It’s happened to the best of us: You pick out your favorite fruit at the grocery store only to realize later that it wasn’t quite ready. This TikToker, however, has cracked the code. Well, for pineapples, at least.
In a TikTok with over 6.6 million views, content creator Ava (@avamadeleinee) shares her full-proof pineapple hack for buying the ripest fruit.
“This is how you can tell if a pineapple is ripe or not,” Ava says before flipping her camera to the row of pineapples in front of her. One by one, she pulls on a leaf on each pineapple. The leaves stay put. “Not ripe,” she says.
Ava pulls a leaf from one final pineapple, and the leaf tears off easily. “Ripe pineapple,” she exclaims.
“If [the leaf] pops off of the top like that, it’s ripe,” she shares, grabbing the pineapple as the video ends.
Viewers weigh in
In the comments section, viewers react to Ava’s pineapple hack.
“If you see me pulling a pineapple’s hair, mind your business,” one viewer quipped.
“I learned to smell the bottom of them, and if they had a sweet scent that meant they were ripe. I could’ve totally saved myself from those side eyes and all the embarrassment!’ reacted a second viewer. Ava responded, “people judge but guess who will walk home with a ripe pineapple?”
“You really learn something new on TikTok everyday,” a third person wrote.
“Looks almost ripe, but not quite. Another way is to see if they’re more yellow than green, and you can smell them,” chimed in a fourth viewer.
@avamadeleinee here’s my random knowledge of the day for you! edit: I posted how to tell others fruits are ripe :)
♬ original sound – ava
How do you spot a ripe pineapple?
Melissa Jones, a senior category manager for Misfits Market, spoke with Randi Gollin for Martha Stewart about the telltale signs of a ripe pineapple.
According to Jones, there are four ways to identify a ripe pineapple: its color, texture, weight, and smell.
A ripe pineapple will be a brighter yellow, as pineapples change from greenish to yellow as they ripen. Along with the leaves, which should be easier to pluck from the pineapple’s crown, the shell of the fruit should be a bit softer when squeezed. A ripe pineapple will be heavy in the hand, and as some commenters mentioned under Ava’s video, it will smell sweet at the bottom.
Unlike fruits like bananas, peaches, or apples (known as “climacteric fruits”), pineapples do not continue to ripen once they are harvested. This is why it is important for pineapple lovers to choose the right fruit to satisfy the sweet taste they’re looking for.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Ava via TikTok direct message for more information.
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