Pineapple is not only a perfect snack or dessert, it also has surprising health benefits.

It contains an enzyme called bromelain, which has two seemingly different benefits, it’s good for your digestion, and good for tenderising meat: Bromelain breaks down proteins, so it helps your gut digest your dinner AND helps soften that piece of chicken on the BBQ.

Some studies even indicate that bromelain can reduce inflammation, swelling and bruising after injury or surgery. It’s even thought to help with pain relief.

Pineapple is also high in vitamin C. In fact, one cup of fresh pineapple chunks will give you more than 130 per cent of your daily vitamin C requirements. And it is full of other goodies such as thiamine, manganese, vitamin B6, folate and antioxidants.

How to avoid pineapple tongue burn

Ever eaten fresh pineapple and felt as though your taste buds have been wiped out? That’s the bromelain. It breaks down proteins, including the protective mucus that coats your tongue. To avoid this problem, while gaining the many benefits of pineapple, you could try one of these tricks:

• Soak the fresh pineapple in salt water first
• Eat the pineapple with diary such as yoghurt
• Cook the pineapple, as this destroys the bromelain (but also reduces the benefits)
• Cut out the tough core, where bromelain is the most concentrated.