anannas :

The pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a tropical plant with an edible multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries, also called pineapples,and the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae

HISTORICAL AND MYTHOLOGICAL REVIEW:

Ananas comosus is the botanical name of the fruit we know as the pineapple. Native to South America, it was named for its resemblance to a pine cone. Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering the pineapple on the island of Guadeloupe in 1493, although the fruit had long been grown in South America. He called it piña de Indes, meaning "pine of the Indians." The South American Guarani Indians called it nanã, meaning "excellent fruit," and cultivated them for food. The term pineapple (or pinappel in Middle English) did not appear in English print until around 1664.

Taxonomical Classification

Kingdom: Plantae - Plants
Subkingdom: Streptophyta
Superdivision: Spermatophyta - Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Family: Bromeliaceae
Genus: Ananas
Species: Ananas comosus

Allied species:

phala varga - priya nighantu

Anannasadi varga - Nigantu adarsha

VERNACULAR NAMES

Sanskrit: Anamnasam, Bahunetraphalam.
English: pineapple
Hindi: Anannas, Anannaasa.
Urdu: Annanās, Anānās.
Telugu: Annasapandu, Anasapandu
Bengali: Anannas, Aanaaras.
Marathi: Ananus.
Konkani: anaans, avnaas
Oriya: Supuri anasianas.
Gujarathi: Ananas
Tamil: Annaaci, Anachi pazham, Anasippazham, Annasipazham
Malayalam: kaithachakka
Kannada: Ananas
Punjabi: ਅਨਾਨਾਸ Anānāsa
Arabic: Anânâs
Spanish: Ananá, Piña, Piña de América, Piña tropical.
Assamese: Anarox
Japanese: -パイナップル Painappuru
Chinese: Lu dou zi
Ceylon: na
French: Ananas, Ananas commun.
German: Ananas
Burma: Na naq thì.
Nepal: Bhui katar.
Persian: Annanās, Anānās-
Sinhalese: - අන්නාසි annāsi
Tulu: -Parangi Pelakaayi
Greek: Ananas

Varities:

Pineapples are roughly divided into four categories: Smooth Cayenne, Queen, Abacaxi and Red Spanish

Definition

बहुनेत्रफलं चाम्लं कृमिघ्नं मधुरं सरं l

बल्यं वातहरं रुच्यं श्लेष्मलं तर्पणं गुरु ll

Synonyms

Synonyms in Ayurveda: bahnetra

The word "pineapple" in English was first recorded to describe the reproductive organsof conifer trees (now termed pine cones). When European explorers encountered this tropical fruit in the Americas, they called them "pineapples" (first referenced in 1664, for resemblance to pine cones).

In the scientific binomial Ananas comosus, ananas, the original name of the fruit, comes from the Tupiword nanas, meaning "excellent fruit",as recorded by André Thevet in 1555, and comosus, "tufted", refers to the stem of the fruit. Other members of the genus Ananas are often called pine, as well, in other languages.

In Sanskrit it is called Bahunetra; meaning having multiple eyes.

Rasa: Amla Madhura
Guna: Guru
Veerya: Sheetha
Vipaka: Maduram
Karma: Pittahara Vatahara

Pineapple is a plant that can add a regular dosage of healthy fibre in diet. This fibre is required by the body on a daily basis to regulate bowel movement and eliminate waste products from the intestines effectively.

People who do not take enough fibre in diet commonly suffer from problems like bloating, indigestion and constipation.

Pineapple is one of the many fruits that help in keeping gut healthy and its great taste can be easily enjoyed on a regular basis for more reasons than one.

A healthy protein-breaking enzyme named Bromelain is found in abundance in pineapple. It works as a powerful anti –oxidant and helps scavenge free radicals in the body preventing development of cancerous conditions and other serious health concerns.

It is rich in vitamins like B –complex, A, C, E etc. which are important for maintaining bodys vitality. Thiamine, pyridoxine, potassium and manganese are other important micronutrients present in this fruit.

