MadSci Network: Botany
Query:

Re: What are the black specks embedded in the pulp of some pineapple?

Date: Fri Dec 2 18:47:48 2005
Posted By: David Hershey, Faculty, Botany, NA
Area of science: Botany
ID: 1133514559.Bt
Message:

A pineapple is a multiple fruit or multiple-accessory so is derived from the
fruits of many flowers. The berries fuse with the rachis or stem of the
inflorescence to form the pineapple fruit.

If I bought a pineapple with "hundreds of small black seed-like items in the
pulp" I would return it and ask for another one or ask for a refund. Collins
(1960) says eating a seedy pineapple is like eating a normal pineapple
containing a thousand tiny bits of gravel. 

In another MadSci answer on pineapple seeds, they were described as "oval,
flatish, a dark 
gray-brown and about half the size of a grain of rice."  Rauh (1979) described
pineapple seeds as "small, thick, ovate (egg-shaped) brown or blackish." I
cannot tell from your description if they are definitely seeds but it sounds
likely. 

How can you tell that they get larger with time? That doesn't seem like the
behavior of a seed in a harvested fruit but more like an insect or disease.

You could examine some of the suspected seeds under a microscope and see if they
have characteristics of seeds. You might also try to germinate them. The first
webpage under references has a discussion of germinating pineapple seeds.

If you live in the United States, you could contact your state cooperative
extension service and have them examine it.


References


Pineapple seeds


Pineapple


Re: Where are the seeds in a pineapple plant?


The Biology & Ecology of Pineapple (Ananas comosus var. comosus) in Australia

Collins, J.C. 1960. The Pineapple. New York: Interscience.

Rauh, W. 1979. Bromeliads for Home, Garden and Greenhouse. Poole, Great Britain:
Blandford Press.




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