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G.M. Suna
South Subtropical Crops Research Institute
Chinese Academy of Tropical Agriculture Science
Huxiu Xincun, Zhanjiang, Guangdong 524091
China
Keywords: pineapple industry, nutrient uptake, sugar accumulation, leaf fibre, China
Abstract
Pineapple, next to banana and mango, is the third most important tropical
fruit in the mainland of China. The cultivation areas range from 52,000 to 65,000 ha
with a total production 780,000 to 920,000 ton within this decade. Guangdong,
Hainan, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces are the main pineapple cultivation areas.
Guangdong province produces 50-60% of the pineapple grown in China. Nearly
80% of the pineapple produced in China goes to the domestic market as fresh fruit.
‘Comte de Paris’, which occupies more than 80% of the planted area, is the most
important pineapple cultivar in mainland China. But ‘Yuecui’, ‘Tainung No.16’ and
‘Tainung No.17’ are promising cultivars and the area devoted to these cultivars
continues to increase. Although the pineapple industry takes an important role in
the tropical agriculture economy in China, there were few researches carried out on
pineapple before 2005. Crop management is mostly based on farmer’s experience.
To promote the development of the pineapple industry and increase its competitive
ability, The Ministry of Agriculture of China started a research program on
pineapple in 2006. It includes genetic improvement, studies into high yield and good
quality fruit production techniques, integrated management of pests and diseases,
postharvest handling, utilization of by-products and marketing strategy. Some
progress has been made from this program, including a better understanding of the
role of nutrient requirements and uptake by ‘Comte de Paris’ and ‘Smooth
Cayenne’ and of sugar metabolism and accumulation during fruit development.
Also, it has been found that pineapple leaf fibres have the ability to kill and/or
inhibit bacteria and eliminate unpleasant smells. Techniques have also been
developed in leaf fibre extraction and processing.
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Proc. 7th International Pineapple Symposium
Eds.: H. Abdullah et al.
Acta Hort. 902, ISHS 2011
China, are the leading pineapple cultivation areas. Especially Guangdong province, it
shares 50-60% of the country’s production (Fig. 2). The yield in Guangdong is the highest
in China. During the year 2005 to 2007, the average yield of pineapple in China was less
than 30 t/ha, but it was 30.5, 39.3 and 38.6 t/ha, respectively, in Guangdong province. In
tropical areas like Hainan island, Leizhou peninsula (southwest of Guangdong province)
and Xishuangbanna (south of Yunnan province), pineapple can be harvested all year
round but the fruit tastes more sour and has less aroma in the winter season. In subtropical
areas like Guangxi and Fujian, pineapple fruit should be harvested before late December,
otherwise, cold protecting cultivation is needed.
Cultivars
‘Comte de Paris’, a ‘Queen’ type pineapple with yellow flesh and excellent
flavour, is widespread throughout the country and occupies more than 80% of the area
planted to pineapple. It is the most important pineapple cultivar in China. But ‘Yuecui’,
‘Tainung No.16’ and ‘Tainung No.17’ have shown they are promising cultivars and the
area planted to these cultivars continues to increase. ‘Smooth Cayenne’ clones introduced
from Australia and the United States are being test planted for the purpose of supplying
raw material to the canning factory.
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however, only 60-70% accumulated before this period (Chen et al., 2010).
‘Smooth Cayenne’ took up about one-third more N, P and K than ‘Comte de Paris’
(Table 1). This indicates that the former needs more fertilizers. Farmers never apply
fertilizers to pineapple after forcing. Our experiment on ‘Smooth Cayenne’ shows that a
high dose of N and K fertilizers applied at the stage of rapid fruit development can
increase yield and a high dosage of K fertilizers improved fruit quality also (Table 2).
Fertilizers not only provide nutrient substance for the pineapple growth, but also
influence the content of chlorophyll and endogenous hormones, the activities of
peroxidase and superoxide dismutase, the rate of photosynthesis as well as the synthesis
and accumulation of carbohydrates in the plant (Qi et al., 2009).
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compounds, and the aroma contents in the amino acid treatment were the highest (Wei et
al., 2009).
