Avocados should be stored taking into account the degree of its ripeness and strictly following the recommendations. Cut fruit requires special attention, as it darkens when exposed to air and loses not only its original appearance, but also its taste.
The article contains useful tips that will help preserve the fetus at home.
Avocado is an exotic fruit that has a pleasant taste and a number of beneficial properties. However, the delicate pulp of the fruit quickly deteriorates, so it is important to provide it with proper storage conditions.
Practical tips for storing avocados
Avocados have a number of subtleties in terms of proper storage. In stores they often sell it unripe, and in order to eat the delicacy, you need to wait a few more days. It's easy to miss the moment when the avocado is ripe and begins to spoil.
There are a few simple tips that will help you enjoy the taste and beneficial properties of the fruit and keep it fresh for as long as possible:
- Suitable temperature: it is best to store fruits at a temperature from +2 to +12;
- High humidity: the optimal moisture content in the air for storage is from 80 to 95%;
- Temperature stability: take the avocado out of the refrigerator and put it back less often, otherwise it will spoil faster;
- Vertical storage: the optimal position of the stored fruit is upright, with the stalk up;
- Do not remove the pit;
- Sliced avocados can be stored for a maximum of 2 days; if you want longer, do not disturb its integrity;
- Isolation from oxygen: wrap the fruit in film or paper, so it will oxidize less.
Storing unripe fruit
Unripe avocado fruits have a light or deep green skin. When purchasing them in a store, make sure that the surface is not damaged, that they are dense and smooth to the touch.
Do not put unripe fruit in the refrigerator! There it will not ripen, but it will spoil. The best conditions for such an avocado are room temperature about +20 degrees and a paper bag.
If you need to get ripe fruit faster, a banana or an apple will be good neighbors for it. These fruits emit ethylene, and such a symbiosis will benefit the unripe avocado. Under this condition, it will be edible within 2-3 days!
What are the signs to identify high-quality and low-quality fruit?
The quality of avocados in our country is regulated by GOST R 54689-2011, according to which the following fruits are sold:
- Healthy, clean, fresh, at the stage of consumer maturity, without signs of exposure to low temperatures.
- Visible damage caused by pests is not allowed.
- The color and shape of the fruit correspond to the varietal characteristics.
- The stalk is cut at the level of 1 cm, without mechanical damage.
- The presence of foreign odors and distortion of taste is excluded.
- Low-quality fruits also include fruits with obvious mechanical damage, signs of disease or rot, and the presence of mold.
Preserving ripe avocados
If the avocado is ripe, but you are not going to eat it right now, pack the fruit in a plastic or paper bag and put it in the refrigerator. There is no need to wash it before!
Such measures will protect the fruit from contact with others in a specially designated container, and it does not need an influx of oxygen. This way the shelf life will be much longer, up to 4 days!
But it can deteriorate even earlier. Therefore, it is best to check the fruit daily for softness. If the skin bends too easily when pressed, this is a sign of imminent damage! There is no point in storing avocado for too long: every day it contains less and less vitamins, and the taste gets worse.
When it's time to eat your avocado, remove it from the refrigerator and chop it immediately. This makes it much easier to do, because after it warms up, it will lose its density and be excessively soft.
Is it possible to eat unripe
It is better not to eat unripe avocado - it is tasteless and dangerous. The pulp of unripe exotics is stuffed with toxins, which decompose when the exotics ripen. The peel is especially poisonous. If you want to know what it tastes like, it’s okay to try a bite or two. Severe poisoning has been reported in people who have eaten too much green fruit. This is in a favorable situation.
Conclusion
The abundance of exporting countries allows you to enjoy the exotic all year round. That is, the avocado season for Russia goes on non-stop: fruits from some country can always be found in the supermarket.
Knowing the signs of a ripe exotic, you can choose it right in the store. And if you come across a green exotic, it won’t be difficult to ripen it at home. How to make avocados soft is up to everyone to decide for themselves. In a minute or a week, gentle or extreme - it depends on the circumstances. Heat treatment helps the fruits ripen faster. But they won't taste the same. If possible, it is better not to rush. After all, fruits are brought to Russia from afar; they are not cheap.
Cut fruit: how to preserve it longer
If you were unable to eat the whole fruit at once, the issue of proper storage in cut form becomes acute.
There are several clever ways to help preserve cut avocados for up to 3 days.
