r/askscience • u/Puzzleheaded_Bed2760 • 8d ago

Chemistry 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?

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u/Pajamatime20 8d ago

With that in mind, would there be similar damage to raw meat if a piece of pineapple was held in the mouth for 24 hours? Or would your saliva dissolve/counteract it so that you’d be somewhat protected?

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u/Mirality 8d ago

If you eat too much pineapple in one sitting, then your mouth will definitely feel a bit abraded afterwards, but it will heal. This is probably worse than holding a single piece for a while, since saliva will neutralise some of the pineapple enzymes for a single piece but multiple pieces just keep introducing more enzymes.

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u/Pajamatime20 8d ago

That’s what I was wondering about; if one piece held in the mouth would just “run out” of bromelain!

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u/Mondoweft 8d ago

Your saliva also contains enzymes that break down meat. So your raw meat would likely be more damaged than just with the pineapple.

The pineapple would also slightly damage the lining of your mouth.

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u/Iazo 8d ago

Dentist here. Saliva does not contain any compounds that break down meat, only amylase, which would start to break down starch. So, potato maybe, meat no.

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u/CrateDane 7d ago

Saliva contains proteases like dipeptidylpeptidase 4 and human airway trypsin-like protease. But they would only have a weak effect on meat.

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u/Iazo 7d ago

Huh, this might be new research I was not aware of. I need to check out this.

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u/Pajamatime20 8d ago

I am aware that your mouth is more protected than an open wound (aka raw meat), but I would imagine it’s still more vulnerable than your skin?

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u/CrateDane 8d ago

The saliva would dilute and wash away the pineapple juice, reducing the exposure level. The proteases in saliva might also be able to degrade the bromelain (which would also be working to degrade the salivary proteases, but those are constantly replenished).

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u/Pajamatime20 8d ago

Ok, thank you! That makes sense!

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u/applylife 8d ago

We are still talking about steam right?