Pineapple

The history of the pineapple is far more interesting and convoluted than you might think. Not simply the ingredient of piña coladas and fruit salads, oh no – the humble pineapple is far more historically important than that. Pineapples are native to South America, the Latin name for the fruit is ‘ananas comosus’, which originally comes from Guarani, meaning ‘fragrant and excellent fruit.’ 

Pineapples first came to Europe in the 16th century, brought by none other than that intrepid traveller and explorer, Christopher Columbus. He discovered pineapples in Guadeloupe in 1493 and brought them back to Spain. They had been cultivated in Guadeloupe by the population who loved their tasty and juicy sweetness, and it is no exaggeration to say that Europeans went wild for this exotic delicacy! A British colonist, Richard Ligon, who had a sugarcane plantation in Barbados, wrote at the time that the pineapple was, ‘far beyond the choicest fruits of Europe’.

Source: Historic-UK

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