Avocado is one of the most popular foods in the world due to its delicious flavor, its versatility and its magnificent properties, since it has healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. We can eat it alone or use it to make countless dishes, such as salads, sauces, stuffed avocado, etc. However, this food has a drawback: when it is opened, an oxidation process begins that makes it turn black in a matter of hours or minutes, depending on weather conditions.
That said, how do you prevent avocado from browning? What conservation methods exist that is effective with this fruit? we show how to preserve the avocado through very effective tricks that you can do at home, keep reading!
Why does avocado brown?
Before explaining how to preserve the avocado, we are going to see why it oxidizes so quickly to also understand why the methods that we will show are so effective. The avocado is a fruit and, as such, it has a defense mechanism against bacteria and parasites that is activated when you cut it. This mechanism is made up of enzymes and chemical agents created specifically for this purpose: to protect the fruit. But what exactly happens? When cutting the cells found in the pulp of the avocado, or any other fruit, the phenols (colorless substances) found inside the chambers that store the cells are released. In turn, the enzyme PPO acts on these phenols and causes them to turn brown, causing the fruit to darken and oxidize.
The above process can be stopped by cooking the food, freezing it or making it come into contact with an acid, since all these methods allow the enzyme that darkens the fruit to be deactivated. For this reason, the tricks to prevent avocado from oxidizing are closely related to these factors.
How long does an open avocado last?
If we do not stop the oxidation process, the duration of the open avocado is just a few hours, since it oxidizes very quickly.
How to preserve the avocado once opened?
We have already seen that cooking the avocado is one of the most effective methods to prevent it from oxidizing, however, when we look for how to preserve the avocado it is not precisely because we have cooked it, but because we have used one of the halves and we are interested in preventing it from the other rusts. Well, to preserve the cut or chopped avocado, the first thing we should know is that it is much better to use the pitted half and save the part with the pit, since this element allows the fruit to be kept for longer. That said, let’s see the best tricks to prevent avocado from browning:
Preserve avocado with lemon juice
Since the acid deactivates the enzyme that causes the avocado to oxidize, lemon juice is one of the best remedies to keep the avocado from oxidizing for days. You simply have to squeeze a lemon and paint the half you want to keep with the juice obtained. Then, put that half in a container with an airtight seal, cover it and reserve it in the refrigerator. With this trick you can keep the avocado in the fridge for a maximum of 3 days, after which it will start to darken.
Keep the avocado wrapped in plastic wrap
Yes, this method does not involve contact with acid but it does insulate the fruit enough to delay the oxidation process. So, you just have to wrap the half you want to keep in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for a maximum of 3 days.
Preserve avocado with onion
If you wonder what is the best way to preserve avocado, without a doubt, this is it. The onion allows the avocado to stay intact for up to a week, but how? You just have to peel and cut half an onion, or a whole one depending on the amount of avocado you want to keep, place it in a hermetically sealed container, place the avocado on top, close the container and put it in the fridge. That easy! To find out how to cut onions without crying, don’t miss the advice in this other article: “How to cut onions”.
You will probably have found more tricks to keep the avocado from turning brown, however, we have tried them all and we have been able to verify that only these three really work. In addition, these tricks are also effective for preserving the peeled and pitted avocado, although it is true that with the peel and the pit it is kept for a few more days. In the following video you can see how we put these and more tricks to the test and their effectiveness.
How to preserve mashed avocado?
In the previous section we have seen how to preserve chopped or open avocado, but are the tricks the same for mashed avocado? The truth is that yes! The lemon juice trick, the onion trick and the plastic wrap trick allow you to preserve the mashed avocado. Here’s how:
- With lemon juice: squeeze half a lemon, mix it with the crushed avocado and store it in the fridge in a covered container.
- With plastic wrap: cover the container of mashed avocado with plastic wrap but in such a way that the paper directly touches the puree. Reserve it in the fridge.
- With onion: place onion pieces on top of the mashed avocado, cover the container and reserve in the refrigerator.
How to preserve guacamole without turning black?
As homemade guacamole is usually made with lemon juice, you would simply have to put it in a container with a lid and reserve it in the fridge for better conservation. This trick, like the one with plastic wrap, will allow you to keep the mashed avocado or guacamole for 3 days. If you want to extend its life, we recommend you opt for the onion trick. In the case of guacamole, you can even apply all three tricks. That is, since it already has lemon, place large pieces of onion on top and cover it with plastic wrap. This will last you about 5 days.
How to freeze avocado?
Finally, we highlight freezing as another way to preserve the avocado without it oxidizing. Using this method you can preserve the ripe, chopped, broken or crushed avocado. It is very easy to carry out and will allow you to store the avocado for up to 6 months. Of course, we have to say that once this fruit is defrosted it loses a bit of texture and becomes softer, so we recommend using this method to make guacamole with frozen avocado, puree or avocado cream .
So how to freeze avocado ? With lemon juice and a freezer bag or, failing that, plastic wrap. Follow these steps:
- Cut the avocado in half, remove the bone and the skin.
- Paint the two halves with lemon juicein its entirety.
- Put the halves in a freezer bag, remove as much air as possible and close it tightly.
- You can reserve that bag inside a container to avoid crushing the fruit and put it in the freezer.
- Remember to write down the freezing date so as not to exceed the recommended months.
If you want to freeze the whole avocado, you can also do it by placing it directly in the freezer, but this method is more efficient and durable, whether it is a ripe or green avocado.
