Is pineapple an exotic fruit, vegetable or herb? Pineapple - beneficial properties and subtleties of use

Pineapple - native South America. It comes to us in two ways: by plane or by sea. Pineapples are picked unripe and sent on a journey, where they ripen.

A storehouse of vitamins

Pineapple is rich in vitamins A and C, and it contains more of the latter than lemons. Therefore, this fruit is ideal for colds. At the first sign of illness, prepare a pineapple drink with the addition of lemon juice and honey. This way you can cure a cold in just 2 days. In general, thanks to the vitamins found in pineapple, this fruit increases the body’s immunity and resistance. various types infections.

This delicious product It will also help with sore throat, sinusitis, pneumonia, arthritis and pyelonephritis, as it has an anti-inflammatory effect. Pineapple is able to prevent the development of atherosclerosis, stop inflammatory processes, and accelerate wound healing.

Pineapple contains a whole range of nutrients and useful substances. 86% of its pulp consists of water. The rest is proteins, citric and ascorbic acids, dietary fiber. As well as provitamin A, B vitamins, vitamin C and PP, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, calcium and other minerals and trace elements.

Magnesium and potassium, which are contained in pineapple, make it especially useful for patients with hypertension and arrhythmia. Pineapple is useful for anemia, prevention of thrombophlebitis and thrombosis, as it reduces blood viscosity and helps remove excess fluid from the body. For the same reason, pineapple is useful for kidney disease.

Pineapple contains almost no protein, but a lot of dietary fiber and fiber, as well as some sugar. Its calorie content is only 50 kcal per 100 grams.

Dried pineapples also preserve everything beneficial features fresh fruit. But among other things, they give strength and improve your mood. They also help quit smoking: the experience of many smokers suggests that such sweet snacks reduce the craving for smoking.

Pineapple improves your mood. And not only due to its unsurpassed taste and bright color. These exotic fruits promote the production of serotonin. To synthesize serotonin, the body, among other things, needs the amino acid tryptophan. It is also present in pineapples.

It is also read that pineapple prevents the development of metastases in cancer patients. This fact has not yet been proven, but it is absolutely known that pineapple is a preventive measure. oncological diseases.

Pineapple and weight loss

In the list of products for weight loss, pineapple is almost in first place. Why is fruit considered an effective fat burner? The fact is that pineapple contains a special enzyme complex - bromelain, which is capable of breaking down complex proteins and fats into simple compounds. However, the ability to reduce inches at the waist is nothing more than a myth. According to scientists, bromelain only helps better absorption and digestion of food, and a large amount of fiber promotes rapid satiety, and therefore prevents overeating.

How to use

It is very healthy to drink a glass of freshly squeezed pineapple juice or eat half a fresh one. ripe fruit daily.

Contraindications


Pregnant women should use pineapple with caution. Pineapple tends to cause allergies, which means excessive consumption Undesirable manifestations are possible not only in the body of the woman herself, but also in her unborn child.

According to gynecologists, it is better to minimize the consumption of pineapple in the first trimester of pregnancy, since the substances included in its composition stimulate muscle function and can cause uterine tone. In the second trimester, you can pamper yourself a little with this exotic fruit.

But unripe pineapples are strictly prohibited for pregnant women! Canned pineapples are not recommended for consumption during pregnancy.

It is also contraindicated for people suffering from stomach diseases.

Pineapple can damage tooth enamel due to high content acidity. After eating pineapple, it is recommended to thoroughly brush your teeth and rinse your mouth.

A pineapple- refers to fruits.

In Latin

In English: Рineapple

Belongs to the family: Bromeliads

Parts of pineapple used in everyday life: Pineapple fruit.

Botanical description: These are terrestrial trees, herbaceous in appearance, with spiny stems and fairly large leaves. Adventitious roots, of which there are a lot, collect water directly above the soil and absorb moisture that accumulates on the surface of stems and leaves.

Pineapple leaves are very large and fleshy, up to 80 cm long, they are covered with a thick layer of epidermis, these leaf blades store moisture. During the rainy season, moisture accumulates in the tissues of the leaves of this plant.

During the period when the rosette of leaves has already formed, an inflorescence is formed from the growing point, which has a lot of flowers. Flowering lasts approximately 20 days, after which the fruit is yellowish golden color. It consists of ovaries that are fused with bracts. At the top of this fruit a group of leaves develops, which are vegetative.

