Pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a perennial tropical plant of the family Bromeliaceae and the only plant in this family with edible fruit. Currently, the global major pineapple growers include Costa Rica, Brazil, China, India and Thailand. This fruit, which contains many nutrients, antioxidants and other helpful compounds, has become a characteristic ingredient in the meat, vegetable, fish and rice dishes in modern Asian cuisine and can be eaten fresh or canned.

 

The pineapple plant is a terrestrial herb (1.5-7.5 m high) with a very short, fibrous and stout stem. The compound juicy and fleshy fruit is a collection of small, individual fruits (berries) that develop from the flowers and join to a cone/pinecone shape around the fruit stem. The pineapple is generally grouped into four main types: Smooth Cayenne, Red Spanish, Queen and Abacaxi, with hundreds of sub-varieties.

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Modern cultivated varieties are known to be seedless and will only produce one pineapple each growing season.Since this is a tropical or near-tropical plant, the pineapple is mainly limited to tropical regions when growing outdoors, characterized by low elevations between 30°N and 25°S and a temperature range of 18°C-45°C. However, it is also possible to grow pineapple in greenhouses with a controlled environment, everywhere

in the world.