Colombia investigates the causes of "waist disease" in pineapple

Published Aug 26, 2021

Tridge summary

A significant issue, referred to as 'waist sickness', is impacting around 30% of pineapple productions in Valle del Cauca, Colombia, affecting the aesthetic quality of the fruit but not its nutritional value. This condition causes a hollow in the pineapple, resulting from missing flowers. Researchers Yesicamila Gómez Paz and Liliana Ríos Rojas, with the Colombian Agricultural Research Corporation (Agrosavia), are conducting a study to understand the causes of this 'orphan disease'. Initial investigations have ruled out water deficiency as a factor, highlighting that the malformation does not impact all pineapple crops and does not affect the fruit's nutritional quality, but it can negatively affect export prices due to the preference for aesthetically pleasing pineapples in the international market.

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Original content

Although it does not nutritionally influence the fruit, the physiological damage known as "waist sickness" does punish the export of pineapple in Colombia, affecting about 30% of the production in some companies in Valle del Cauca. This is the problem encountered by agricultural engineer Yesicamila Gómez Paz, a Master in Agricultural Sciences from the National University of Colombia-UNAL Palmira Headquarters, in two MD2 pineapple-producing farms in Buga (Valle del Cauca). Farmers call this physiological malformation "waist disease", which is an orphan disease that causes a hollow in the shape of a waist in the central part of the pineapple. As highlighted by the UNAL News Agency portal, this is presented because the flowers or "eyes" of the pineapple do not form, that is: "the fruit is formed from the union of multiple flowers and when one or more are missing, it generates a 'void' in the formation of the fruit that, by not filling, generates a sinking that gives rise to ...

Source: Redagricola