Bloom: Blooms in the summer months.

Pineapple fruit: Pineapple has a beautiful and fairly large fruit, which is taken by people for food. This is a fairly valuable food product. The weight of a pineapple fruit usually ranges from 0.8 kg to 2 kg. Individual specimens and individual fruits weigh quite a lot, up to 5 kg. Cultivated pineapples do not contain seeds.

At the beginning of ripening, the pineapple fruit is greenish in color, over time, when the pineapple ripens, its fruit becomes a beautiful yellowish-golden color, or Brown. The color changes as this plant matures. The fruits ripen quite quickly; at optimal temperatures, the ripening period of the fruit is up to 25 days.

The optimal temperature for ripening pineapple fruits is approximately 9 degrees Celsius. Pulp of this plant white, or yellowish white, it has a very pleasant taste and sweet aroma. The pineapple fruit has a sweet, sour taste.

Pineapple is very low in calories; it contains only 45 kcal in 100 grams of its substance.

If this fruit is transported incorrectly, the fruits will spoil if you pick too much low temperature, then the pineapple fruit may become cold. The cell walls of the fruit quickly collapse and fill with moisture, causing the pineapple fruit to rot.

Also, similar properties may have an overripe pineapple. It is very similar to the over-cold fruit of this plant.

Pineapple habitat: This fruit is grown mainly in South America, in countries like Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and other similar ones. Pineapple grows in the tropical part of the continent.

Components: The pineapple fruit is quite sweet and tasty. It contains a lot of sugar, approximately 11%. The sugars in pineapple include glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Also, the pulp of the pineapple fruit contains 0.4% organic acids, mainly tartaric and citric acids. The pulp of ripe pineapples contains inclusions of nitrogen elements and other similar elements. Pineapple fruits contain a lot of potassium, pectin substances and others.

The fruits contain quite a lot of vitamins that will be useful to people. It contains many vitamins, such as vitamin A, B1, B2, C, and provitamin A.

Practical use:

This pineapple is especially useful for children and the sick; it increases hemoglobin and contains a large number of useful substances. This product is recommended for hyperacidity of the body.

Most often, pineapples are consumed in fresh, they are served on the table as a dessert, they are very tasty and healthy. Before eating, cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple, and then cut off the peel of the fruit. For consumption, pineapple is cut into circles.

Pineapple is very useful for people who decide to lose weight. Pineapple can be served for breakfast along with other fruits. Eating pineapple increases the rate of healing of various wounds and wounds. Pineapple juice is very life-giving and brings a lot of vitamins to the body.

Bromelain, which is found in pineapple, has anti-inflammatory properties.

Doctors noticed another completely new effect of pineapple on the human body quite recently. Pineapple juice contains enzymes that are converted in the body into beneficial substances that help fight cancer cells. It turns out that some tribes that live near the Amazon have long been using pineapple to combat this disease.

Many drugs based on pineapple substances are already appearing, which are used to prevent cancer.

Pineapple is widely used in folk medicine. The peoples of South America, who grow pineapples, have especially many recipes for treatment.

A paste is made from pineapple fruits, which helps against bedsores, skin diseases and other similar diseases. human body.

In some Caribbean countries, people take pineapple fruit to increase potency and sexual desire. Many nations trade pineapples; some people are engaged in business growing these food products.

Some countries use pineapple to feed domestic animals, such as pigs and cows.

Harm of pineapple: You should eat pineapple very carefully; too much pineapple juice in the body can cause allergic reaction. If you eat too much of this fruit, you can get poisoned. Pineapple pulp, like the pulp of many other fruits, can accumulate nitrates and other harmful substances.

Pineapple varieties: There are many types of pineapples, the most common of them are Cayenne smooth, Red Spanish, Monte Lirio, Queen, Singapore. All pineapples differ in color, taste, shape and size. In some pineapples the flesh is harder, in some it is softer, in some the color of the flesh is yellowish, and in some it is almost white.

Pineapple is tropical plant, whose membership in one group or another is still debated. But no one can argue with the fact that it contains a large amount of vitamins and nutrients. And people’s love for pineapple is simply limitless, which can be judged by the amount of product imported from abroad.

Where does pineapple come from?

