Tropical and subtropical fruits (2+1)

Species and Cultivars

Species and Varieties

Smith (1979) established two genera, Ananas and Pseudananas, Pseudananas at maturity bears a minute inconspicuous coma of bracts and plants produce elongated stolons and no slips, where as Ananas bears conspicuous coma of foliaceous bracts and plant produce slips but not stolons and fruits remains seedless. The genus Ananas has 8 species viz.,

Ananas comosus	The cultivated species with large fruits and a short thick spike
A. monstrosus	Crownless- There is no leaf formation on fruit
A. bracteatus	has well developed, bright red flower bracts. Fruit is edible and relatively large.
A. fruitzmuelleri	It bears pale green, developed bracts.
A. ananassoides	With small fruits, erect leaves and a long fairly thin spike
A. nanus	A dwarf species.
A. parguazensis	with curved leaves.
A. lucidus	It has smooth (Spineless) leaves from which good quality fibre can be obtained.
 
Only one species has been listed in Pseudananas- P. sagenarius	Ananas comosus	Ananus bracteatus
Ananus nanus	Ananus lucidus	Spanish group Fruits are of 1-2 kg in wt, globose in shape, fibrous, sub acid, spiny, resistant to mealy bugs. Eg: Mauritius Red Spanish, Singapore Spanish, Green Selangor, Castilla, P.R.1-67.
Ananus anansoides	Cayenne group Cylindrical fruits with mild acidic, yellow (Spiny tip) 2-3 kg. flesh sweet, uitable for sweet canning, low fibre. Eg: cayenne, Baron, Rothschild, Smooth Guatemalan, Kew, Giant Kew and Typhone.	Abacaxi group Concal fruits, pale yellow- white flesh, spiny 1.4 kg sweet tender and juicy grown in Brazil. Eg: perola, Abakka, Sugar loaf, Papelon, Venezolana, Amarella.
Maipure Group
Fruits ovoid to cylindrical, sweeter, fibrous 1-2.5kg with yellow flesh, very juicy. Eg: Maipure, Bumuguesa, Rondon, Perolera, monte lirio.

The cultivars grown commercially in India are Kew, Giant kew, Queen, Mauritius. Some of the indigenous cultivars - Jhaldheep(Sweet type) & Bakhat (Assam)-Sour Lakhat (Nagaland) and Baruipur local (West Bengal).