Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.

Pineapple plants probably originated in the Paraná-Paraguay river drainages.In 1980, Leal et al. suggested that the centre of origin is an area located between 10° N to 10° S and 55° to 75° W, because the flora of this region is endemic and a large number of economically important species are found there.The first European to see and taste the pineapple was Christopher Columbus, on Guadalupe Island off the coast of Mexico, during his second voyage in 1493. It was not until 1719 that pineapples were successfully established in England, in greenhouses.The Spanish took it to the Philippines, Hawaii, Zimbabwe, and Guam during the early 16th century, and reached India and the east and west coasts of Africa by 1548.Even though it wasn’t introduced to Hawaii until 1813, by 1892 it became a major export out of these islands.Southeast Asia still dominates the world production of pineapple.