Aha: this is why pineapple makes your mouth tingle when you eat it
For a long time, I thought I was the only one who couldn’t handle pineapple very well; I liked it, but my tongue and palate were a little less enthusiastic. Because if I ate several pieces, it tingled like crazy. But guess what? Almost everyone experiences this. A scientist explains why.
Karen Schaich, food scientist and lecturer at Rutgers University, explains the chemical process that occurs when you eat pineapple.
Only fresh pineapple makes your mouth tingle
If you find this sensation really irritating, go for canned pineapple instead — because this only happens with fresh pineapple. Fresh pineapple contains a substance that affects the mucous membranes in your mouth, called bromelain — a type of protease. And those are a type of enzymes — which cause chemical reactions in your body by breaking down proteins.
It sounds quite technical, but bromelain is what causes that tingling sensation. And it isn’t only found in pineapple, but also in figs and papaya. Pineapple, however, has something else that makes the tingling just a little worse: it’s very acidic. And because those enzymes break down certain proteins in your mouth (which causes the tingling), the pineapple’s acidity also irritates it (making it tingle even more).
Incidentally, this enzyme isn’t only unpleasant, because it can actually make your meat very tender. Marinating your meat in pineapple is therefore not a crazy idea at all; bromelain breaks down ‘tough’ cysteine proteins in meat.
Also read:
- Is spelt healthier than wheat?
- Is raw vegetable healthier than cooked vegetable?
- Chef’s favorites with Rapper Donnie: ‘I like fattier things better than healthy things’
Source: Inverse
