Pineapples are really very strange things. So, let us take a look at some interesting facts about them :
1. It takes almost 3 years for a single pineapple to reach maturation.
2. Each pineapple plant only produces just one pineapple per year.
3. When European explorers first encountered the fruit in the Americas, they called them "pineapples" because of the resemblance to pine cones.
4. Pineapple plants look like giant, buried pineapples. What if all of these were giant pineapples, planted underneath the soil with just the top part visible.5. You can plant your own pineapple plant by cutting off the top of a pineapple and planting it in soil.
6. Once harvested, pineapples don't continue to ripen. That means that every single pineapple in the grocery store is as ripe as it will ever be so don't buy one and save it for a week, thinking it will ripen.
7. The difference in colors is mostly based on where the pineapples were grown so a green pineapple can be just as sweet and delicious as a golden brown one.
8. Unripe pineapples don’t just taste vile, but can actually be quite poisonous. Eating it causes serious throat irritation and it has a strong laxative effect.
9. Pineapple plants have really pretty flowers. The pineapple plant's flowers -- which can vary from lavender to bright
red -- produce berries that actually coalesce together around the
fruit's core. So the pineapple fruit itself is actually a bunch of
"fruitlets" fused together. 10. Pineapple cores contain high levels of bromelain, a proteolytic enzyme, which has a whole slew of health benefits. Bromelain has been shown to be an effective anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxant, and digestive aid, and it also includes chemicals that interfere with the growth of tumor cells, making pineapple a good food to prevent cancer.
11. Pineapples were once believed to cause miscarriages, but a pregnant woman would need to eat about 10 whole pineapples for it to be a concern.
12. Although the fruit originated in South America, the majority of the world's pineapples now come from Southeast Asia. Namely the Philippines and Thailand. For the freshest pineapples in the U.S., look for Costa Rica- or Hawaii-grown pineapples.13. Baby pineapples are one of the most adorable fruit you've ever seen.
14. Pineapples grow slowly, and can take up to two years to reach full size, so we pick and eat them when they are much smaller, but if they are left to their own devices they can grow a lot bigger. The world record is currently 8.28kg (18.25lbs).
15. Traditionally pineapple juice was used as a diuretic and to induce labour.
16. If you want to speed up the ripening of a pineapple, so that you can eat it faster, then you can do it by standing it upside down (on the leafy end).
