes. When adding fresh pineapple to any protein dish, always serve immediately. When held longer, the food will become over-tenderized or mushy.
- If you can't eat a large pineapple, ask the produce clerk to cut one in half for you. You will be more likely to get a sweet pineapple, and it won't go to waste.
- Always the symbol of hospitality, the beautiful pineapple was once a rare fruit. So rare in fact, it was called "the fruit of kings."
- Pineapples are the berry to a perennial herb, borne on a stem that emerges from a cluster of leaves just above the ground. It takes 18 to 22 months for a pineapple plant to produce a single 4 to 5 pound fruit. About a year later, the plant will produce a second fruit, smaller than the first.
- Historians believe pineapple was brought to Hawaii by voyagers from Tahiti and other South Sea islands around the year 1800. (Source: The Produce News, 4/14/90)
- The word pineapple comes from the Spanish "pina," meaning pine cone. Pineapples are still known to Latin Americans as pina.
