Ripening a Pineapple is Pretty Damn Easy. We’ll Tell You How

Fruits are delicious. Period. There just can’t be a different opinion about it, especially when there are juicy and aromatic ones like the pineapples. But quite often we end up buying fruits which are unripe. So what next? Of course, ripe them at home with the available resources.

An easy tip!

Avoid buying pineapples that are green at the base. Choose the one which is at least orange-tinted or yellowish. This means the unripe pineapple would eventually ripen.

Ripening of unripe pineapples on its own is far from truth. This is because, unlike other fruits such as apples, bananas, pears, or figs, pineapples do not ripe on their own, once picked. The starch that is available from the stem of the plant helps to make the sugar supply of the fruit which makes it ripe. Once it is plucked, it does not receive the sugar, hence doesn’t ripe at all.

But, you don’t have to worry about not being able to eat good pineapples if you happen to buy the unripe ones. The trailing paragraphs of this article would give you some easy to practice tips which will help you savor some good, fragrant, juicy pineapples that will not only taste tropical but also prevent you from getting that signature prickly, burning effect in the mouth. Perhaps, this is the only demerit of this wonderful fruit, once known as the royal fruit as it was famous as the favorite ‘Fruit of the Kings’.

How to Ripen a Pineapple

Store the unripe pineapple with other fruits that ripen easily, such as apples, bananas, or tomatoes. They eject ethylene, which is nothing but a plant hormone that helps ripening.

Store it in poly bags, or other types of clear bags or paper bags at room temperature, for a couple of days, depending on how unripe it is. Usually keeping it for a day shows desirable results.

To ripen an unripe pineapple sooner, always place it with its base upwards and balancing it on its leaves, that is, place it upside down. This helps in the upflow of the sugars which yields in ripening the fruit evenly, and saves the fruit from rotting.

It is also a common practice to store the fruit amidst a heap of rice in a jar. This accelerates ripening.

How to Pick the Right Pineapple

Settle for one which is firm, yet supple. Don’t buy the ones which are very hard and green in color. Avoid the ones which have relatively dark brown, rot-like stain on the skin.

Always look for the larger sized pineapples as the flesh content would be more in them.

Make sure that the leaves of the pineapple are fresh and don’t look stained and dull.

Do not pick the ones that disseminate a foul, unpleasant stink. The aroma of pineapples should be fresh and fruity. It shouldn’t be like that of fermented grapes or cherries.

Storing the Pineapples

# Be rest assured to have great pineapples after storing them in the refrigerator for as long as even six months.

# But leaving pineapples at room temperature for too long, once cut, can ferment them soon enough. Hence, they need to be refrigerated.

# It is advisable to keep the pineapple as a whole while refrigerating. When it is sliced, then they need to be wrapped, else it tends to ingest the smell of other food items stored in the refrigerator.

# You can also store them as juice or crushed.

Technically speaking, a pineapple is not a single fruit. They are the culmination of numerous hundreds of berries which combine together to make this tasty fruit. They are a storehouse of antioxidants, vitamin C, manganese, and most importantly, Bromelain which is an enzyme that breaks down proteins, and also has anti-inflammatory properties.

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