If you love a tropical treat like pineapple, but have difficulty choosing this fruit in a store or market, then this guide should come in handy.

When buying a pineapple, you should pay attention to 4 main components: smell, tops (top with greens), peel and pulp.

1. Smell

Ripe should exude a subtle delicate smell. If the pineapple produces a sharp, instantly noticeable smell, then the fruit is overripe and has already begun to rot. If there is no smell, then the fruit is either still green, or it is a pineapple that has ripened at the time of delivery, i.e. already after it was harvested, which means that this fruit is second-rate.

2. Tops (top)

If the upper leaves of the pineapple are thick and juicy, while easily separated from the fruit, then the fruit is ripe. By the same principle, if a single leaf does not come off the base in any way, then the fruit is unripe. A yellowed and dry top of a pineapple means that it has already begun to spoil.

And most importantly, you need to take this very green top of the pineapple with your hands and twist it around its axis. Yes Yes! At a ripe pineapple, the top (greens) is spinning! If the top does not spin, then the pineapple is not ripe.

3. Peel

A ripe pineapple is slightly soft to the touch, but its rind remains firm. Unripe pineapples are much firmer to the touch. By the way, a green peel is not always an indicator that the fruit has not ripened. But the crust, covered with dark spots, means that the pineapple has already begun to deteriorate.

4. Pulp

Tap the pineapple with your palm. If the sound is deaf, then the fruit is moderately ripe, if the pineapple makes an “empty” sound, then it is overripe and “shrunken”. The insides of a ripe pineapple are a bright yellow-golden color. A paler color is observed in unripe fruits.

By the way, you need to store uncut pineapple only at room temperature, in the refrigerator it will immediately lose its flavor and become more watery.

Irina Kamshilina

Cooking for someone is much more pleasant than for yourself))

Content

This tasty, healthy fruit on our table is no longer a novelty. You can buy it in a store or supermarket. Now many do not know how to choose a fetus. Because of this, many people are ditching fresh food in favor of canned food. Completely unequal exchange. There are ways to select the most flavorful, ripe treat.

pineapple season

Keeping a plantation for growing such a fruit is not an easy task. Under normal conditions, the fruits germinate from grains within 15-20 months. For mass cultivation, another method is chosen - the palm trees themselves are planted. So the germination period is reduced. The peculiarity of the plant is the ability to bear fruit for several seasons. The best temperature for growing is 24-30 °C. There is simply no right season. In other words, pineapple season lasts all year round. You can choose fruit in both winter and summer.

How to choose a pineapple in the store

Most fruits endure a long transportation before they hit the shelves. They have to mature on the way. What does a good fruit look like and how to make the right choice? A good copy can be chosen by following simple tips. It is important to pay attention to the price. Goods that cost more were transported by plane. This is done specifically to select and pick ripe fruits. Cheap products were transported by water, which means they were plucked ahead of time.

Another way to choose a pineapple in the store. Symmetrical and dense tops of about 10-12 cm - this is what a ripe pineapple looks like. The leaves of a quality product should be dense and even. If the edges of some leaves have dried up - it's not scary. If there are many such sheets and they are yellow, refuse to purchase, the product is unripe. If the seller advises a delicacy, the leaves of which are easily pulled out, do not believe it. This phenomenon suggests that he remained on the counter for too long.

The maturity of the fruit can be determined by the color of the skin. This method is good in the store because it does not require damage to the integrity of the product. A uniform golden and brown hue indicates maturity. The green peel indicates the immaturity of the pulp. The scales on the crust should decrease proportionally. You can determine the ripeness of the fruit with the help of sound with light taps on the surface. A dull sound indicates that the fruit is juicy and ready to eat. An empty sound indicates that the pulp inside is not juicy and could be overripe.

How to choose a ripe pineapple

The careful buyer must know the right way to choose a pineapple. To do this, you can carefully examine and feel the crust. Pressing on a soft but firm surface will convince you that the fruit has had time to ripen. Dark spots on the scales indicate that the fruit has begun to deteriorate. A hard fruit can be taken if the other signs match. This is what the right choice looks like. Choose a treat with rich yellow flesh. If the inside is light, the fruit is not ripe and will be sour.

Everyone wants to know how to choose a ripe pineapple. The ideal smell of the product has characteristic sweetish notes at a distance of 10-15 cm. If the whole fruit smells strongly, then rotting has begun. The fruit is overripe and it is not worth making a purchase. If it is possible to make a neat cut of the top or make a small incision, use it. The obvious smell of grass should exclude the fruit from your field of interest.

An inhabitant of tropical latitudes, pineapple is now an ordinary fruit on our table. Nobody considers it a curiosity anymore. It lies on the shelves of shops in Russia along with bananas, grapes, apples, oranges. The most famous exotic fruit exporting countries are Thailand, Vietnam, Ecuador, and the Philippines. But how to deal with these tropical sissies? How to choose a ripe pineapple? What signs must be taken into account? Let's find out.