It is believed that pineapple comes from sunny Brazil, since wild thickets of it still grow in its vast expanses. They became widely known after the voyage of Christopher Columbus, who discovered them in Central America on the island of Guadeloupe. This happened in 1493. Since then, the pineapple has continued its solemn procession throughout all European countries.

The rare fruit was brought to unusually cold conditions and, oddly enough, bred in greenhouses. Pineapple was grown indoors to serve royal and imperial tables. There is information that in the XVIII - 19th centuries the plants were grown in cold, snowy Russia to meet the needs of the yard. Each fruit was worth its weight in gold.

Nowadays, pineapples are bred and cultivated in tropical regions such as Australia, North Africa, Hawaii and many others. Thanks to excellent transport links, fruits reach customers' tables in abundance.

What does a pineapple look like?

Not everyone knows that pineapple is a perennial herbaceous plant. Its growth reaches one meter, while the leaves are 80-90 centimeters long. They have thorns along the edges, which is an obstacle when harvesting, which is done manually.

The fruit is an inflorescence of large quantity small berries. The color of pineapple is yellow or slightly brownish, at the time of flowering and depending on the variety it can reach purple. The weight of the fetus can reach fifteen kilograms, and the smallest has only eight hundred grams. The five most common and productive varieties are grown on plantations.

Breeders have developed a type of pineapple with a smooth rind that is very easy to peel. The size of the fruits of this variety is not very large, and the weight is 800 grams.

Pineapple - vegetable, fruit or berry?

Until now, since the discovery of the plant by Columbus, people have not stopped arguing about what a pineapple is. There are versions that this plant is a cereal plant, as it resembles the usual crops of this species. A group of people claim that pineapple is a vegetable. The argument given as evidence is that it grows on the ground.

Indeed, it is interesting to know whether pineapple is a berry or a fruit? There is reasonable evidence for each version. At the time of growth and ripening, the pineapple consists of many small berries collected in one inflorescence. When the plant matures, they turn into one big fruit reaching five kilograms. However, the question of whether pineapple is a berry or a fruit does not disappear. After all, he has no bones. From this many people conclude that the fruit may be a fruit.

In all the debates on the topic of whether a pineapple is a berry or a fruit, one thing remains unchanged, the plant is truly unique. It never ceases to amaze with new properties discovered by scientists.

What does a pineapple consist of?

Pineapple is not easy tasty treat for children and adults. It has many useful properties that are hidden in its composition. The juicy fruit consists of 86 percent water and 15 percent sucrose. It contains 0.7 percent citric and 50 percent ascorbic acids. All the most valuable vitamins, such as B1, B2, 12, PP and provitamin A, are present in abundance in every fruit.

In addition to the components presented above, pineapple contains many useful chemical elements. The pulp of the fruit is rich in iron and potassium, which are necessary for the quality of the heart. And copper, zinc, calcium, manganese and iodine contribute to the overall strengthening and healing of the body. This plant is a storehouse of vigor and health.

Pineapple treatment

All components of the pineapple fruit are necessary for the organic functioning of the human body, so it should be included in the regular diet of both children and adults. In addition, by using it in certain cases, you can avoid unpleasant pain.

For proper functioning of the digestive system, you need to drink one glass of pineapple juice with meals. This will be especially useful effective remedy in case of heavy consumption of meat and fatty foods, which, under the influence of enzymes that make up the fruit, is digested faster. This helps avoid indigestion.

Pineapple in dietetics

Pineapple is wonderful dietary dish. It can be used without restrictions by anyone who wants to get rid of excess weight. fresh is only 48 kilocalories per hundred grams of product. Calcium contained in the pulp of the fruit helps remove excess fluid and get rid of extra pounds. By eating a pineapple dessert, you can continue to lose weight, since consuming it improves digestion. The calorie content of fresh pineapple is a godsend for modern dietetics.

In Russia, since the 18th century, the exotic overseas fruit was eaten not only fresh, but also fermented for the winter in tubs, like cabbage. At the same time, the dish was considered delicacy and piquant.

at home?

Producers and planters southern countries can grow pineapples in open ground, which they have been doing for many centuries to the delight of customers. In a temperate climate, this is much more difficult to do, but nothing is unrealistic if you have the desire.

You can grow a pineapple in a city apartment by creating suitable conditions. Since the fruit does not have seeds, it is planted in the form of a rosette or a cut of the top without pulp. This part of the fruit is placed in a pot filled with soil and charcoal. Humus mixed with sand can be used as the top layer.

