Coconut-flavoured pineapple created in Queensland Queensland researchers have accidentally created a coconut flavoured pineapple. Soon there will be no need to mix your own pina colada – Queensland researchers will get nature to do it for you. The Department of Agriculture has created a new variety of pineapple that tastes like coconut. Senior horticulturalist Garth Senewski says the AusFestival pineapple has been 10 years in the making and is now in the final stages of production.”Taste tests tell us that AusFestival is a winner – it has this lovely coconut flavour, which you won’t find in any other pineapple in Australia,” he told the ABC. “It’s sweet, low acid, very juicy.” He said researchers did not intentionally create a coconut flavour. “We’re looking for a nice flavoured pineapple,” he said. “We’re looking for a variety that is sweet, low acid and aromatic.” The new pineapple is likely to be commercially available in two years. Ref: Brisbane Times
John Ambrose from Nambour wrote to say that it is recommended that Pineapples not be grown on a southern slope. A grower told him that around Woombye these plants could be very prone to Blackheart, a number of dark patches in the flesh of ripe fruit.