How to Cut a Pineapple Easily—and Why It’s Healthier Than Canned Pineapple

With its spiky leaves and rough skin, a pineapple can look intimidating. As a result, many people find cutting one difficult and opt for processed pineapple or buy it already prepared instead of eating it fresh.

However, preparing and cutting a pineapple is not so difficult or troublesome that you need to consider buying an expensive pineapple slicer. Here is how to cut a pineapple into easy-to-eat pieces using an ordinary kitchen paring knife.

Elise Bauer, a writer for the food and lifestyle publication Simply Recipes, explained, “The sweetest and most delicious part of a pineapple is the flesh close to its tough skin. Because the fruit becomes sweeter and softer from the center toward the outside, cutting it incorrectly can mean throwing away the tastiest part.”

First, lay the pineapple on its side and cut off the crown. Trim away the rough sections at the top and bottom of the fruit. Then stand it upright and carefully slice off the tough skin. Next, carefully remove any green or brown spots remaining on the flesh. After removing the skin, remove the core. Stand the pineapple upright and cut away the central core.

Canned pineapple is easy to find and tastes sweet, but it contains more calories and sugar than fresh pineapple.

William Akoi, a reporter for the nutrition website Livestrong, said, “Canned pineapple has 20% more calories and over 40% more sugar than fresh pineapple. Meanwhile, fresh pineapple contains about three times as much vitamin C and folate as canned pineapple, or more.”

[FamTimes—Reporter Lee Jae-sung]