Color and pigment contents in fruit flesh were analyzed for pineapple cultivars
‘Comte de Paris’ and ‘Smooth Cayenne’ at different maturity stages. The results showed
that flesh color changed to orange as the fruit matured. The chlorophyll content in flesh of
the two pineapple cultivars gradually increased before processing maturity stage and
came to its peak at processing maturity stage and decreased quickly thereafter. The
contents of carotenoid, anthocyanin and flavonoid were increased gradually from
processing maturity stage to full-ripe stage. Moreover, β-carotene, zeaxanthin and β-apo-
δ’-carrotenal increased in flesh of the two pineapple cultivars, especially â-carotene
content was accumulated sharply from green fruit stage to full-ripe stage, being
accompanied by a gradual decrease in amount of lutein. The β-carotene content was
significantly higher than the other three carotenoid components in flesh of the two
pineapple cultivars, and the β-carotene content at full-ripe stage in ‘Comte de Paris’ was
about twice that in ‘Smooth Cayenne’. There were significant differences in carotenoid
and flavonoid between the two pineapple cultivars, but no significant difference in
anthocyanins (Table 3). All these results indicated that β-carotene was one of the major
carotenoid components affecting carotenoid accumulation and color levels in flesh of the
two pineapple cultivars (Yang et al., 2009, 2010).
CONCLUSIONS
Pineapple is one of the most important tropical fruits in China. Due to lack of
cultivation techniques and low organization, the yield is low and the industrial
competitive ability is weak compared to other main producing countries in the world. It is
certain that with the efforts on technique research, growers being well organized and
extending on standardization production, the Chinese pineapple industry will be better
and better.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Funded by Industry (agriculture) Commonweal Research Project of China.
Literature Cited
Chen, J., Sun, G.M. and Xi, J.G. 2010. Study on the N, P, K accumulative rule of plantlets
of different pineapple variety. Guangdong Agricultural Sciences 37:87-88.
Huang, T., Jiang, J.M., Wang, J.L., Lian, W.W., Zhang, J. and Deng, Y.G. 2009.
Structure and thermal property of pineapple leaf fiber. Shanghai Textile Science &
Technology 37:9-12.
Liu, C.H., Liu, Y., Yi, G.J., Zhang, G.P., Zhong, Y., Jiang, B. and Luo, M.H. 2009.
Comparison of aroma components in pineapple fruits ripened in summer and autumn.
Acta Botanica Boreali-Occidentalia Sinica 29:397-401.
Qi, H., Xi, J.G., Zang, X.P., Li, S.P. and Sun, G.M. 2009. Effect of different
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concentrations of boron on the seedling growth and enzyme activity of pineapple.
Guangdong Agricultural Sciences 3:65-68.
Wang, J.L., Jiang, J.M., Lian, W.W., Huang, T., Zhang, J. and Deng, Y.G. 2009. Bacteria
resistant property of pineapple leaf fiber. Chinese Journal of Tropical Crops 30:1695-
1697.
Wei, C.B., Chen, J., Liu, S.H., Sun, G.M. and Zang, X.P. 2009. Primary research of effect
of foliar spray of nutrition on pineapple aroma. Southwest China Journal of
Agricultural Sciences 22:382-384.
Yang, X.Y., Cai, Y.B., Li, S.P. and Sun, G.M. 2009. Changes of color and pigments in
pineapple fruit flesh at different developmental phase. Chinese Journal of Tropical
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Yang, X.Y., Cai, Y.B. and Sun, G.M. 2010. Relationship between color formation and
change in composition of carotenoids in flesh of pineapple fruit. Journal of Fruit
Science 27:135-139.
Zhang, X.M., Du, L.Q. and Sun, G.M. 2007. Changes in organic acid concentrations and
the relative enzyme activities during the development of Smooth Cayenne pineapple
fruit. Journal of Fruit Science 24:381-384.
Zhang, X.M., Du, L.Q. and Sun, G.M. 2008. Sugar accumulation and changes in activities
of sucrose-metabolizing enzymes of pineapple (Ananas comosus (L) Merr.). Chinese
Journal of Tropical Crops 29:10-13.
Zhang, X.M., Du, L.Q. and Xie, J.H. 2006. Roles of sucrose-metabolizing enzymes in
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Tables
Table 1. Total amount of NPK uptake (kg/ha).
Cultivar N P K
Comte de Paris 212.4 19.7 438.7
Smooth Cayenne 299.1 32.2 606.9
Table 2. Effects of N and K fertilizers on fruit sugar and vitamin C (Vc) content.
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Table 3. Pigments content in fruit flesh of two cultivars.
Figures
60000 600
50000 500
40000 400
30000 300
20000 200
10000 100
0 0
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
41.7, 27.1,
5% 3% 233.1,
70.6, 26%
8%
Hainan
Guangdong
Guangxi
535.5,
Fujian
58%
Yunnan
Fig. 2. Main pineapple production areas in China and production (t) and percentage of
total production.
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50
NPk increasing amount (mg/d)
40
30
20
10
0
0 20 111 201 277 352 393 433 453 483 493
-10
The days after planting(d) N P K
40
30
20
forcing period
10
0
0 20 111 201 277 352 397 488 564 655 685
-10 12.24
The days after planting N P K
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