Van-Whole Produce

Pineapple got its name from a combination of the Spanish, “pina” and the English, “apple”. When Christopher Columbus brought the pineapple back from Guadeloupe to Spain in 1493; Spanish saw the fruit’s resemblance to a pine cone, so they called it “Pine of the Indies”; English called it “apple” because of its delicious fruits. Later, the two names combined and become, “pineapple”, the name that we commonly use nowadays. Pineapple was native to Tropical America, and it was introduced to different countries around the world by Portuguese explorers in the 16th century. It is now cultivated in a lot of tropical area; such as Hawaii, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Southeast Asia. The pineapple fruit is a fuse of the individual berries in the central stalk of the plant; the leaves are the continued growth of the stalk beyond where the fruit is attached. Side shoots are grown at the leaf axils of the main stem after the first fruit is grown, they can be remove for propagation, or left on the plant for the growth of a second fruit.

Nutritional Facts

The juicy, sweet and fragrant fruit of pineapple contain bromelain, which is a mixture of substance that can be extracted from the stem and core of fruit. Bromelain contains protein-digesting enzymes, which helps with the digestion in the intestinal tract. Bromelain can also help in prevention of excessive inflammation, blood coagulation, and tumor growth. Pineapple is also a very good source of Vitamin C, Manganese, and Vitamin B1; which will defend the body cells against free radical attack, maintain proper body immune function, and produce sufficient energy for the body.