Cultivation:

A plant of the moist, mainly lowland tropics, where it can also be found at elevations up to 1,800 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 21 - 30°c, but can tolerate 10 - 36°c. The plant can be damaged or killed if temperatures drop to 5°c for any prolonged period of time, and is killed by even a short period at 0°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 800 - 2,500mm, but tolerates 550 - 3,500mm
Plants can tolerate full sun to fairly dark shade[

309

]. Prefers a light, well-drained, humus-rich soil that is on the acid side Prefers a pH in the range 4.5 - 8, tolerating 3.5 - 9[

418

]. Established plants are very drought tolerant
Commercial cultivation is largely limited to latitudes between 25°S - 25°N, but it can also be found to 33°S
Fruits tend to be smaller and less sweet when grown at higher elevations and most pineapples are grown near the sea in areas with a high atmospheric humidity often on hill slopes
The plant requires 11 - 36 months from planting until the first crop of fruit. When grown commercially, the plant has an economic life of just 2 - 3 years, though the plant may continue to live and fruit for over 50 years
The optimum yield is 60 - 80 tonnes/ha for the first harvest; the first ratoon crop yields approximately 10% less; the second ratoon crop 30% less
A shallow-rooted plant
Individual plants are self-sterile, but sexual fertilization is unnecessary because fruit is produced parthenocarpically
There are many named varieties

Propogation:

Seed - cultivars do not breed true and so seed production is usually restricted to the search for new cultivars.
Crowns (leafy clumps atop mature fruits). Remove the leafy crown by twisting or cutting, remove any remaining yellow fruit attached to the crown then dry it for one or two days. Place the crown in a moist potting soil mix or in water until roots appear
Stem cuttings made after fruiting. Remove the leaves from the stems, and cut into pieces or lay intact in trays, covering with 2cm of rooting mediumGive bottom heat at around 20 - 27°c until roots are formed
Lateral shoots

Harvesting:

Pineapples may be cultivated from the offset produced at the top of the fruit,possibly flowering in five to ten months and fruiting in the following six months.Pineapples do not ripen significantly after harvest

Phytochemistry:

Native variety has a higher carbohydrate content than the Smooth Cayenne variety.
- Flesh of the fruit contains sugar, 10-15% saccharose; 7-11% glucose; 1% fructose; 0.6% invert sugar; 2.74% mannite, 1% citric acid; traces of vanillin and enzyme, bromelin.
- Ash contains phosphoric and sulfuric acid, lime magnesia, silica, iron, and chlorides of potassium and sodium.
- Contains citric acid, phosphoric and sulfuric acid, lime, magnesia, iron, silica, sodium and chlorides of potassium.
- Fruit yields citric and malic acids in good quantities, with moderate amounts of vitamin C.
- Bromelain is the name given to a family of proteolytic enzymes derived from Ananas comosus.
- Antihelminthic property of fresh fruit juice attributed to its constituent, bromelin, a proteolytic ferment, that is toxic to Ascaris lumbricoides and Macracanthorynchus hirudinaceous.
- Phytochemical screening of leaves extract yielded alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, phytosterols, glycosides and phenols.

PHARMACOLOGY:

Important formulations

1. Sarbat Annanasa

Parts used for medicinal purpose

Fruit, Leaves, ,

Dosage:

fruit juice - 25 - 50 ml

Antidote:

Lemon juice, sugar, ginger extract.

Substitute:

-You can use canned pineapple as a substitute for fresh

Commercial value:

Commercial cultivation.
Bromelain caps in the cybermarket.

In commercial farming, flowering can be induced artificially, and the early harvesting of the main fruit can encourage the development of a second crop of smaller fruits. Once removed during cleaning, the top of the pineapple can be planted in soil and a new plant will grow. Slips and suckers are planted commercially

Morphology:

Piña is a fruit bearing tropical plant with an erect stem, 0.5 to 1.5 meters high. Leaves are numerous, linear-lanceolate, 1 to 1.5 meters long, 5 to 7 centimeters wide, the margins sharply spiny-toothed, green and shiny on the upper surface, pale beneath. Leaves subtending the inflorescences are red, at least at the base and much reduced. Heads are terminal, solitary, ovoid, 6 to 8 millimeters long, much enlarged in fruit; with the bracteoles reddish, numerous, triangular-ovate to oblong-ovate, acute and imbricated. Sepals are ovate, thick and fleshy, about 1 centimeter long. Petals are three, oblanceolate, about 2 centimeters long, white below, violet-purple above. Mature fruit is up to 20 centimeters or longer.

Pineapple leaves - long, trough-shaped, tapered from base to tip, and approaching horizontal - are arranged spirally around the stump. This plant shape allows for maximum sunlight interception, and highly efficient gathering and movement of rain to the plant’s stem and root system. Most of the leaves – especially the leaves at the top of the plant most exposed to the sun are oriented at an angle to the sun (i.e. relatively erect) and this helps reduce leaf temperature and moisture loss. The leaves are arranged so that it is the thirteenth leaf on the spiral that first actually overlaps and shades a lower leaf on that plant, and because of their long, tapered shape do not shade leaves of neighbouring plants until they are large and mature. A mature plant, weighing 3.6 kg will have a leaf area of about 2.2 square metres.

