Originally Posted by chollie (Post 35822864)

I worked 12-hour shifts at the Dole cannery the summer I got out of school. You see a lot of pineapples each night.

There were three lady supervisors in charge of the entire canning floor, and line ladies in charge of each line.

Only a couple times that summer, a 'sweet pine' came down the line. When one was spotted, the table lady immediately called the three supervisors. They got first bite, then the table lady, and then the workers. I didn't really understand the first time - I cut a bite, popped it in my mouth and almost melted. Of course, I immediately went for a second bite and got my knuckles rapped with the table lady's knife.

'Sweet pine' was never a whole pineapple - only part. You learn to recognize it. It is part of the pineapple that has reached absolute perfect peak ripeness and when you see it on the line, it's only been picked less than a day earlier.

It was so rare that there was a strict protocol in the cannery - the three supervisors, all of whom had been working there for many years, still dropped everything for a rare bite of 'sweet pine'.

I will never taste 'sweet pine' again in my lifetime - the odds are simply against. But all these years later, I still remember the taste. Probably the closest I will ever get to tasting ambrosia.

Originally Posted by pseudoswede (Post 35822967)

Is there even more significance if it's upside down?

Originally Posted by PV_Premier (Post 35823456)

I figured when GMO came up in post 1 that this thread would devolve into questionable logic about plant science (again) but it’s really outdone itself in a few posts.

Originally Posted by chollie (Post 35822864)

I worked 12-hour shifts at the Dole cannery the summer I got out of school. You see a lot of pineapples each night.

There were three lady supervisors in charge of the entire canning floor, and line ladies in charge of each line.

Only a couple times that summer, a 'sweet pine' came down the line. When one was spotted, the table lady immediately called the three supervisors. They got first bite, then the table lady, and then the workers. I didn't really understand the first time - I cut a bite, popped it in my mouth and almost melted. Of course, I immediately went for a second bite and got my knuckles rapped with the table lady's knife.

'Sweet pine' was never a whole pineapple - only part. You learn to recognize it. It is part of the pineapple that has reached absolute perfect peak ripeness and when you see it on the line, it's only been picked less than a day earlier.

It was so rare that there was a strict protocol in the cannery - the three supervisors, all of whom had been working there for many years, still dropped everything for a rare bite of 'sweet pine'.

I will never taste 'sweet pine' again in my lifetime - the odds are simply against. But all these years later, I still remember the taste. Probably the closest I will ever get to tasting ambrosia.

Originally Posted by bensyd (Post 35822693)

And how will I know which is the ham and which is the pineapple on the pizza?

Originally Posted by SWCPHX (Post 35822762)

Very long time career produce guy told me the easier it is to pull a frond out of the top means the riper the pineapple.

Originally Posted by JBord (Post 35824869)

Originally Posted by JBord (Post 35824869)

But your question is shocking and most definitely defies all natural laws. If we need more legislation banning the foods we eat, this should come long before a pink pineapple. :)

Originally Posted by work2fly (Post 35824412)

I totally get it. We have a home in the southern Philippines.

Anywhere they grow pineapple and allow them to fully ripen in the fields, you're going to have the sweetest and tastiest pineapple ever. You can smell the pineapple from several feet away.

Originally Posted by chollie (Post 35822864)

I worked 12-hour shifts at the Dole cannery the summer I got out of school. You see a lot of pineapples each night.

There were three lady supervisors in charge of the entire canning floor, and line ladies in charge of each line.

Only a couple times that summer, a 'sweet pine' came down the line. When one was spotted, the table lady immediately called the three supervisors. They got first bite, then the table lady, and then the workers. I didn't really understand the first time - I cut a bite, popped it in my mouth and almost melted. Of course, I immediately went for a second bite and got my knuckles rapped with the table lady's knife.

'Sweet pine' was never a whole pineapple - only part. You learn to recognize it. It is part of the pineapple that has reached absolute perfect peak ripeness and when you see it on the line, it's only been picked less than a day earlier.

It was so rare that there was a strict protocol in the cannery - the three supervisors, all of whom had been working there for many years, still dropped everything for a rare bite of 'sweet pine'.

I will never taste 'sweet pine' again in my lifetime - the odds are simply against. But all these years later, I still remember the taste. Probably the closest I will ever get to tasting ambrosia.

Originally Posted by thomasfly (Post 35953402)

Wow, that sounds like an amazing experience! It must have been a special treat for working so hard at the cannery. Thank you for sharing your story, makes me want to plant my own pineapple, maybe someday I can taste that rare sweet pine. 😊

Originally Posted by Eastbay1K (Post 35822464)

Big difference (IMnshO) between cross-breeding and GMO. Cross-breeding theoretically could occur in nature, should the pineapple and tomato (or pick your fruit) be able to conceive in nature. If the good folks at UC Davis decide to genetically modify the Ananas with lycopene, troublesome. Who knows - a spiky tomato could escape the lab!

Originally Posted by StuckInYYZ (Post 35959884)

Depending on where you are located it might not be difficult, although wait time could be a while.... search Youtube for growing pineapple from grocery. Keep in mind that you need to use a pineapple sourced from within the US if you are in the US (they irradiate a good chunk of produce that they import so those would likely not be viable)

Originally Posted by YVR Cockroach (Post 36155710)

Came back from a 6 week trip and found that one of my myriad of pineapples has put out a bud. This currently-fruiting plant was the top from a pineapple that fruited in 2021 from a pineapple purchased from a supermarket in 2018. So this new plant is putting out a 2nd generation fruit in a very non-tropical country.

IME, takes 3 years from top rooting to fruiting. The 1st plant put out a fruit 3 years later and again 2 years after that. Another supermarket top also took 3 years to put out its first fruit.

As an aside, was in Malaysia and there's a whole bunch of cultivars, none of which are like the Dole/Del Monte sterile cultivars found in N. America. Taste different too.