Pineberry

The new summer fruit which looks like a white strawberry... but tastes like a pineapple. The Pineberry is said to combine the shape and texture of a strawberry with a flavour and smell closer to that of a pineapple.

The pineberry is a strawberry cultivar owned by breeder Hans de Jongh and commercialized by VitalBerry BV in Made, The Netherlands, and publicized in German in April, 2009, as Ananaserdbeere, or pineapple strawberry. The fruit flesh can range from soft white to orange and is very fragrant with a slight pineapple flavor. The plant is disease resistant, but is not very profitable. Due to small-scale farming, small berry size and low yield crop, the pineberry has been marketed to European restaurants, bakeries and wholesale markets. It is also grown in Belize.

Pineberries were bred from a wild strawberry originating in South America where it grew wild, but was nearly extinct until 2003, when a group of Dutch farmers banded together to save the plant. The pineberry is said to have the same genetic makeup as the common strawberry. When ripe, it is almost completely white, but with red seeds. A pineberry is smaller than a common strawberry, measuring between 15 to 23 mm. They are grown in glasshouses, growing on coir like other strawberries. Pineberries begin life as green berries, and then become slightly white. By the time their deeply set seeds turn deep red, the white fruit is deemed ripe.