Overview

Pineapple (Ananas comosus, L. Merr) is a perennial crop that belongs to the family Bromeliaceae. Although its relatives in the bromeliad family are largely epiphytic (plants that live on trees), pineapple grows on the ground and is thus cultivated for its nutritive values. The predominant varieties of pineapple are the Queen and the Smooth Cayenne which are generally herbacebus, spinescent and succulent, flowering only once into a fruit.

Pineapples grow as a small shrub; the individual flowers of the unpollinated plant fuse to form a multiple fruit. The plant is normally propagated from the offset produced at the top of the fruit, or from side shoot, and typically mature within a year.

Uses & Applications

Pineapple juice,
Concentrate,
Pineapple jam
Manufacture of alcohol,
Wine
Citric acid.
Fruit salad,
Chunks

Processing

Pineapple can be processed to obtain juice, concentrate or pulp. Ripe and matured pineapples are washed, graded and peeled. They are then crushed to obtain juice.

Canned Pineapples

Fruit
Sorting
Washing
Grading
Peeling
Slicing
Filling into jars/cans with syrup
Vacuum sealing
Pasteurizing and Sterilization
Cooling
Labeling and Storage.

Pineapple Juice Concentrate

Fruit
Decrowing
Weighing
Washing
Sorting
Cutting
Juice extraction
Buffer
Tank
Prefilter
Pastuerisation
Microfiltration
Reverse osmosis
Evaporating
Filling in can
Sealing
Retorting
Labelling
Packing
Sealing
Despatching

Pineapple Pulp

Fruit
Sorting
Washing
Peeling and Sorting
Pulping and Straining
De aeration (partially)
Pasteurizing or Sterilizing
Filling
Cooling

Labeling and Storage

Investment Opportunities

The national demand for pineapple is estimated at 210,000MT/annum. With the recent government ban on importation of all fruit juices, and fresh fruits and its plan to further ban the importation of fruit juice concentrates, there is a very promising future for investors in pineapple production and processing to meet not only local demand but also export. At present, there is only one fruit juice concentrate plant, commissionrd in 2012 in Benue state, Nigeria