Common name: Pineapple Family: Bromeliaceae Botanical name: Ananas comosus Origin: New World tropics Uses: Fruit eaten and pressed for juice. Source of bromelain which can be used as a meat tenderizer. The fibers of the leaves can be used to make cloth. Read the instructions on a box of gelatin. Somewhere you will see a warning not to use fresh pinapple. The bromelain will break down the proteins of the gelatin and it will not thicken. Enzymes are destroyed by heat, so one may put canned pineapple in gelatin.
A small cultivar of pineapple called 'Queen Victoria'. It is grown in South Africa

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