Did you buy too many avocados and want to know if you can keep them for a few more days? Are you wondering, ‘How long do avocados last?’ Well, wonder no more because, in this article, we’ll answer that question and provide more tips on storing avocadoes.
Avocadoes are so versatile and delicious. They make a great healthy snack on the go. They are often sold in bulk, leading to some leftovers that spoil fast. With the knowledge in this article, you will be sure to get the most out of your avocados and waste as little as possible.
Avocados are fleshy fruits that only have one seed. They are technically balloon-shaped berries, with yellow-green flesh and leathery skin typically green when unripe but becomes dark purple upon ripening.
Unlike most fruits, avocados are not sweet, even when ripe. Instead, they are earthy and creamy and subtly nutty. They are highly nutritious, rich in monosaturated fats, and provide fiber, folate, and potassium.
Because avocados have a mild flavor, they can be used in savory and sweet applications.
Mashed avocadoes are the main ingredient in the famous savory Mexican dip guacamole. They can also be added to scrambled eggs.
Sliced avocadoes can be put on top of toasts alongside extra virgin olive oil. They also make good toppings for sushi rolls.
Avocados are also great when stuffed, grilled, fried, and pickled.
In some countries, they are the top ingredients for smoothies, fruit shakes, and even ice cream.
Unripe avocados can last for a maximum of 7 days at room temperature. Once ripe, they should go into the fridge to stay fresh for another 3-5 days.
A ripe avocado, cut or mashed, will last for 24 hours in the fridge.
Mashed avocado or cut avocado lasts the longest when stored in the freezer because it will still be good even after six months.
Avocados ripen incredibly fast because they produce a high level of naturally-occurring gas called ethylene, which is responsible for the ripening process. Because of this, they ripen faster than fruits that do not produce that much ethylene gas, such as oranges and grapes.
Like apples, avocados’ flesh quickly turns brown after exposure to oxygen. This is because some compounds in the fruit oxidize and, as a consequence, produce a brown, unappealing color.
However, that is not the only reason for the browning. Another reason is that cutting the avocados themselves damages the structure of their cells. This damage manifests as a brown color on the surface.
Depending on the variety, an avocado may or may not change its skin color even when it has ripened.
That said, a green avocado does not automatically mean that it is unripe. For instance, a ripe Shepard avocado maintains a green skin, while the skin of a Hass avocado will turn from green to dark purple when ripe.
Because of this, telling when an avocado is ripe can be tricky because you cannot depend on the skin color alone.
Here are three more ways to tell if avocados are ready to eat:
Lightly squeeze the fruit and see if it yields. If it does, then your avocados are most probably ripe.
Unripe avocados usually have smooth skin, but they turn leathery and bumpy once they ripen. Feel the skin of your avocado. If it is far from smooth, then you have a ripe one.
Try to remove the tiny bit of the remaining stem on top of the fruit. If it doesn’t budge, you are dealing with unripe avocado. On the other hand, if you can remove it quickly, you have a ripe one. Do check if you see green or brown on the spot where you removed the stem. You want to see green because brown means you have an overripe fruit.
Finding out that the avocados you have waited to ripen are already overripe can be disheartening. With that, you may not be able to eat them the way you initially planned. However, that doesn’t mean you should throw them out right away.
Here are some ways to incorporate overripe avocados into your meals:
If the idea of eating an overripe avocado does not sound good to you, you can use them to make facial or hair masks.
That said, the last thing you should do is throw them away.
If properly stored, the shelf life of avocados can be maximized.
Here are some useful avocado storing tips:
Regardless of how hard you try to prolong their shelf life, avocados will still go bad and will need to be thrown away.
Here are four signs that you should look for:
Just like in other food items, if you see that mold has already grown in the fruit, it is way beyond saving. Remember that mold grows deep, so you cannot just cut off the moldy part and eat the rest of the avocado. To be on the safe side, discard it altogether.
Ripe avocados feel soft to the touch, enough to yield when gentle pressure is applied. On the other hand, spoiled ones are so soft they can get punctured when you squeeze them a little.
Avocados have a subtle, almost unnoticeable smell. If you detect a powerful sour odor from the fruit, it is a surefire sign that you have rotten avocados.
The flesh of a fresh avocado has a vibrant yellow-green color. If you see that it has lost its natural color and has become brown, discard it because it is already rotten.
You will know that avocados have gone bad if it already has mold. In addition, if they give off a pungent smell and are overly soft to the touch, you should throw them away because they are no longer fit for consumption.
Yes, avocados can last for two weeks if you buy them unripe and store them uncut in the fridge immediately. The cold temperature will slow the ripening process so that they won’t spoil as fast.
How long do avocados last? Well, the answer to that question depends on many factors, including how ripe it is when you bought them and where you will store them.
With proper handling and storage, avocados can last from 7 days to 6 months. There are rules to follow to ensure you get the best out of storing, refrigerating, or freezing an avocado.
For instance, storing unripe avocados in the freezer is a no-no, while applying some acid to the surface of cut avocados to prevent browning and not letting whole unripe avocados sit in the fridge for more than two weeks are among the best practices.
