by Grant Butler
Avocados make wonderful additions to sandwiches and salads, and the world would be a less-happy place without guacamole. But sometimes you only need half an avocado for a recipe, and the remaining half can begin to discolor and turn an unappetizing shade of brown quickly.
There are lots of popular approaches to preserving the bright green color of avocados, but which ones really work? To find out, we tried 5 of the most-common ways people use for keeping avocados from browning, and we got some surprising results.
For the test, we purchased four large avocados from our neighborhood grocery store, choosing ones that still were slightly firm to the touch, making them ripe but not overripe. We then employed each preservation method, and stored the avocados for two days in the refrigerator in airtight containers to see which ones would stay the most green. Here’s a look at the results, from worst results to the best:
- Lemon juice: Many people believe that rubbing the cut surface of an avocado with fresh lemon juice prevents browning, because the citric acid is thought to slow oxidation. But the avocado half we brushed with lemon juice turned a disgusting dark brown, making it unfit to serve to anyone.
- Plastic wrap: Wrapping an avocado half tightly with plastic wrap is thought to slow browning because it keeps air away from the surface. We tried this method with an avocado half without a pit, and there was significant browning on the cut surface, though the avocado was bright green underneath, making it suitable for use in a salad dressing or guacamole.
- The pit method: Conventional wisdom has it that keeping the pit in the leftover avocado prevents it from browning, but we found this to be only partially true. The area of the avocado that remained in contact with the pit didn’t discolor but the rest of the avocado was starting to turn an unappetizing shade of brown. This also would be OK for use in salad dressing or guacamole.
- Olive oil: Brushing an avocado half with olive oil is said to reduce contact with air, preventing oxidation. This method held up for us, with minimal browning happening around the edges, but with most of the interior flesh remaining a vibrant green. This avocado would be fine for sandwiches or salads.
Water bath: A lot of chefs swear that immersing avocados in water keeps them from browning, since it eliminates contact with the air. But some caution to only store avocados this way for a short period of time, since prolonged exposure to water could turn them slimy. Would an avocado hold up after 48 hours submerged in water? Yes, it turns out. The cut surface did take on a slightly slimy sheen, but the avocado stayed the most green of the five methods we tested, with only slight browning.
A few caveats: We tested these methods using avocados that were the same size and purchased at the same time, picking them out by touch to determine similar levels of ripeness. But busy produce departments are constantly restocked, so there’s a possibility that some of our avocados were older than others. Because we used avocados that were already ripe, we expected to see some browning with each preservation method, particularly after two days in the refrigerator. As they say when determining a car’s gas mileage, “your results may vary.”
Source: The Oregonian