Commercial cultivars of pineapple are generally placed in five groups i.e. Cayenne, Queen, Spanish, Pernambuco and Mordilona.

'Smooth Cayenne' is the most important cultivar from this group. More than 70% of the pineapple grown for both canning and for fresh fruit in the world is from this cultivar . The production cycle for ‘Smooth Cayenne' is longer than most of the other cultivars.

The cultivars in this group are widely distributed and quite extensively cultivated for fresh fruits in the world. It is also known as ‘Phuket', ‘Rough McGregor', ‘Ripley Queen', ‘Alexandra' and ‘Victoria' in other parts of the world.

The plant is small with short and very spiny, dark purplish-green leaves. It bears small, tapering fruits (0.5 to 1.2 kg), with small protruding eyes which require a thick cut to remove the peel completely. The golden yellow pulp is dry, crispy and sweet (14 to 18° Brix), with excellent flavour. The plant sometimes produce robust slips in some variants and most have an average of 2 suckers or more which is sufficient for ratooning or replanting. Queen cultivars are robust and show higher tolerance to stress, pests and diseases than 'Smooth Cayenne'.

However they are susceptible to black heart disorder.

The ‘Spanish' group of pineapple is not widely cultivated in the world. However, it is well adapted to the coastal peat and has been, for over a century, the main canning cultivar in Malaysia.

The plants are moderate in vigour and bear typically square-shouldered (cylindrical) fruits of 1-2 kg. The eyes are broad, fairly flat and deep and this results in lower flesh recovery. The flesh is quite fibrous, with attractive deep, golden-yellow colour. Sugars (10-12° Brix ) and acids (0.3-0.5%) are usually low. The leaf margins are usually smooth with the exception of the leaf-tip where a few spines may be found. Slips are sometimes prolific and it also produces suckers readily for ratooning or replanting. Spanish cultivars are susceptible to fruit collapse and bacterial heart rot diseases.

The plant is vigorous and produces two to three suckers. Leaves are lightly purple-tinged, usually with spineless margins except for the leaf-tip. Crowns are medium, occasionally with multiple proliferations. Fruits weigh between 1.1 to 1.3 kg, are cylindrical-shaped with dark purple peel ripening to attractive orange-red. The flesh colour is deep-golden yellow with strong aroma and sugar contented.

Their cultivation is restricted to certain South American countries like Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru. Pernambuco has an erect growth habit, semi-vigorous with long spiny leaves. The fruits are small, slender and carried on long peduncles. The flesh is white, tender and juicy with low acid and mild flavour. Slips are prominent and numerous, occasionally to the extent of hiding the fruit. Perola is the best known in this group and the most important commercial cultivar in Brazil. It is very susceptible to fusariosis disease which is devastating in Brazil but not important here.

‘Mordilona' is typified by the ‘piping' leaf margin where a part of the lower epidermis folds over the edge of the leaf to give a completely spineless leaf form. ‘Perolera' and ‘Manzana' are the best known cultivars in this group, grown mainly in the northeastern Andes of Colombia and Venezuela. The irregular, cylindrical fruit is large (1.5 to 3 kg) with attractive yellow to orange peel borne on a long peduncle. The flesh is cream to yellow, firm and sweet. Numerous crownlets protrude from the base of the crown and the upper eyes and slips are numerous. ‘Perolera' has high vitamin C content, is resistant to fusariosis disease and commonly used as a parent in breeding programmes.