How to choose the right pineapple

An unripe, unripe fruit has a sour taste, it is unlikely that anyone will be happy with it. In addition, "green" pineapple can cause indigestion. Therefore, it is essential to choose a ripe, sweet tropical delicacy that your family and you will be satisfied with. It is better to purchase pineapples in large chain stores, where they are provided with the most.

How to determine the ripeness of a pineapple? There are three important points to always keep in mind. Choose:

• according to external signs;
• by sound and weight;
• by smell

Is it possible to determine ripeness by the rosette of leaves on a pineapple

Look carefully. There should be no defects, scratches, dents on the peel. If the skin color is brown-yellow or reddish-yellow with a predominance of pleasant yellow hues, this is a sure sign of ripeness. Wrinkled peel with spots - the fruit is overripe. The eyes are well developed. Underdeveloped eyes and greenish scales are evidence of the immaturity of the tropical guest. The firmness of the pineapple is also a sign of immaturity. In a ripe one, the peel is slightly elastic, the dent quickly disappears when pressed on the “body” of the fruit. The bottom should be firm, not wet, but rather dry. Soft to the touch “bottom” is a sign of an overripe fruit.

The second point is the leaves at the top. They should be strong, not withered, not torn, without traces of mold and white bloom. How to determine the ripeness of a pineapple by a rosette of leaves? This sign of ripeness is secondary, but, nevertheless, the leaves should have a fresh appearance - this is an indicator of the quality of the fruit. Broken, dirty, unaesthetic-looking leaves indicate that the fruit has “traveled” somewhere for a long time, has been repeatedly loaded and unloaded and is most likely not suitable for a meal and it is better to reject it. Yellow leaves clearly indicate overripeness and staleness.

Let's listen to the sounds and estimate the weight

You can choose a pineapple by sound. Often this is how watermelon is chosen. Pineapple also “sounds” differently depending on the degree of maturity. A ripe fruit makes a dull, full sound, a “green” or vice versa overripe fruit sounds dry and unexpressed. These definitions of sounds are, of course, subjective, and each one, over time, from his own experience, determines which sound corresponds to a ripe fruit, which green, and which is overripe and stale.

The shape and weight of the fruit depends on the variety, but it is either cylindrical or oval. Upon visual inspection, you will see the symmetry of the fruit. Symmetry is a sign of a healthy fetus. Weight from 1 to 5 kilograms. It is believed that small fruits are sweeter, but the variety also affects the sweetness. A good ripe pineapple weighs more than it looks. If the fruit is large, light, then it is overripe, since the pulp has lost some of its internal moisture with time and its specific gravity has decreased.

Smell the tropical guest

How to choose the right pineapple by smell? We have a very useful, completely free analyzer of the quality and freshness of any product in our body - this is our sense of smell. By smell, you can understand a lot, get the right idea about the degree of freshness and ripeness of pineapple.

High-quality, ripe, healthy fruit emits a delicate, pleasant, sweetish aroma. If the smell is pleasant, but too sharp and intense, the fruit is clearly overripe. If the smell is not felt at all or very slight, the fruit is “still green”. An unpleasant, "yeasty" smell is evidence of a spoiled, overripe fruit.

Let's look at the price

A tropical guest, by definition, cannot be cheap. Its delivery by any mode of transport - by air, by water or by land over such a considerable distance costs "a pretty penny". Loading, unloading, storage and all sorts of trade margins also form the price of an exotic product.

If you saw pineapples at a alarmingly low (compared to the usual) price at a sale in a supermarket, think carefully about whether it is worth "chasing cheapness." Fruit is more likely to be of inadequate quality, otherwise they would not be sold. But anything happens. Maybe there are too many fruits for sale, and the demand for them is less than estimated - insignificant. Remember how to choose the right pineapple and slowly get down to business. Perhaps you will get a normal ripe and fresh fruit.

Pulp color

It is unlikely that in a store to determine the ripeness of the fruit, you will cut off a piece of pulp to see the color. But at home, you can appreciate the dependence of color on the degree of ripeness of the fruit. The color of the pulp of a ripe fruit is yellow, golden, unripe - very pale yellow, almost white.

Will the "green" pineapple ripen

If you made a mistake and incorrectly assessed the ripeness of a fruit by buying an unripe specimen, will it “reach” at home? You don't have to count on it. If it's green, then so be it. Pineapples are harvested already in the degree of maturity. They do not contain starches, which turn into sugars over time, as happens, for example, with bananas. Bananas are harvested unripe and the starch they contain in large quantities is gradually converted into sugar through certain biological and chemical reactions, so we get ripe tropical bananas on the table.

