Pineapple: Varieties

Of the main varieties grown for eating fresh the two listed first are long-established ones, both of which are also used by canners:

• Cayenne, both acid and sugar contents high, moderately large, yellow flesh;

• Queen, an old variety, smaller, with less acid, a mild flavour, and rich yellow flesh, has given rise to the excellent modern variety Natal Queen;

• Red Spanish, mostly eaten fresh. It comes from the Caribbean and Florida, and has a spicy, acid flavour. The principal variety grown for canning is a large one;

• Sugarloaf, sweet and with a mild flavour and yellow-white flesh;

• Variegated, with both skin and flesh of the ripe fruit ‘albino white and sweet as honey’ (Facciola, 1998).