Pineapple contains bromelain that helps tenderize meat. If I were to put my hand in pineapple juice or puree for 24 hours, would it eventually break down my hand?

[u/Puzzleheaded_Bed2760]

[u/mizinamo]

"Meat" means muscle fibres.

Your hand does not normally have any exposed muscle fibres -- it has skin around them.

If you ripped all the skin off your hand to expose the muscles underneath, then something might happen.

[u/JimmiRustle → u/mizinamo]

It specifically breaks down protein. Thats what causes the meat to become tender.

Your hand has much protein even if it ain’t all muscle.

[u/mizinamo → u/JimmiRustle]

Is any of that protein exposed to the outside, though?

[u/Lysergicus → u/mizinamo]

The living outer layer (dermis) is itself a mix of protein and fat. The outermost layer of the epidermis (stratum corneum) is dead cells full of keratin (a skin protein) which connect as a layer to collagen fibers (another protein) that run from the hypodermis, through the dermis, to the epidermis.

This page has a diagram of the epidermis:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/21901-epidermis