People horrified after finding out why their mouths tingle after eating pineapple

Ever wondered why your tongue tingles when eating pineapple? Well, it's time to wonder no more.

Pineapple is one of the most loved of the five-a-day - you know they've made it when they become part of a meal deal option - but people have had their minds blown after hearing what it does to their tongues when eaten.

A TikTok video, which was posted by SF Microscopy to over 77k followers, once gave an explanation behind the weird sensation you can experience after eating the tropical fruit.

The science content page picked apart tiny chunks of a pineapple to analyse them under a microscope and the results are, quite frankly, harrowing.

So, why does your tongue tingle when eating pineapple?

The voiceover continues to explain the seemingly aggressive fruits way of working: "It's cause we are getting stabbed by 1000s of raphides.

"These crystals of calcium oxalate poke holes in your cell membranes causing irritation!"

The content creator then showed the 'microcosmos' within the pineapple chunks, which basically resembled 'little needles' that stab your mouth and give you that weird, irritated feeling on your tongue after you've eaten it.

The science of pineapple 'needles'

These needles are called 'raphides' and contain insoluble crystals, which are made of calcium oxalate, McGill University explains.

A theory about raphides and their herbivore defense mechanisms is that if the plant is damaged, sap or saliva will trigger the expulsion of these needles, which can then prick the lining of the 'predator's' (AKA us humans) oral cavity and cause irritation.

So all this time, pineapples have been fighting back when we're eating them, unbeknown to most of us.

The tell-all clip has since gone viral after clocking up over a staggering 35.9 million views, and it's clear pineapple-chompers all over couldn't wait to share their reactions to the bizarre phenomenon.

One TikTok user, so freaked out by the science, vowed they would 'never eat pineapple again'.

Others, however, weren't going to be put off the needle-filled tropical fruit one bit: "How masochist of me damn."

"You know the fruits good when it starts fighting back," joked a third.

Many others flooded in to share their own war stories concerning pineapples that packed a punch: "It always feel so raw afterwards, this makes so much sense."

"My mouth be sore as hell after going crazy on them pineapples," revealed a fifth while a sixth added: "Mine sometimes bleeds."

Another praised: "Thank you... never knew tropical fruit had defence mechanisms... very interesting."

Indeed.

Still gonna eat it though, painapple or not.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images

Topics: Health, Science, Food And Drink, Weird, TikTok, Viral

Chelsea Connor