Early pineapples had much smaller fruit and tougher, woodier flesh.
Before they were bred into the juicy tropical treat we love today, pineapples were smaller, drier, and far less sweet. Indigenous people in South America cultivated them for generations, gradually selecting for bigger and tastier fruit. By the time Europeans encountered pineapples, they were already on their way to fruity fame—but still a far cry from the golden snacks we slice into now. Selective breeding turned this wild fruit from a rugged oddity into a dessert-worthy celebrity.