Rendering Pineapple Less Painful to Eat?

[Togath]

So I have an issue with some pineapple where it causes a burning sensation on my lips, gums, and tongue when I eat it, often resulting in a sort of sensitive rawness.
Now, not all pineapple causes this(candied pineapple or canned pineapple seems to lack the drawback). which makes me wonder... Is there some way to reduce the burn to a less unpleasant level?

[Comissar]

I may be wrong, but this sounds like it might be an allergic reaction to something in fresh pineapple (notably, the exceptions you list have both been processed)? Do you notice any increased redness around your mouth after eating it? Is your throat sore after swallowing it?

To be honest, I don't know what might reduce the irritation aside from just avoiding fresh pineapple.

[gomipile]

So I have an issue with some pineapple where it causes a burning sensation on my lips, gums, and tongue when I eat it, often resulting in a sort of sensitive rawness.
Now, not all pineapple causes this(candied pineapple or canned pineapple seems to lack the drawback). which makes me wonder... Is there some way to reduce the burn to a less unpleasant level?

That's from bromelain enzymes digesting the proteins in your lips, gums, and tongue. In cooked, canned, and candied pineapple the bromelain enzymes have been either diluted or broken down by cooking and other preservation processes.

[Togath]

Okay, so probably just avoid raw pineapple then.:smallredface:

In answer to comissar, I do have all of those, but it sounds like it's a case of more just being sensitive to the enzymes rather than an allergy.

[Brother Oni]

Basically when you're eating raw pineapple, you're trying to eat the pineapple faster than the pineapple is trying to eat you. :smalltongue:

If you're unable to abstain entirely, then I would suggest drinking something inbetween each bite or washing your mouth and lips afterwards.

[Yora]

Eat pineapples with cream. It's more tasty and also less painfull.

[Khedrac]

Basically when you're eating raw pineapple, you're trying to eat the pineapple faster than the pineapple is trying to eat you. :smalltongue:
It is worth noting that although Brother Oni is stating it as a joke, he is being serious about this.
Raw pineapple juice is quite effective at breaking down meat etc.

(I remember from a decade or 2 ago a TV chef who was into experimenting tried injecting pineapple juice into a joint before cooking it to try to tenderize it with the pineapple juice. The result was not good, the meat had no texture at all and broke apart at a touch.)

[Yora]

Well, it's called citric acid because that's what it is. Fortunately, animal digestive systems are made to handle acids and I believe even the mouth is relatively tough in that regard. But muscles? That would probably be a lot worse.

[Brother Oni]

It is worth noting that although Brother Oni is stating it as a joke, he is being serious about this.

Part of our national character, putting serious statements in the form of jokes and jokes as serious statements. :smallbiggrin:


Well, it's called citric acid because that's what it is. Fortunately, animal digestive systems are made to handle acids and I believe even the mouth is relatively tough in that regard. But muscles? That would probably be a lot worse.

In the specific case of pineapple, it's less the citric acid and more the bromelain proteolytic enzymes. Khedrac's example of the chef injecting pineapple juice into the meat joint is an excellent example - if it were just the acid, then the acid would exhaust itself once it has reacted with everything. Enzymes, being catalysts, generally keep on trucking until an external factor interferes (in the case of our digestive system, it's pH changes as the food travels down it).

Muscles can handle lightly acidic conditions (anaerobic exercise generates an overall rise in H+ concentration), but not many things can handle being digested.

The mouth and digestive systems deal with it by having highly adapted tissues eg constant production of a thick layer of mucus.

[Grinner]

If you really want fresh pineapple, you could try denaturing the enzymes yourself. I'm not sure of the temperature you would need to cook it at to do so or if there exist alternative, food-safe methods of denaturing proteins, though.

[Brother Oni]

If you really want fresh pineapple, you could try denaturing the enzymes yourself. I'm not sure of the temperature you would need to cook it at to do so or if there exist alternative, food-safe methods of denaturing proteins, though.

The accurate but unhelpful value is a thermal enthalpy change of 334 kJ/mol (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7748893) for irreversible denaturation. In layman's terms, cooking it at least 70C for a couple minutes should be enough to kill the enzyme (dependent on the shape of the pineapple chunks and how you're cooking it).

