It is difficult to tell when the pineapple is ready to be harvested. A good, ripe fruit has a dull, solid sound. For fresh consumption, fruits are harvested at 'one- or two-eyes ripe' meaning that the bottom one or two eyes have turned color. However, the use of this harvest index depends on cultivar as well as the destination of the market. At 127 days after flower induction, the fruits normally reach the stage of 25% shell color i.e. a quarter of the fruit shows an attractive yellow-orange color. Harvesting is usually done between seven and 14 days after the fruit has yellowed. Fruits are normally harvested with a long knife, locally known as 'parang' and placed into a basket carried on the back of the harvester. When the peduncle is cut during harvesting, about 3-5 cm of it is left attached to the fruit. It is important to harvest and handle the fruit carefully since any injury can affect the fruit quality and shorten the storage life. Any diseased or abnormal fruits are rejected in the field. Crowns of fruits for local sale are sometimes removed during harvesting and left on top of the plants in the field or are placed in bags to be collected later for planting, but for export markets, they are always retained. From the collection centre, the fruits are manually loaded onto lorries, which transport them to the market place, or to the packinghouse for export. The fruit should be stored at 7.23ºC or above, but should be stored for no longer than 4-6 weeks.

Pineapple is a non-climacteric fruit which does not improve in quality including sugar accumulation and flavor once they are harvested. Pineapples harvested at more advanced maturity stages (ripened on the plant) have much better flavor and sweetness than the less mature fruit. Immaturity and poor quality are indicated by a hollow thud.

In the worldwide Codex Alimentarius Standard for Pineapple, it is stated that the total soluble solid (TSS) content for harvesting must be higher than 12ºBrix. In Hawaii, the regulation allows only pineapple with total soluble solids (TSS) of not less than 12ºBrix to be harvested and marketed. Minimum TSS content of 12ºBrix is also used in Queensland, Australia as a requirement for harvesting.

Sorting and Grading

Pineapples are selected or sorted manually according to the quality criteria agreed upon by the people involved in the trade. It is a common practice to grade pineapple based on variety, weight, shape, maturity and other factors. Prices are influenced mainly by variety and fruit size. The method is very subjective and can vary according to market or location. It is therefore important to incorporate proper grading and standardization in pineapple handling especially for export. Worldwide Codex Standard for Fresh Pineapple (Codex Stan. 182 - 1993) provides some standard guideline for pineapple.