Histology:

The ovaries develop into berries, which coalesce into a large, compact, multiple fruit. The fruit of a pineapple is arranged in two interlocking helices, eight in one direction, 13 in the other, each being a Fibonacci number

Stomata Stomata are pores in the leaves that can open and close to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide enters the plant through the stomata whilst moisture and oxygen leave through them. There are relatively few stomata per unit of leaf area, plus they are small and situated mainly on the underside of the leaves in depressed channels. Because they are small, deep and protected by a heavy coat of waxy trichomes, the plant has a very low rate of transpiration (water loss).

Geographical distribution:

Pineapple originally flourished in South America from where it spread out to the rest of the world. Soon it was carried by sailors on long sea voyage as part of their vitamin C stock, much like tomatoes.

ECOLOGICAL ASPECT:

Pineapple is refered to as "multiple fruit" because they are derived from the coalescence of ovaries from many individual flowers plus a fleshy stem axis.

Plant conservation:

Pineapple has several special characteristics that allow it to survive and thrive under low rainfall conditions:

 Leaf shape and orientation that maximises capture of moisture and sunlight most efficiently

 The large cups formed where the leaves attach to the stump are effective reservoirs for nutrient solutions and water

 The ability to absorb nutrients through axillary roots in the leaf bases, and directly through the leaf surfaces especially the basal white tissue

 Low numbers of stomata, and leaves that are insulated to reduce water loss

 Water storage tissue that can make up to half the leaf thickness, and is used during periods of low rainfall to help maintain growth

 A specialised metabolic system (CAM) for capturing carbon dioxide at night for use during the day that greatly reduces water loss The pineapple’s adaptation to dry conditions comes not only from evolving in a dry climate but also from its epiphytic ancestry (epiphytes grow above the ground on other plants for support).

General Use:

It is an anti-oxidant that improves immunity against diseases. Vitamin C helps to prevent recurrent respiratory infections.

Fibre content of pineapple gives relief in constipation or hardness of stool.

Pineapple is a blood thinner and prevents blood clotting.

Pineapple removes toxins from the body and reduces obesity. It improves digestion, metabolism and assimilation.

Pineapple fruit is highly recommended in arthritis, rheumatism, gout and similar conditions due to its swelling reducing and pain relieving properties.

Pineapple is indicated in constipation, fluid retention, diarrhea, painful periods, painful urination, fever, gas, piles, jaundice, stones, obesity, ulcers and rheumatism.

Therapeutic Uses:

Bromelain is the key to pineapple medicinal uses. This enzyme breaks down proteins and also has anti inflammatory and healing properties.It is prescribed for the treatment of swelling following injury or surgery.

Research published in 1986 suggests that bromelain works by inhibiting the synthesis of inflammatory mediators as well as inhibiting platelet aggregation. Separate research performed in Germanyin 1999 validates this antiplatelet activity, indicating its use in the treatment of thrombosis.

The unripe fruit stimulates the appetite and is an effective treatment for indigestion. The ripe fruit reduces stomach acidity and flatulence. The fibre content stimulates bowel movements, while the leaves are believed to be beneficial in the treatment of late or absent periods and period pain.

Systemic Use:

Breathlessness, Asthma and Breathing problems:-

Take pine apple juice and equal amounts of powder of root of small kateri, Indian gooseberry and cumin seeds. Give this mixture with honey to the patient.

Take 5gm juice of ripe fruit and add 1gm each of peepal root, saunth and baheda powder. Mix roasted Borax and honey in it and give to the patient. It gives relief in breathing problems.

Indigestion:-

Cut small pieces of ripe fruit and sprinkle rock salt and black pepper on it. Eating this fruit cures indigestion.

Take 50gm juice of ripe fruit and add 1 -2 grapes and 100mg rock salt in it and give to the patient.

Diabetes:-

Pineapple is very beneficial in diabetes. Take 50gm pineapple juice and add 5-5 gm each of sesame , barad, babeda, amla, gokhru and jamun seeds. When dried, grind the mixture to form a powder. Give 2gm of this powder , every morning and evening.