No matter how hard you try, no such reactions will occur in pineapples. Storage in warm, cold, dark, bright light, tops or bottoms will not cause any reactions. Storing a "green" fruit in order to get a ripe fruit will only cause spoilage - it will either ferment or rot. As a result of vain efforts, you will receive only a spoiled product.

What pineapples should not be bought

We list the signs indicating which fruits do not need to be bought:

• with defects, scratches, dents on the peel
• asymmetrical shape
• with yellow or damaged, unsightly leaves
• with an unpleasant "yeasty" or putrid odor
• very small or too big
• big but light
• too hard
• if the dent on the peel does not return to its original position
• wet or soft bottom
• inappropriate price

The most delicious, sweet, ripe fruits can be purchased in December-January. It's pineapple season. Canned fruits in jars are sold all year round. But the most useful, although not quite “off the shelf”, are still fresh.

Of all exotic fruits, pineapple has become perhaps the most beloved and familiar. At the same time, not everyone will determine at a glance which of the fruits on the counter should be preferred. Looking at a pineapple, you can’t immediately tell how tasty and ripe it is, but the taste and useful properties of the product depend on ripeness. However, choosing a pineapple is quite simple if you know a few secrets related to the shape, color, smell and weight of the fruit.

How to choose a quality fruit

Pineapple is a fragrant and attractive product. And also very tasty, provided that the choice is made correctly, and unspoiled fruit fell into your hands. They bring pineapple from afar, and, therefore, it cannot be cheap. And we do not like to spend decent money for a “pig in a poke”. So, we will learn to recognize the correct pineapple.

Price

As a rule, those fruits ripened on the plantation are tastier than those that ripen during transportation. But it is also necessary to deliver the ripened fruit quickly so that it does not have time to spoil. Thus, the most ripe and high-quality pineapples are delivered by air, and therefore are much more expensive. Pineapple, cut off unripe, floats on the sea and ripens in the hold of the ship. Such a fruit will cost much less, but it may remain unripe on the counter.

If there is an opportunity to ask the seller about the method of delivery of the product, by all means do it.

Ripe pineapple has juicy golden flesh

Flesh and rind color

Ripe high-quality pineapple has a golden juicy flesh, is distinguished by an elastic, dense, evenly colored peel. It can have a greenish tint even in a ripe pineapple. But there should not be any spots on the surface, they indicate that the product has begun to deteriorate. The ideal pineapple is golden brown, orange gray, brown, or yellow green. Pay attention to the heaviness of the fruit: a normal pineapple should be weighty.

Tropical fruits are often controversial. What is the overseas miracle attributed to: vegetables or fruits? So, pineapple is a herb in the flower of which a juicy, sweet fruit develops. And in terms of species characteristics, it is closer to cereals than to fruits.

The fact that the fruit is overripe and began to deteriorate is clearly evidenced by: wrinkled skin, cracks and smudges on the surface, a reddish tint of the peel, fading brown leaves, whitish specks between the cells.

A spoiled fruit cannot always be identified at a glance, because rotting can begin from the inside and not appear externally for some time.

Smell

A sweetish pleasant smell indicates that the fruit has ripened. However, if the smell is very strong and concentrated, there is a good chance that the fruit is overripe and starting to ferment. Take a closer look: perhaps mold is already appearing on the crust or near the leaves. The sour smell also indicates that the pineapple is no longer edible. If the smell of the fruit is almost not pronounced, the fruit is probably not yet ripe at all and it is better to postpone it.

Scales

Pay attention to the scales: they should be elastic and dense, when pressed, they should not be squeezed inward. At the end of the scales are light ponytails. Under proper storage conditions, these ponytails stay dry and break off easily. Bending, sluggish ponytails indicate excess moisture during storage or transportation, which easily leads to damage, rotting, and mold.

Tails on pineapple cells should be dry and brittle

Other signs

You can determine the ripeness by the sound. Tap the body of the pineapple with your palm. A ripe fruit makes a dull sound, and an overripe one makes an “empty” sound, which indicates its dryness.

The ripeness of a pineapple is determined by touch. When pressed, the skin of a ripe pineapple is slightly pressed, but not wrinkled. An unripe fruit does not react to squeezing in any way, it is too hard and still unfit for food.

How to choose a pineapple

The tail of a pineapple can tell about its quality. The foliage of a good pineapple is thick, green, without dry leaves. Try to pull the leaf at the base: in a ripe pineapple, it will easily lean forward, or even break out completely. If the crown of pineapple crumbles without much effort on the leaves, then the fruit is clearly overripe. Holding the tail with your hand, try to scroll it slightly. Do not overdo it so as not to tear off completely. But if you feel that the tail is slightly scrolling, then the selected pineapple is in perfect shape. A tightly seated fixed crown speaks of immaturity.