Why Are Pineapples So Annoying to Eat?
You take a bite of fresh pineapple. It’s juicy, sweet, and slightly sour. But it’s also not like any other fruit; you can’t just stuff a bunch in your mouth.
It feels, well, painful. You aren’t imagining the pain, though. Pineapple contains a group of enzymes known as bromelain. Bromelain is a protease, meaning that it’s an enzyme that helps break proteins into smaller pieces.
Now when you think of muscle, which is what your tongue is, you usually think of protein. The protective surfaces of your tongue and cheeks contain proteins that can temporarily be affected by these enzymes. So while you're chewing the pineapple, bromelain is interacting with proteins in your mouth at the same time.
Thankfully, your mouth constantly repairs and replaces its surface cells, so eating normal amounts of pineapple doesn't mean that the pineapple is going to digest your tongue away.
Since bromelain can break apart proteins, pineapples can also be used as tenderizers for meat. For example, you can use them as marinades. And pineapples don’t always have to digest your tongue’s proteins. Since bromelain is an enzyme, they can denature, or change shape, when exposed to the high heat of cooking. Shape is what allows specific enzymes to bind to specific proteins, and thus a changed shape means that bromelain cannot bind to the same proteins.
Bromelain isn’t acting alone though. Pineapples contain organic acids, particularly citric acid, that contribute to its tartness. Acidity can add to the irritation you experience after eating a lot of fresh pineapple. Meanwhile, those same acids activate your sour-sensing cells. Finally, pineapples also contain insoluble crystals made of calcium oxalate. It’s been hypothesized that these crystals are used for herbivore defense, preventing them from being eaten due to their uncomfortable and stingy texture.
Pineapple might be the quintessential example of “no pain no gain” for foodies. But with science (AKA cooking), we can isolate the gain of that delicious yellow fruit. Too bad cooked pineapple is wasted on pizza, though.
Ryan Wu is a rising senior at Hunter College High School in New York, New York. He has participated in the highly selective Science Honors Program at Columbia University since 2024, where he studied university-level topics such as immunology, toxicology, bioengineering, and biotechnology. He currently serves as the layout editor and writer for EATS Food Magazine.
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