How to store an avocado at home to prevent spoilage

Avocado, or alligator pear, is considered one of the best sources of healthy fats. Nutritionists recommend eating one half of the fruit every day. However, those who buy this exotic fruit regularly know about its "capriciousness": it was just hard and unripe, and after a couple of days it was already soft and began to rot. In this article, we'll show you how to store an avocado at home and how long it keeps in the refrigerator.

How and where is it better to store an avocado at home so that it does not spoil

Before deciding on the way to store the purchased fruit, assess the degree of its ripeness: soft to the touch, brown fruit is ripe, it is undesirable to store it. The shelf life of such an avocado is 24 hours from the date of purchase. More often than not, there are bright green, hardy fruits on the shelves, which take some more time to ripen.

Alligator pears are stored in several ways.

Can avocados be frozen for food and storage

Frozen fruit is stored in the freezer for 4-6 months, while it practically does not lose its rich vitamin and mineral composition. However, during the defrosting process, the creamy texture of the fruit deteriorates, it becomes slippery and watery. This product is more suitable for smoothies and guacamole than for slicing sandwiches and salads.

Important! The avocado should be completely ripe before freezing, but not too soft.

Can avocados be refrigerated

Refrigerator shelves are not the best place to store an alligator pear: unripe green fruits, due to the low temperature, will not have time to reach their condition and will deteriorate. And it is better not to store ripe brown fruits at all: they begin to wither and become covered with black dots after 1-2 days.

How much avocado is stored in the refrigerator if there is no other option? If such a need arises, the fruit is placed in a vacuum package or in a special fresh compartment of the refrigerator to extend its shelf life up to 6-7 days.

Attention! Do not wash the avocado before placing it in the refrigerator - contact with water will rot the fruit.

How much avocado is stored at room temperature

How to properly store avocados for ripening? The best conditions for a green fruit are room temperature and natural light without direct sunlight. So the fetus will lie for 14 days or more, gradually ripening.

When placed in a dark place, the shelf life will be reduced to 7 days, since the darkness speeds up the ripening process. In any case, the fruits are checked daily and when they reach sufficient softness or if the peel begins to change color, they are eaten.

How to keep avocados longer

Despite the fact that avocados are perishable, with the right technology, there are ways to extend their shelf life.

Freezing

If you freeze the whole avocado, it will turn brown and soften when thawed. Therefore, before placing the product in the freezer, it is peeled, pitted and mashed with a fork or blender, or cut into cubes.

Puree

The mashed avocado is placed in a glass or plastic container, after adding 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice. They do everything quickly - from exposure to oxygen, the delicate pulp quickly darkens.

Don't mix avocados with vegetables like onions or tomatoes. During thawing, they release a lot of liquid, further diluting the consistency of the puree. The tightly sealed container is marked and frozen at -18 ° C.

Cubes

The fruit cut in this way is sprinkled with lemon or lime juice and placed in a sealed vacuum package. You can wrap it in plastic wrap, making sure that there is as little air as possible in contact with the pulp inside. Then the product is placed in a freezer at -18 ° C.

Attention! To defrost the avocado for use, the package is removed from the freezer and transferred to the refrigerator. Thawing usually takes about 1 hour. They eat thawed fruit during the day. It will deteriorate from repeated freezing.

Proper refrigerator storage

To extend the shelf life of a ripe avocado to 6-7 days, it is placed in the refrigerator. At the same time, they adhere to the recommendations on how to store whole and cut avocados:

1. Do not wash the whole fruit beforehand.
2. Store the product on the highest shelf, under the freezer.
3. Do not place the fruit next to other fruits and vegetables as they release ethylene, which will spoil the mature avocado.
4. Store half an avocado, without removing the pits or peeling, in a tightly closed container.
5. Put chopped onions in a container with an alligator pear to prevent browning.
6. Wrap whole or sliced ​​avocados with cling film, put in a zip bag, or use a vacuum sealer to restrict air intake and prevent the pulp from oxidizing.
7. Smear the pulp of the chopped fruit with lemon juice, apple or wine vinegar, olive oil to avoid browning and browning.
8. Do not store the avocado salad in the refrigerator for more than a day.

How to store for ripening

If the purchased avocado is unripe, and there is no time to wait for its natural ripening, this process is accelerated in one of the following ways:

1. The fruit is placed in a craft bag along with a ripe apple, banana or tomato. The ethylene released by them activates the ripening of the alligator pear. Paper is a breathable material, so the greenhouse effect is excluded. After 2-3 days, the fruit will ripen.
2. If there is no time to wait, the fruit is wrapped in foil and placed in an oven preheated to + 200 ° C for 10-15 minutes. They carefully monitor the time, otherwise the fruit will bake and change the taste.
3. If the immaturity of the product was found after cutting it, the juice of a lemon wedge is squeezed into the cut, both halves are tightly joined together, wrapped in plastic wrap and placed on the lower shelf of the refrigerator. It will mature slowly in a cool place. The readiness of the avocado for consumption is checked every 2-3 days.

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Conclusion

Avocado is an exotic fruit that grows in countries with tropical and subtropical climates. As a rule, it is brought to Russia in an immature state in order to avoid quick damage.

When stored properly, the alligator pear reaches ripeness and acquires a specific tart taste. Ripe avocados are not stored for a long time, but timely freezing will help to avoid spoilage of the valuable product.