One thing I did not mention is that the bromelain also does its wonders on your tongue if you eat the pinapple, especially more green. I cut up a beautiful pineapple the other day and was happily munching away when my tongue started to tingle and felt burnt! Turns out the bromelain was also breaking down the proteins on my tongue...fortunately, the surface of our tongues is replenished almost daily so the effects are not long lasting but in future I think I will eat my pineapple with something a but more creamy such as yogurt to help coat my tongue from the effects. I have read that truly ripe from the tree pineapples do not have the same effect as the amount of bromelain is reduced as the pineapple ripens.
One downside of the protein attack is that you cannot put raw pineapple in gelatin since it will break down the gelatin (which is a protein). The canned pineapple would work since it is usually cooked and will have inactivated the bromelain (need to try this experiment). To make pineapple jelly, you would need to use pectin not gelatin.
Links:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/pineapple-enzyme-tenderize-steak1.htm
Pineapple strawberry jelly
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1623,146161-225195,00.html
Dickson, S R and Bickerstaff, G F Pineapple bromelain and protein hydrolysis. Journal of Biological Education 25, 164–166 (1991)
Pineapple bushes
http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/questions/do-pineapples-grow-on-trees
Is it true that pineapple pickers don't have fingerprints?
ReplyDeleteAS far as I can determine, you cannot erase fingerprints unless there is severe and permanent damage to the epidermis layer of skin - severe burn or slice could do it. The effect of pineapple is only to the topmost layer so the fingerprints should come back once contact is broken for a while. Pineapple pickers may lose them longer term because they never get a chance to heal.
ReplyDeleteScientific American wrote an article on loss of fingerprints a few years ago:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lose-your-fingerprints
And Tom Scott did an experiment:
http://www.tomscott.com/fingerprints/
There are many more plants that can also cause skin problems on contact or with prolonged contact. Here is a 2002 paper that outlines a series of different kinds of problems:
Botanical dermatology
Thomas W. McGovern MAJ, MC, USA, Theodore M. Barkley PhD
Article first published online: 5 JAN 2002
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-4362.1998.00385.x
International Journal of Dermatology
Volume 37, Issue 5, pages 321–334, May 1998