Rinsing or soaking it will also do the trick, but most processing steps pretty much defeats the point of eating raw pineapple, either by cooking it or removing a lot of the flavour.

[Grinner]

The accurate but unhelpful value is a thermal enthalpy change of 334 kJ/mol (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7748893) for irreversible denaturation. In layman's terms, cooking it at least 70C for a couple minutes should be enough to kill the enzyme (dependent on the shape of the pineapple chunks and how you're cooking it).

Rinsing or soaking it will also do the trick, but most processing steps pretty much defeats the point of eating raw pineapple, either by cooking it or removing a lot of the flavour.

Eh...That's not too bad. ~200 F for a couple minutes shouldn't hurt it.

[snowblizz]

Raw pineapple juice is quite effective at breaking down meat etc.


Which is something that after hearing it for the first time has led me to always keep an eye on the pineapple rack in the fruit section.

[BlueHerring]

I've always made it a point to soak pineapple in salt water before eating it, precisely so that doesn't happen. I'm no biologist, and have absolutely no idea what happens when it soaks, but it's generally pretty good and doesn't hurt my mouth.

[anjxed]

I have eaten pineapple that isnt painful, its also fresh, but hey i'm from a tropical country, so i get really fresh ones.

[Dodom]

I've always made it a point to soak pineapple in salt water before eating it, precisely so that doesn't happen. I'm no biologist, and have absolutely no idea what happens when it soaks, but it's generally pretty good and doesn't hurt my mouth.

That would probably be by dehydrating it. Ionised salt keeps water molecules "busy", they're not as available to interact with other molecules. Sometimes it's reversible - the enzyme would reactivate if the salt is flushed out - and some times its tertiary structure is destroyed forever.

The practical ways to denature enzymes are with heat, pH, dehydratation and cross-linking. They're commonly used in the kitchen, by cooking, pickling, salting, candying, etc. (I was about to exclude the latter but then I remembered sugar can be used for cross-linking protein.)


To go back to the allergy possility: a lot of people self-diagnose with fruit allergies because of the enzymes' discomfort, but fruit allergies do exist. Most of the time they're induced by birch pollen, so a hint that it might be involved is how they get milder in winter and worse in summer.

[cobaltstarfire]

To go back to the allergy possibility: a lot of people self-diagnose with fruit allergies because of the enzymes' discomfort, but fruit allergies do exist. Most of the time they're induced by birch pollen, so a hint that it might be involved is how they get milder in winter and worse in summer.

Some people can suffer from that particular kind of allergy year around, it isn't just set off by pollen on/in the fruit, but also by some fruit having stuff in them that is similar in shape to the offending pollen. Ex I became allergic to ragweed sometime in my adult life, and can no longer eat honeydew because something in them is similar in shape to ragweed pollen, not because there is ragweed pollen on/in the honeydew.

It is possible to have this kind of allergy in relation to pineapple, but it doesn't sound like the OP is experiencing an oral allergy, just the usual burning from eating delicious fresh pineapple.

[snowblizz]

Some people can suffer from that particular kind of allergy year around, it isn't just set off by pollen on/in the fruit, but also by some fruit having stuff in them that is similar in shape to the offending pollen. Ex I became allergic to ragweed sometime in my adult life, and can no longer eat honeydew because something in them is similar in shape to ragweed pollen, not because there is ragweed pollen on/in the honeydew.

It is possible to have this kind of allergy in relation to pineapple, but it doesn't sound like the OP is experiencing an oral allergy, just the usual burning from eating delicious fresh pineapple.
That's interesting, because I recently, well last year basically, got a similar burning/allergic reaction to Canary melons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_melon). Just out of the blue have been eating them before but suddenly *this* one for some reason felt like I was burning my mouth with acid. Was the weirdest thing, I'm not to the best of my knowledge allergic to anything, but suddenly those melons were almost a pain to eat. I think the seeds are the worst, well the sweet fruity stuff close to the seeds. I would scoope the seed sout and suck al the juices out if that seed/goopy mess. Apparently I shouldn't have. Been a whiel now, I get the urge to give it a go again just to see.