Stomach problem:-

Take 5gm pineapple juice and add 100mg roasted asfoetida, 150 mg each of rock salt and ginger juice in it. Give this mixture every morning and evening.

Add 150 mg each of yavskhar, peepal and turmeric in pineapple juice and drink. It cures jaundice , liver and stomach problem within 7 days.

Ascites:-

Prepare decoction of pineapple leaves and add little amounts of barad powder in it. Give this decoction to the patient. It helps cleanse urine and stool which gives relief in ascites.

Jaundice:-

Take 8gm pineapple juice and add 2gm turmeric powder and 3gm sugar to it. Drinking this regularly helps cure jaundice.

Amenorrhoea:-

Take 8gm pineapple juice and add 1-1 gm each of powder of peepal bark ang jiggery. Give this to patient.

Worms:-

Take extract of pineapple leaves and mix little amount of honey. Give 2 – 8 gm of this. It also helps in eradicating worms.

Oedema, Swelling :-

In case of swelling in body organs, incomplete release of urine, body ache or swelling under eyes, give pineapple juice to the patient as can be taken for 5-6 days.

Curing fever:-

Give pineapple juice to the patient or add honey in 10gm juice and give to the patient . It makes the patient sweat a lot.

Administration:

Sarbat, juice

Pharmacological:

Anthelmintic, vermicide, diuretic, aperient, antiscorbutic, diaphoretic, refrigerant, digestive, styptic, emmenagogue.

Clinical trials:

Duval, M.F., Buso, G.C,. Ferreira, F.R., Noyer, J.L., Coppens d’Eeckenbrugge, G., Hamon, P. and Ferreira, M.E. (2003) Relationships in Ananas and other related genera using chloroplast DNA restriction site variation. Genome 46(6), 990-1004

Research:

Malezieux, E., Cote, F. and Bartholomew, D.P. (2003). Crop environment, plant growth and physiology. In The Pineapple: Botany, production and Uses (eds. D.P. Bartholomew, R.E. Paull and K.G. Rohrbach), CAB International, pp. 69-107.

Py, C., Lacoeuilhe, J.J. and Teisson, C. (1987). The Pineapple: Cultivation and Uses. Techniques Agricoles et Productions Tropicales.

Sanewski, G.M. and Giles, J. (1997). Blackheart resistance in three clones of pineapple [Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.] in subtropical Queensland. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 37, 459-61

Precautions:

It’s a fact that pineapple strengthens the uterus; but taken in excess quantity it can also lead to abortion. It is also purgative and anthelmintic. Extra pineapple creates an itchy sensation in throat which might harm you.

Toxicity studies:

The skin of the pineapple plant is not considered poisonous, and while the entire fruit is considered non-toxic, the unripe flesh, thorns and leaves can have toxic effects. This is due to the enzyme bromelain, which is used as a meat tenderizer and is considered very low in toxicity.

Use in other system of medicine:

Juice of leaves used as anthelmintic and vermicide. For intestinal animal parasites, a decoction of fresh young leaves, 4x daily.

- Leaf extract used as antimicrobial, vermicide, purgative, emmenagogue, abortifacient, and anti-inflammatory.

- Ripe fruit good for acid dyspepsia and aids digestion,.

- Juice of ripe fruit increases urine flow, gently laxative, cooling and digestive.

- In India and in the Moluccas, immature pineapple juice is taken internally as vermifuge for children and abortifacient for women.

- In Tripura, India juice of underground stem used for dyspepsia.

- In Malacca, used as diuretic and treatment of gonorrhea.

- The acid in the ripe fruit taken for acid dyspepsia, the tryptic ferment aiding digestion.

- In the Gold Coast, the immature fruits are boiled and taken as remedy for venereal diseases.

- Juice of ripe fruit considered antiscorbutic, diuretic, diaphoretic, aperient, refrigerant and digestive.

- Juice of unripe fruit considered acid, styptic, diuretic, anthelmintic and emmenagogue.

- In Mexico, juice of fruit used as anthelmintic.

CONCLUSION:

Pineapple is a native plant of Brazil, but now a day, it is grown in large quantities all over India, especially in Bengal, Assam and Western coastal plains. Pineapple plant matures in two years. It is up to 2 ft tall and looks very similar to those of kewarba plants. Leaves are 1- 2 ft long , thin, strong. The fruit is yellowish in colour with several small thorny leaves.It suppresses vata pitta, promotes digestive functions, and is purgative. It helps cure stones, urinary disorders and promotes physical strength.