A Study of a Pineapple Cannery Waste
NATHAN C. BURBANK, JR.*, Professor
JAMES S. KUMAGAI*. Graduate Student
Civil and Sanitary Engineering Department
Sever Institute of Technology
Washington University
St. Louis, Missouri
INTRODUCTION
Of all the fruits of this earth possibly one of the most unique and widely
accepted is the pineapple. Although the origin of the pineapple is obscure, it had
already been domesticated and used as a source of food by the natives of the West
Indies by the time Columbus discovered America in 1492. This milestone in history also served as a reference forthe history of the pineapple: (1) pre-Columbus,
a period of cultivation and development of the domestic variety, (2) the 400-yr
period following Columbus, when the pineapple spread to other parts of the world,
and (3) the period following 1900, with the development of the pineapple industry (1).
During the second period in history, the pineapple gained popularity because
of its unusual flavor. Since the supplying of fresh pineapple from the tropical to
the non-tropical areas of the world was not practical during this period, the pineapple canning industry started about 1900 to provide pineapples for marketing
throughout the world (1). Thereafter, pineapple production increased with rapid
advances in production methods. Today, the average world output of pineapples
is over one million tons with nearly 90 per cent of the pineapples grown being
canned. This fact makes pineapple second only to peaches in value as a canned
fruit (2).
The growth of the pineapple industry resulted in increased volume of waste
with a corresponding increase in pollutional effects. The waste characteristics
reflected the high carbohydrate and high acidity of the pineapple. Because of the
low pH found in the pineapple cannery waste, damage to pumps and sewage
piping by corrosion was frequently reported. Similar problems were reported by
the citrus fruits industry (3) processing a somewhat related product. Various treatment methods were discussed, but it was concluded that further work was needed.
Recent work (4) on citrus fruit wastes on a laboratory and pilot plant scale using
diluted fruit juice as substrate indicated that the activated sludge treatment was
feasible and preferred. Furthermore, it was reported (5) that dried activated sludge
from treatment of domestic sewage and sludge from citrus waste treatment (4)
could be used as vitamin B^2 and protein supplement for pigs, poultry, steer, and
sheep.
A review of the literature available in the areas of agricultural pineapple
production, food-processing technology and industrial waste disposal revealed
only one reference (6) giving the characteristics of pineapple cannery waste while
published work on the treatment of pineapple cannery waste was completely
lacking.
In addition to the high BOD from carbohydrates, low pH, and low nutrients,
the seasonal nature of the pineapple cannery operation complicates the treatment
•Present Address:
Professor and Instructor, respectively, of Environmental Health and Sanitary
Engineering, Department of Public Health, University of Hawaii, Honolulu,
Hawaii
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