You should use first() from List::Util. List::Util is a core module, unlike List::MoreUtils and other modules mentioned above, so it is portable and can be used with no extra effort.

use List::Utils qw(first);

my @array = qw( Apples Oranges Brains Toes Kiwi);
my $search = "Toes";

my $index = first {$_ eq $search} @array;

print "index of $search = $index\n";
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