Getting to know the pineapple and its various cultivars
THE pineapple cultivars being planted in Malaysia can be divided into three main groups – Cayenne, Queen, and Spanish. Sarawak has produced pineapples on a large scale for a long time, with Sarikei and Samarahan Divisions being well-known production areas.
Nanas Sarikei continues to be very popular because of its fresh eating quality. Some of those planted elsewhere are better used for cooking. Being a long-term crop, grown for local markets, we’ve found new cultivars such as Nanas Sawit, which originated in Mukah. The fruit size can be around 5kg each and will fetch a good price. These have now been overtaken by the super sweet variety MD2, which is earmarked for export. This week, let us examine some of the cultivars available locally.
Nanas Maspine The cultivar was developed from the Spanish group, with cylindrical-shaped fruits and a thin skin. The variety has a high rate of recovery. The size is moderate, weighing around 1.8kg per fruit. The flesh is yellow upon ripening with an acid content of 0.58 per cent.
The plant has a moderate height and size with thorn-less leaf blades. The flesh texture is rather dry but crunchy and sweet with a moderate sugar content at 16 to 17 degrees Brix.
Shelf life of the fresh fruit is good and the flesh will not turn black or dark when stored in the freezer for two weeks. When stored at room temperature, the fruit can last for five days.
Nanas Josephine This cultivar is also known as A25-34. It came from pairing the female Nanas Johor with the male Nanas Sarawak. The fruit is cylindrical in shape and the average fruit is 1.3kg. The young fruits start of in a dark green shade and then turn a reddish orange colour when ripe. The flesh is dry and crunchy, with a sugar level of around 16 to 17 degrees Brix.
The acid level is moderate and has good eating quality for fresh fruits. Nanas Moris This cultivar is from the Queen group and the fruits come in smaller sizes of 800 grams to 1.5kg. The core is small but has internal eye points. The leaf blades have tiny thorns and the fruit has a tapering cylindrical shape. The flesh is orange-yellow in colour and has a sugar level of around 15 to 17 degrees Brix. The acid level is about 0.5 to 0.7 per cent citric acid.
Nanas Sarawak This cultivar from the Cayenne group has a bigger fruit size than the rest. The fruits are around 2kg to 4kg. The suckers are used for propagation. Its leaves are green with some thorns at the ends. You can get up to six new growths from one fruit.
When mature the leaves are green with reddish midribs. Much of the leaf blade is clean except for the end portion which has thorns. Fruits are ideal for the table and eaten fresh although the central core is rather large.
Nanas Gandul This cultivar is from the Spanish group and the fruits are moderate in size. The fruits are cylindrical in shape and weigh about 1kg to 1.5 kg each. The flesh is less sweet and more acidic, with a citric acid level of up to 0.25 per cent.
Nanas 36 This is a cross between the Spanish Gandul and Smooth Cayenne. The result was a moderate fruit size of 1.5kg to 2kg. The flesh is a golden yellow and crunchy in texture. It has a low citric acid level and the sugar content is rather high at 14 degrees Brix.
The fruit is suitable for canning as well as for table fruits. This fruit is exported to the Middle East.
MD2 hybrid As mentioned earlier, the MD2 is a super sweet pineapple. It was first introduced from the Philippines in early 2000. It is set to become the No. 1 export quality pineapple to China.
The Sarawak government under the Malaysia Pineapple Industry Board has also embarked on large scale production in the Kuching Division, where at least 100,000 plants have been planted for export markets.
New growths depend on tissue culture production and are available to the public from private producers. Sucker growth is also possible and I have already tried pot planting and succeeded.
The leaves are free of thorns, making it easy to do weeding. It does require management in terms of fighting off fungal diseases to prevent heart rot. Fruit setting can be ‘programmed’ using hormone tablets to imitate fruiting.
I hope you will try to include some pineapples in your garden soon. Do send me an email if you have questions, comments, or suggestions. Happy gardening.