Pineapple
Genus:
Ananas
 english name:
Pineapple (Ananas comosus)
Family:
Bromeliaceae
Compounds: the enzyme bromelain (which digests
food by breaking down protein),
manganese, Vitamin C and Vitamin B1
Parts used: fruits, stem
Properties: it improves the digestion (thanks
to the bromelain) and inflammotory states of tissues
Uses:
internal uses:
slimming diets, cellulite (draining action), dyspepsia (digestive
enzymatic action) and inflammations (sprains, bruises, haematoma).
external uses:
can interfere with the preparation of some foods, such as jelly
or other gelatin-based desserts. In cosmetic:
if you have corns, calluses or dry skin you can treat them with
mashed pineapple. (just apply mashed pineapple fruit to the affected
area and leave it on for an hour. The rinse it gently off and
scrub the area to remove the dead skin).
The
pineapple spread from its original area (central South America)
through cultivation, and by the time of Christopher Columbus (1492)
it grew throughout South and Central America, southern Mexico
and the Caribbean (West Indies). Columbus may have taken a sample
back to Europe. The presence of pineapples on Caribbean islands
was not a natural event, but rather the result of centuries of
indian migration and commerce. The name pineapple in English comes
from the similarity of the fruit to a pine cone. The fruit of
a pineapple are arranged in two interlocking spirals, eight spirals
in one direction, thirteen in the other; each being a Fibonacci
number. In Spanish pineapples are called ananá
("ananás", in Spain) or piña, principally
in Hispanic American countries.
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