The thing EVERYONE gets wrong about pineapple

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆-𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆:

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 (𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲) 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀:

𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼𝘀:

𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰:
Dr. Robert Paull, Professor in the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
MinuteFood is created by Kate Yoshida, Arcadi Garcia & Leonardo Souza, and produced by Neptune Studios LLC.

[benmathews]

Learned this in Costa Rica on a plantation this summer! We got the chance to go pick our own plant-ripe pineapple, and OMG, it was the single best fruit I've had in my life! I ate the entire pineapple in one sitting by myself.

[syriuszb]

6:00 The pineapple is already low to the ground, so it makes sense why it doesn't ripen when it falls. Because it usually don't fall. Once it is ripe, the land animals can just eat it without it dropping. And the big fruits that drop, need to ripen on ground since they would be smushed if they fell when ripe.

[rkujay]

In Florida you know when your pineapples, loquat, lychee, etc. are ripe when the animals ate all of them...yesterday.

[themaskedcrusader]

Here is how to pick the perfect grocery store pineapple: Find a pineapple that is green, and pick one leaf from the crown. If the leaf is hard to pull out, it's not ripe enough and you should leave that for the next person. If the leaf is almost too easy to pull out, it's over ripe or rotten and won't be good. You want a leaf that resists a little, but pops off rather easily. That's the pineapple you should pick. It's all in the crown and not necessarily in the smell or the color. (Source: I picked pineapples in South Florida for a few years)

[GoMex]

I live next to many pineapple fields in Mexico. They take 18 month to grow and they test many for ripeness with an electronic meter. Once enough tests are resulting in the correct ripeness numbers, the entire field is harvested by hand all on the same day and shipped.

[arifhossain]

How to ripen a pineapple:
Step 1: leave it on the shrub

[williamallen]

I worked for Maui pineapple company back when they were a thing. I have picked "fresh fruit" "shipped fruit" and "canning fruit" the pineapple from your store was picked unripe and still purple. Then it was sprayed with a chemical ripener.. it can only naturally ripen on the plant. You would not believe how amazing it tastes when ripened on the plant

[Ttamlin]

This totally explains why it is that when I lived in Hawai'i, I had the best pineapple of my life, readily available all year for CHEAP (it was one of the only things on Oahu that one could truthfully call cheap), and why pineapple bought literally anywhere else I've lived has been garbage in comparison. I had no idea that there are fruits that stop ripening once off the plant.

[IgnatRemizov]

My favorite fact about the pineapple is that its acid is stronger than your stomach acid. It evolved this to protect itself from bacteria in warm tropical climates. The nice tingly feeling you get from eating a pineapple is its attempt in trying to digest you :)

Edit: according to the comments, it's not acid, it's an enzyme called _bromelain_ that breaks down proteins, including the ones in your mouth. thanks comments!

[markvetter]

Lucky to live in Florida, where pineapple is easy to grow. I let them get golden on the plant. Best pineapple ever, almost never buy them at the store anymore.

[LindseyLouWho]

Here's one I stumbled into one unfortunate Thanksgiving (we make a turkey AND a ham); I was out of canned pineapple, and I wanted to sweeten it with a glaze. So I had some fresh-frozen pineapple for smoothies the in freezer, so I thawed that out and used that. My ham became a meat-related gelatinous goo, and everyone was mad at me because I also oversalted the dry brine for the turkey, too. That's what I get for being the only person willing to cook in my family, otherwise, we wouldn't eat at all. I'm really trying.

[dylenoyer]

The thumbnail was a real time saver, but I still watched, needed that sweet context

[Hiro_Trevelyan]

This explains why the pineapple I had in Cambodia were insanely tasty !
Small tip for pineapple lovers : add a pinch of salt. It will bring out the taste of the sugar and aroma of the pineapple much better than adding sugar. It's pretty surprising.

[waltersoares]

I like when it goes fermented. Feels like sparkling

[bobi]

Very timely video, I have a pineapple sitting on the counter right now.

[abydosianchulac]

Strange, I did this once and found I preferred the flavor and texture of the pineapple after it started "fermenting" as you said. It sounds like the texture and flavor changes are closer to bletting a persimmon or medlar than the pineapple going off.

[riuphane]

Great PSA! Might be worth talking about this on a broader scale! It's crazy what the orchards/farms and grocers do to make fruits and veggies ripe, but easy to ship...

[tcss]

although pineapple is non climacteric fruit, they still respond to ethylene, changing the color and texture(but not getting sweeter or more flaver).which is differeent from grape, grape are both non climacteric and ethylene insensitive, while pineapple is non climacteric BUT ethylene sensitive.

[brothermine]

That must be why the strawberries I've bought haven't been sweet.
It sounds like one shouldn't count on finding ANY ripe pineapples at the grocery store. That implies one shouldn't try to pre-schedule a meal that requires ripe pineapple, and instead should settle for enjoying pineapple opportunistically.

[happyhippoeaters]

if you are willing to put in the Time and elbow grease, you can get a store bought Pineapple to become a Ripe Pineapple! just by cutting off the top, and planting it in the right environment (can br difficult in many climates) and than tend to your new Pineapple Plant until a New Pineapple is produced at the right level of ripeness! It's So Simple!