ATOMIC ENERGY

CENTRAL SCHOOL-3ENGLISH ASSINGMENT

ON PINEAPPLE (ANANAS

COMOSUS)PEPPERMINT (MENTHA X.

PEPERTIA)

PINEAPPLE (ANANAS COMOSUS)

• Pineapple (Ananas comosus) is the common name for a tropical plant

and its edible fruit, which is actually a

multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It

was given the name pineapple due to its

resemblance to a pine cone.

USES OF PINEAPPLEPineapple can be consumed fresh,

canned or juiced and can be used in a

variety of ways. It is popularly used in desserts, salads

(usually tropical fruit salads, but it can

vary), jams, yogurts, ice creams, various

candies, as a complement to meat

dishes and in fruit cocktail. The popularity of the

pineapple is due to its sweet-sour taste.

• Mainly from its stem, pineapple contains a proteolytic enzyme, bromelain, which breaks

down protein.• If having sufficient bromelain content,

pineapple juice can thus be used as a marinade and tenderizer for meat.

• Pineapple enzymes can interfere with the preparation of some foods, such as jelly or other gelatin-based desserts, but would be destroyed

during cooking and the canning process. • The quantity of bromelain in the fruit is probably not significant, being mostly in the

inedible stalk. Bromelain is unlikely to survive intact the proteolytic processes of digestion.

MEDICINAL VALUE• Both the root and fruit may be eaten or applied topically as an anti-inflammatory or as a proteolytic agent. In some practices, it may be used as

an antihelminthic agent.• Bromelain purified from

pineapple stem or fresh juice, then provided in the

diet over 6 months, decreased the severity of

colonic inflammation in mice with experimental colitis.

PEPPERMINT (MENTHA X. PEPERTIA)

• Peppermint (Mentha × peperita, also known as M.

balsamea Willd.) is a hybrid mint, a cross between the

watermint (Mentha aquatica) and spearmint (Mentha spicata). It is found wild occasionally

with its parent species.

MEDICINAL USES• Peppermint has a long

tradition of medicinal use, with archaeological evidence placing its use at least as far back as

ten thousand years ago.• Peppermint has a high

menthol content, and is often used as tea and for

flavoring ice cream, confectionery, chewing gum, and toothpaste. The oil also contains

menthone and menthyl esters, particularly

menthyl acetate.

•Peppermint can also be found in some shampoos and soaps, which

give the hair a minty scent and produce a cooling sensation on the skin. Used in this way, it has been

known to help with insomnia.

•Peppermint has promising radio protective effects for cancer patients undergoing cancer

treatment.

•The aroma of peppermint has been found to enhance memory. As such,

it can be administered by instructors to their students before

examinations, to aid recall.

• Peppermint flowers are large nectar producers

and honey bees as well as other

nectar harvesting organisms forage them heavily. A mild, pleasant

varietal honey can be produced if

there is a sufficient area of plants.

• Peppermint oil has a high

concentration of natural pesticides, mainly menthone.