Health Facts on Pineapple

Other Common Names: Ananas, Pina, Ananas comosus

Range: Native to the American Tropics, southern Brazil and Paraguay, the cultivated pineapples are grown mainly between latitudes 24�N and 25�S, principally at lower altitudes, in many countries where climatic conditions are favorable.

Habitat: They are tolerant of a wide range of soils providing they possess good drainage, soil aeration, and a low percentage of lime. Sandy loam, mildly acid and of medium fertility, is best.

Composition: Per 100 g, the fruit is reported to contain 47�52 calories, 85.3�87.0 g H1O, 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�42 mg b-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, b-methylthiopropionic acid methyl ester (and ethyl ester), 5-hydroxytryptamine, quinic acid-1,4-di-p-coumarin.

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-b-methylthiolpropionate, ethyl-b-methylthiolpropionate, and diacetyl, acetone, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, furfurol, and 5-hydroxy-2-methylfurfurol. Steriod fractions of the lower leaves possess estrogenic activity.

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 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 successful until 1712.

Pineapple is cultivated for fruit, used fresh, canned, frozen, or made into juices, syrups, or candied. Pineapple bran, the residue after juicing, is high in vitamin A, and is used in livestock feed. From the juice may be extracted citric acid, or on fermentation, alcohol. Commercial bromelain is generally prepared from pineapple wastes. A mixture of several proteases, bromelain is used in meat tenderizers, in chill-proofing beer, manufacturing precooked cereals, in certain cosmetics, and in preparations to treat edema and inflammation. Bromelain is nematicidal.

The fruit, peel, or juice is used for corns, tumors, and warts. Reported to be abortifacient, cholagogue, depurative, diaphoretic, digestive, discutient, diuretic, ecbolic, emmenagogue, estrogenic, hydragogue, intoxicant, laxative, parasiticide, purgative, refrigerant, styptic, and vermifuge, pineapple is a folk remedy for bladder ailments, hypochondria, scarlet fever, scurvy, sores, and sprains. An antiedemic substance has been reported from the rhizome. Many real or imagined pharmacological effects are attributed to bromelain: burn debridement, anti-inflammatory action, smooth muscle relaxation, stimulation of muscle contractions, cancer prevention and remission (not recognized by NCI), ulcer prevention, appetite inhibition, enhanced fat excretion, sinusitis relief. Bromelain is given as an antiinflammatory agent following dental, gynecological, and general surgery, and to treat abscesses, contusions, hematomas, sprains, and ulcerations.



Pineapple juice from unripe fruits acts as a violent purgative, and is also anthelmintic and ecbolic. Ripe fruit juice is diuretic, but in large doses may cause uterine contractions. Sweetened leaf decoction drunk for venereal diseases. Juice of the leaves consumed for hiccoughs, vermifuge, and as purgative. Juice of ripe fruit regarded also as antiscorbutic, cholagogic, diaphoretic, refrigerant, and useful in jaundice.

Known hazards: In "therapeutic doses", bromelain may cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, and menorrhagia.

When unripe, the pineapple is not only inedible but poisonous, irritating the throat and acting as a drastic purgative.

Excessive consumption of pineapple cores has caused the formation of fiber balls (bezoars) in the digestive tract.

- James A. Duke. 1983. Handbook of Energy Crops. Unpublished.