[cobaltstarfire]

That's interesting, because I recently, well last year basically, got a similar burning/allergic reaction to Canary melons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_melon). Just out of the blue have been eating them before but suddenly *this* one for some reason felt like I was burning my mouth with acid. Was the weirdest thing, I'm not to the best of my knowledge allergic to anything, but suddenly those melons were almost a pain to eat. I think the seeds are the worst, well the sweet fruity stuff close to the seeds. I would scoope the seed sout and suck al the juices out if that seed/goopy mess. Apparently I shouldn't have. Been a whiel now, I get the urge to give it a go again just to see.


For me it usually starts a bit after I've eaten, my mouth itches/burns, my throat becomes really sore and tight, and I start to feel physically ill/heavy in the chest (and later guts because my GI tract is pathetic), usually lasts several hours or all day depending on how much I ate. I didn't even realize it was an allergy related reaction at first, I thought I had just picked up a bug since it first started happening in college (eating in a cafeteria) but continued afterwords and got worse.



Either way the allergic reaction feels distinct from the burning pineapple. For me at least...best thing someone can do if they think they're experiencing an allergy is to visit a doctor about it to know for sure.

[Togath]

I have eaten pineapple that isnt painful, its also fresh, but hey i'm from a tropical country, so i get really fresh ones.

Maybe they're more ripe? A lot of pineapple I get exposed to has green rinds.

[Dodom]

Some people can suffer from that particular kind of allergy year around, it isn't just set off by pollen on/in the fruit, but also by some fruit having stuff in them that is similar in shape to the offending pollen. Ex I became allergic to ragweed sometime in my adult life, and can no longer eat honeydew because something in them is similar in shape to ragweed pollen, not because there is ragweed pollen on/in the honeydew.

It is possible to have this kind of allergy in relation to pineapple, but it doesn't sound like the OP is experiencing an oral allergy, just the usual burning from eating delicious fresh pineapple.

It has nothing to do with pollen on the fruit*, otherwise it'd happen with any food that's been outdoors, not just very specific fruit.
It's that the antigen in question is not immunogenic: it can be targetted by an antibody, but it can't trigger its formation. The one in birch is, and is similar enough that the antibodies it induces cross-react with the variant in fruit. The amount of antibodies present in the system will decrease in winter, when they have no contact with birch pollen, and increase when they're exposed again. Whether it decreases enough to show lessened symptoms depends on the patient, but a seasonal pattern is common.

*: This forum's tendency of countering statements that were never made is getting seriously frustrating! It's the worst I've seen since Reddit!

[Razade]

That's from bromelain enzymes digesting the proteins in your lips, gums, and tongue. In cooked, canned, and candied pineapple the bromelain enzymes have been either diluted or broken down by cooking and other preservation processes.


It is worth noting that although Brother Oni is stating it as a joke, he is being serious about this.
Raw pineapple juice is quite effective at breaking down meat etc.

(I remember from a decade or 2 ago a TV chef who was into experimenting tried injecting pineapple juice into a joint before cooking it to try to tenderize it with the pineapple juice. The result was not good, the meat had no texture at all and broke apart at a touch.)

It doesn't break down your gums or tongue or lips that swiftly. It's probably not the bromelain enzymes considering you're not letting your mouth soak in the juice for an hour.


Cool bit though, people who work with pineapple actually lose their finger prints because of the bromelain over extended periods of time.

[cobaltstarfire]

*: This forum's tendency of countering statements that were never made is getting seriously frustrating! It's the worst I've seen since Reddit!

I have a limited understanding of how it works, you said it was from pollen of plant, so I just ran with it. Wasn't countering anything you said, just adding onto what you had already said.

edit:

My initial point was "I have an oral food allergy, and it does not feel the same as eating a pineapple and having your mouth/lips/tongue burn, so OP probably isn't experience an allergic reaction"

Maybe I should just straight up say stuff like that instead of getting distracted rambling about tangential things that I only half understand as I am prone to doing.

[Dodom]

I have a limited understanding of how it works, you said it was from pollen of plant, so I just ran with it. Wasn't countering anything you said, just adding onto what you had already said.

edit:

My initial point was "I have an oral food allergy, and it does not feel the same as eating a pineapple and having your mouth/lips/tongue burn, so OP probably isn't experience an allergic reaction"

Maybe I should just straight up say stuff like that instead of getting distracted rambling about tangential things that I only half understand as I am prone to doing.

Thank you for the clarification!
I'm sorry I've attributed this intent to you then.