In order for the plant to take root, it must be kept warm at a temperature of 27 degrees, while covered with polyethylene. So, the sprout should remain in a moist, warm environment for two months. After this, it is permissible to open it. The first lower shoots that appear must be buried.

Pour an acidic aqueous solution with lemon juice over the pineapple. The plant must be replanted annually in large pots, and do not forget to apply fertilizer. With proper care, fruits can be obtained four years after planting.

How to determine the ripeness of a fruit?

Ripe pineapple is very tasty, juicy and aromatic, with various beneficial properties. But it is necessary to purchase and eat ripened fruits. Green fruit does not have the qualities that are needed.

First of all, unripe pineapple is very sour, it will be difficult to eat, and subsequently cracks may form in the corners of the lips and in the mouth. This causes unpleasant pain.

Secondly, eating unripe pineapple can cause diarrhea, which will lead to dehydration.

When asked how to choose delicious pineapple, you can answer the following: you need to pay attention to the upper feathers. If they come out easily, it means the fruit is ready to eat.

Buying a pineapple

In order to purchase truly high-quality tropical fruit, you need to know how to choose a pineapple in a store. The following rules will help with this:

  • An intact pineapple has no characteristic odor, if it is carried from the nose to an arm's length distance. Otherwise, the sellers clearly used flavorings. And if you smell the fruit, bringing it to your face, and do not feel the subtle aroma, it means that this is a stale product that has been subjected to “water procedures.” It was simply washed to remove mold and unpleasant odors.
  • When purchasing, you need to carefully inspect the pineapple so as not to purchase a moldy product. It is dangerous to eat.
  • The color of ripe and delicious fruit should be yellow with a grayish tint without any green inclusions. Green indicates an unripe fruit, and it is best to avoid eating it.
  • The scales should be elastic. A soft fruit may be rotten from the inside, which will spoil the buyer's mood, given the high cost of the product.
  • The tips of the scales ripe pineapple usually dried, otherwise we can conclude that the storage conditions were not met, and this leads to spoilage of the fruit.
  • The tail of a ripened pineapple should sit loosely and curl. In this case, you can be sure of the ripeness of the product.

Knowing these subtleties, you can remove the question of how to choose a pineapple in a store from the agenda and feel free to go shopping. But it is necessary to take into account that it is very unprofitable to throw away this exotic product, so sellers often resort to various tricks.

Canned pineapple

A very popular delicacy among children is compote from exotic fruits. Canned pineapples are sold in tin cans various sizes.

When purchasing such a product, you must first pay attention to the shelf life of the product; it should not exceed acceptable standards. Usually this kind of information can be found on the cover.

You won’t be able to look inside, so you need to inspect the jar from the outside. Dents and damage indicate poor quality transportation. In this case, the product contained in the package could become depressurized and become hazardous to health.

Swollen jars indicate a violation during the preparation and storage process. Most likely, the contents will be sour and fermented, that is, unsuitable for food. When buying canned pineapples, you need to be very careful not to harm your health.

Pineapple cooking

Since pineapple is a very healthy and tasty product, it is an ingredient in many savory and unusual dishes. Culinary delights based on the fruit are quite varied. It is included in salads, desserts and main courses.

Recipes with pineapple can be found in cookbooks. Housewives are offered a tasty and aromatic hot dish. It's called " Stuffed with chicken a pineapple".

To prepare it you will need one big fruit, chicken fillet, cheese and seasonings.

The pineapple must be cut lengthwise and the pulp removed. Sliced ​​chicken meat is fried in vegetable oil with the addition of salt and curry. Before removing from heat, add pineapple pieces to the pan and simmer for another three minutes. Cheese durum varieties grate on a coarse grater.

The filling is placed in pineapple baskets and sprinkled with cheese. Then this culinary preparation Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees. It is better to eat the dish hot.

Recipes with pineapple are very popular among children. For little delicacies you can prepare fruit salad. You can put banana, kiwi, apple, seedless grapes and tangerine in it. All fruits and berries are crushed, including pineapple, and mixed. It is better to take products in equal proportions. The resulting mixture is poured with yogurt, mixed and divided into portions. The dish is prepared quickly and children really like it.

Pineapple is great product, which not only evokes pleasant emotions from consumption, but also produces healing effect. This exotic fruit should be included in every person’s diet, as it will help avoid many health problems.

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