Ripe avocados are a tasty fruit that can be mixed with sweet and savory dishes. However, with its high price, you may want to know if your blackened avocado can still be consumed. Fear not—because this condition in avocados (and many other fruits) is expected. It is normal to be apprehensive when avocados turn brown. After all, we are all used to seeing the light green flesh, and that freshness is what we always expect. A brown avocado on the other hand, seems to spell doom for avocado lovers everywhere.
It’s a good thing that a brown avocado can still be a good pick! Seeing brown doesn’t mean that you have a rotten avocado at all. Brown or black spots are completely normal, and do not mean that you have a spoiled avocado. An isolated brown spot is not a sign of it being rotten, either. Cut avocado from a brown fruit can still be fantastic and tickle your taste buds. So next time, ignore those dark streaks. Unless you see brown inside, consider the fruit safe to eat – especially they taste good! The brown part may be due to cold exposure, unless there has been widespread spoilage where you purchased the fruits.
Polyphenol oxidase, an enzyme found in avocados, causes the fruit’s flesh to turn brown when exposed to oxygen. This is similar to your utensils getting rust—only that it affects plants.
When the avocado is chopped, the enzyme is exposed to oxygen in the air, causing the flesh’s surface to turn brown. As a result, the avocado’s flesh must be kept from oxygen exposure to keep its vibrant green hue.
Because avocados are exposed to oxygen in the air and contain phenolic chemicals, their flesh quickly turns brown. Avocados include a polyphenol oxidase enzyme that aids in the transformation of phenolic compounds into quinones when oxygen is present.
Quinones can polymerize, linking smaller molecules to form long chains, resulting in polyphenols, which are long chains of quinones. The dark coloration of the flesh is a result of polymerization.
When faced with this dilemma, frequent remedies include leaving the pit in the avocado, dousing it in lemon juice, submerging it in water, or using an onion slice as a lid for an airtight container. Using any of these ways will slow down the browning process, but many cooks find them to be less than ideal since they alter the flavor or texture of the avocado flesh.
With this avocado keeper or one of these at-home methods, you can keep your avocados fresh for longer. Of course, the exposed flesh will ultimately brown, so none of these treatments are permanent. Still, they will allow you to preserve your sliced avocado for extended periods without being concerned about it turning brown.
You have a limited time to incorporate the avocado into your dish before it turns brown when you start cutting and dicing it up. Even though it’s unlikely that you’ll get sick from eating that somewhat speckled piece, most people dislike brown when setting a beautiful plate.
Avocado Black Skin Vs. Green Skin
With such wide varieties available, you may wonder if the avocado’s skin color affects its flavor, shelf life, and even brown string count. In this avocado black skin vs. green skin debate, it is best to consider some factors that you can use to identify the suitable avocado skin for you.
In reality, it all comes down to individual preference and, even more importantly, availability. There is little distinction between green and black avocados since they both have the same positive and negative effects on one’s health.
Compared to other kinds of green avocados, black avocados, also known as Hass avocados, are the most readily available. As a result, you may not have a choice if you shop at your neighborhood grocery store. Because green and black avocado has the same positive and negative effects on one’s health, there is little distinction between the two varieties.
Rudolph Hass, a hobby gardener and a mail carrier in California, is principally responsible for the development of the black avocado, which is now the most popular variety of avocado. His family name originates from the moniker “Hass avocado,” which refers to various black avocados that are common today.
Because of the dark color of its skin, it is simple to recognize this particular variety of avocados; in addition, the skin of this avocado darkens as it ages and gets riper. The Hass avocado is easily discernible from other varieties due to the distinctively rich and nutty flavor it possesses.
Although green avocados are not as prevalent or well-liked as black avocados, many farmers still tend to cultivate them. As a result, the Gwen, Reed, and Pinkerton varieties of avocados are consistently ranked as the top sellers in the United States.
These avocado kinds mature while retaining their green color, and some of them, like the Pinkerton variety, have excellent peeling qualities. However, when it comes to green avocados with exceptional flavors, the Gwen variety stands out as one of the few with an authentic nutty and rich flavor overall.
Is It OK To Eat Avocado When It Turns Black?
Like any other fruit, avocados can turn brown to black once left in an opened container for a long duration. However, if the fruit is left within one hour, you can safely eat the avocado before it can be dangerous.