- Firstly, do not pick out the pit if you are storing half of the fruit. It is recommended to put it in a paper bag and place it in the refrigerator. Film or a plastic bag will no longer work!
- Secondly, you can sprinkle the cut with lemon juice. Its acid will help avoid the development of pathogenic microflora in the fruit pulp.
- Thirdly, you can place half an avocado on a bed of onions. This method is good if you later use onions in preparing a dish with avocado. After all, there is a high probability that the pulp will absorb the smell.
- Fourthly, vegetable oil is a good way to preserve the freshness of the cut. It needs to be applied like lemon juice, then the fruit will not darken and will lose its valuable properties more slowly.
- Fifthly, cold water can be an assistant in storage. If you fill a container with it and then put the avocado in it, it will cool further and stay fresh longer. True, this method does not have the best effect on the appearance: the fruit darkens.
Is the avocado already cut into pieces? Then you should not store it for more than 2 days. You can simply put the slices in a vacuum bag and place them in the refrigerator. But remember: you need to eat them as quickly as possible!
Long-term storage in the freezer
Avocados can be stored frozen for up to a year. It is unlikely that you should freeze the whole fruit. The best option is to cut it into slices or puree it. Moreover, in pureed form it will be stored for as long as possible.
If you cut the fruit into pieces, you can expect to store it in the freezer for no longer than 4 months.
But making such a preparation is much simpler: cut the fruit into pieces and pour it into a bag or container and freeze it.
How to properly prepare avocado puree for freezing:
- Ripe avocado must be washed, peeled and cut into small pieces;
- Grind with a blender or pass through a meat grinder;
- Add a little lemon juice;
- Place the puree in a container of a suitable size (remember, there should be plenty of containers, because when frozen, the product will increase in volume);
- Place the container in the freezer.
Before use, you need to remove the mass from freezing gradually. First, put it in the refrigerator a day or two before preparing the dish so that defrosting is smooth.
Let's prepare guacamole
This is perhaps the most popular avocado dish. To make guacamole paste you will need:
- 3 ripe avocados;
- 2 medium limes;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 0.5 cups olive oil;
- cilantro and salt - to taste.
Wash and peel the avocado and chop it as desired. Place the pieces in a blender bowl, squeeze out the lime juice, add herbs, salt and oil. Bring everything to a smooth paste. Place in a serving bowl and the dish is ready.
HELP: To make it easier to peel the fruit, make a deep vertical cut along the entire body and turn the halves in the opposite direction.
All the secrets are open, now you know the available ways to preserve avocados at home, all you have to do is choose the right one. Store correctly and be healthy!
Typical avocado storage mistakes
It happens that after buying fresh fruit, after a few days you notice that it has gone bad. Why is this happening? You may have violated simple storage rules.
- You can't take out the bone! This significantly affects the shelf life.
- You cannot store ripe fruit outside of the refrigerator! At room temperature, ripe fruit will last no longer than 3 days.
- Cannot be stored with other fruits! Such a neighborhood will not benefit the freshness of the avocado.
As much as avocados are loved by many for their benefits and taste, they are also difficult to store. The rare properties of the fruit are worth paying a little attention to, and strict adherence to the simple rules described by us will help you fully enjoy the taste and beneficial properties of avocado.
Answers to popular questions
If an avocado starts to darken, does this mean it has gone bad?
No, the darkening of an avocado after cutting is its normal reaction to contact with oxygen, which results in oxidation of the surface of the fruit. The dark color of the pulp has virtually no effect on its taste and valuable properties.
How long will an avocado ripen if you buy it unripe?
Most often, this process takes up to 4-6 days, but if you put the fruit in a paper bag along with other ripe fruits, you can reduce the ripening time to 2-3 days.
How can you tell if an avocado has gone bad?
It becomes too soft, an unpleasant odor begins to emanate from it, and a slimy layer appears on the cut. If you have not yet cut the avocado, pay attention to the peel - if dark spots appear on it, this may indicate rotting of the fruit.
How long does a ripe avocado last?
If you haven’t cut it yet - 3-4 days, after cutting - the same amount. However, be careful - overripening of the fruit can lead to premature rotting.
What's the best way to freeze avocado - pureed or sliced?
After defrosting an avocado, you will not be able to eat the fruit fresh, since it will lose most of its beneficial properties and taste, so consider only what you will use it for later, and proceed from your convenience. There is no fundamental difference in the options for preparing the fruit for freezing.
