The Nanas Bogor, Bogor pineapple or Danas Bogor (in Sundanese dialect), has a very particular taste, color and fragrance, especially when mature. It is considered to be one of the smallest pineapples in Indonesia, weighing between 400 and 1100 grams, and is known as a “dry pineapple” by Sundanese farmers from Kecamatan Cijeruk and Ciapus Kabupaten in the Bogor District of West Java. Traditional and organic farmers in these areas use Nanas Bogor in multiple or mixed farming systems, or for intercropping plants (for example Nanas with vegetables, papaya, banana or cassava). The plants reproduce early on in the rainy season in areas that have medium rainfall at levels of 100 to 700 meters above sea level. The fruit is harvested after eight to twelve months depending on the size needed, with optimal harvest occurring during Rajab (the seventh month on the Muslim calendar) in the middle of the dry season when the the flavor is at its best. You can see that the fruit is ready for harvest when the eye shaped sections are flat, the skin has turned yellow, the stalk has become dry and wrinkled and if you tap it, it will make a hollow sound and produce a special aroma.
Around Bogor this pineapple is used fresh and mixed with other seasonal and local fruits to make asinan bogor, a mixed fruit and pickled vegetable salad with traditional orange colored sauce made from palm vinegar, chili, salt, white sugar and water, sprinkled with peanuts and ebi (fried shrimp). The peel of the Nanas Bogor is a very good activator for compost and the fruit is also known to be an excellent source of vitamins C, B1, B6, manganese, copper, folate and dietary fibers. At Sareun Ta’un, a local traditional Sundanese harvest festival of the Bogor District, the Nanas Bogor is used as a symbol of a successful harvest for the next year.
The Nanas Bogor is disappearing and at risk of extinction due to it’s limited area of production. The agricultural land in the Bogor area is gradually being depleted to make way for a developing residential area. As there is little interest from young men in becoming farmers, professional farmers are now more likely to sell their land for real estate rather than agricultural purposes. Many farmers also prefer to grow monocultures of other pineapple varieties which are larger and take four to six months to mature (such as the Nanas Subang from the Subang region of West Java) or hybrid species used for industrial production such as canned fruit, as opposed to the Nanas Bogor which is small and takes longer to mature.
Trends in mainstream markets and supermarkets lean towards large hybrid species as consumers have not had any choice, even if they do want local varieties. Other fruits such as the Salak Bogor (Snake Fruit or Palm Fruit) are no longer found in Bogor, leaving the Nanas Bogor as the main native fruit of the Bogor area, however it only remains in traditional farmers markets in and must be protected.
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