It may not appear appetizing and may have an unpleasant flavor, but it is excellent to consume the brown portion of an avocado. It would take several days of an avocado being exposed to air to become rotten due to oxidation.
Avocados, particularly the Hass variety, responsible for over 80 percent of avocados consumed globally, go through unique color changes in their skin as they mature. If the skin has a virtually black appearance and the fruit feels mushy when you touch it, it has gone wrong due to overripeness.
Hass avocados have rough and bright green skin when they are not fully ripe. When fully mature, it will have a dark green or brown color. Other types, like the Zutano and the Fuerte, always have a green tinge to their skin, regardless of how ripe they are.
Avocados that have reached their full maturity have a flavor that is reminiscent of nuts and a lovely perfume that is slightly sweet. If the fruit is allowed to rot, it will likely acquire an off-flavor and smell. If it smells or tastes bad, there is a possibility that it has been spoiled by germs and should be thrown away.
Even though avocados that have gone bad might have a variety of flavors, it is typically effortless to discern by tasting them whether or not they have reached their peak. Likewise, it is possible to tell whether or not an avocado has gone wrong by smelling, tasting, touching, and examining it visually.
Why Does Avocado Turn Black So Fast?
We might all agree that one hour is too fast for an avocado to ultimately. After all, who doesn’t want to eat this tasty fruit even if it is left for a long time? But, unlike any other superstitions in food, there is a science behind the turning black of avocadoes. And take not—a chemical compound named quinones is involved in this!
Because ripening begins at the avocado’s stem end and moves downward, you may be able to use some of the overripe fruit if the flesh has just begun to turn brown. But, this is because ripening begins at the stem end and advances downward.
Enzymes necessary for the enzymatic browning reactions are sensitive to acidic environments, and their activity rate is significantly slowed down in those environments. The avocado’s fleshy area can also be preserved by wrapping it tightly in cling film. This stops oxygen from reaching the flesh, which keeps it from browning as it usually would.
Quinones are substances that are toxic to bacteria; therefore, the creation of quinones from phenolics serves a practical purpose for the fruit by allowing it to last a little longer after being exposed to oxygen before it begins to rot. This is because quinones are created from phenolic compounds, which are also toxic to bacteria.
This process is responsible for the darkening of many different fruits, including apples, in addition to the browning of avocados. This reaction does not occur exclusively in avocados. In the case of the fruit, this is not merely an exercise in aesthetics.
The deterioration that has set in and the stage it has reached determine whether or not an overripe avocado may still be consumed safely. On the other hand, the discolored parts of an avocado should not be consumed because they do not have a pleasant flavor.
Bear in mind that the moment you cut into an avocado, the flesh begins to turn brown since it is exposed to oxygen. This is a natural process, equivalent to how cuts on apples cause them to become brown. If you do not find it appealing, remove the discolored layer and consume the remaining portion.
How Do You Keep Avocado from Turning Black?
While browning and blacking is an inevitable situation for all fruits (including avocados), there are still methods that you can integrate to prolong the fruit’s oxidation process. Who doesn’t want an extended time for their excellent avocados on the shelf?
Most of us know the most common strategy for preventing browning: leaving the pit in an avocado so that some of its flesh is protected from air contact, but we still have a lot of fruit that isn’t. We had no idea that there are three tried-and-true methods for preventing the nasty brown staining on avocados that might occur.
Fresh lemon or lime juice can be applied to the sliced side of avocado in one manner. The enzyme polyphenol oxidase, which inhibits browning, will be inhibited because of the juice’s high acidity. Another way to prepare the avocado is to brush it with olive oil before cutting it open.
Before laying the avocado on top of a quarter of a red onion, cut it up into little pieces and place it in an airtight container. The onion’s vapors will keep the avocado from browning, but there will be no taste transfer because the onions aren’t touching the part of the avocado you eat.
Indeed, leaving the seed pit in the avocado to keep it from turning brown is an effective strategy. Still, this benefit is limited to the portion of the avocado protected from oxygen by the pit. Even after being covered, the flesh’s exposed parts will eventually brown.
Applying lemon juice directly to the exposed flesh of the fruit is one of the most effective methods. The citric acid found in lemon/lime juice helps prevent the avocado from becoming brown by acting as a preservative when applied to the fruit, similar to olive oil’s effect. When storing, ensure that the container is airtight to provide maximum protection.
