The pineapple fruit develops from the inflorescence formed at the terminus of the plant. The early sign of inflorescence emergence is the base of young leaves turning red (‘red-heart' stage). The inflorescence is carried on a short peduncle and is made up of about 100-200 small flowers.

At anthesis, one to several flowers open each day, beginning at the base of the inflorescence, over a period of 3-4 weeks. Each flower develops into a fruitlet or ‘eye', therefore, the pineapple is considered a multiple fruit. It takes about 4 months from the end of last open flower to fruit maturity and a total time from floral initiation to harvest takes about 5-6 months. The elongated, large fruit is usually topped by a crown made up of a short fleshy stem densely packed with small leaves.

Ethephon is commonly used in pineapple for flower induction and crop synchrony. Natural flowering in pineapple is rather variable and unpredictable. Therefore, commercially produced pineapples are induced to flower in synchrony so that harvesting can be done in a ‘once-over' operation. Several flower-inducing hormones are available in the market such as ethephon (2-choloroethylphosphonic acid), calcium carbide, and ANA tablets (alphanaphthylacetic acid). However, for greater efficacy and ease of application, ethephon solution is generally preferred.

Ethrel, which has the active ingredient ethephon, is the most popular product for pineapple flower induction in the market. It works by releasing ethylene gas, which is absorbed by the plant and induces flowering. Normally, 50 mL of the Ethrel solution (with active ingredient ethephon at 100-500 ppm) is applied into the heart of the plant. In order to increase its effectiveness, urea at 2.5-5.0% is usually added into the solution. Smallholders use either a calibrated spoon or a knapsack constant-volume sprayer, and large plantations use tankers equipped with motorised sprayers.

Fruitone 3-CPA (2-3 cholorophenoxypropionic acid) is regularly used for increasing fruit size and yield of canning pineapple but its use for fresh pineapple is limited because it damages the crown, which is important for the fresh market. Fruitone is sprayed onto the crown just after anthesis when the petals are dried. It reduces the size of the crown or removes it altogether, makes the flesh of the fruit more compact and increases fruit weight. However, there may be a reduction of sweetness and an increase in fruit acidity as well as increasing susceptibility to black rot.