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Avocados are grown in areas with tropical and subtropical climates. After harvesting, the fruits do not immediately reach store shelves. During transportation, part of the harvest spoils, so owners often collect unripe fruits. Violation of storage or transportation conditions can lead to loss of taste and change in structure. Whether an avocado is black inside or not is a question that worries consumers who choose vegetables and fruits in supermarkets and retail outlets.
What are black spots inside an avocado?
The appearance of black dots inside is associated with technical ripeness. Ripeness is determined by several criteria:
- the mark from light pressure quickly disappears, the shell takes its previous shape;
- the area where the cutting was located becomes green, with brown spots;
- when pressing on the handle, the oil accumulated inside may seep out;
- when shaking inside, you can hear the tapping of the bone;
- The bone is easily separated from the pulp: it can be removed with a spoon.
The appearance of the peel will not say anything about the ripeness or safety of the pulp inside.Depending on the variety, the peel has green, brown and intermediate colors.
Whether an avocado can be eaten can be determined by the color and structure of the pulp. If the pulp is covered with black dots inside, this may indicate a violation of storage rules. The appearance of black spots occurs due to the fact that the fruit was first stored in a cold room, and then it gets into the heat.
The answer to the question whether it is possible to eat pulp with black dots inside also depends on how much blackness is spread over the surface. If the black spot is located far from the seed and the area covered by it is approximately 10% of the total, then such fruit can be removed by first removing the black spots with a spoon. Small black dots are picked out with the sharp tip of a knife, and then the pieces of pulp are used for their intended purpose. Such pieces will not taste bitter or have any other unpleasant taste.
If the black spot completely surrounds the pit on both halves, and when removed it turns out to be widespread at all levels within the pulp, then the fruit should not be eaten. In this case, there are several reasons for the appearance of black spots:
- sudden change in climatic conditions during storage;
- long stay at low temperatures;
- violation of transportation methods;
- possible stay in water and subsequent drying.
A black spot is evidence of overripeness. With maximum spread, it threatens the fruit with loss of taste and beneficial properties. It is better not to eat such fruit, since, most likely, it will taste bitter and, in addition, will lose its beneficial properties.
Is it possible to eat a darkened avocado?
Avocado has long been considered an exotic fruit, but recently its presence on supermarket shelves has become commonplace. Despite this, consumers are not fully familiar with the characteristics of this culture. Many people are frightened by the ability of the fruit to darken after cutting. In fact, there is nothing wrong with this. The fact is that the pulp contains an increased amount of iron inside. Upon contact with air, an oxidation reaction begins. This causes the cut halves to darken.
What do you need to prevent avocados from turning dark?
To protect the pulp from darkening for a while, sprinkle it with lemon juice. This will delay the oxidation process.
Another method that helps prevent darkening is to generously lubricate the cut halves with olive oil. After this, the unused parts are stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Why is avocado bitter?
Often, after successfully choosing a fruit, it turns out that it tastes bitter when consumed. If, in addition to bitterness, the avocado contains brown streaks inside, this means that the fruit is completely overripe. There will be no benefit from its use, and you should not eat it. In addition, the taste of dishes prepared with it will suffer.
The second reason for the appearance of bitterness may be the unripeness of the avocado: in this case, it will be light yellow inside, with a bitter taste.
The pulp also begins to taste bitter after heat treatment. Usually people start eating it raw, so as not to expose it to high temperatures, which destroy the structure and contribute to the loss of beneficial properties.
Is it possible to eat avocado if it tastes bitter?
Unripe or overripe fruit usually tastes different. Overripe fruit compensates for the bitterness with an oily and soft texture.
An unripe avocado will be bitter inside to such an extent that it will simply be impossible to enjoy eating it. Bitterness does not mean that the fruit loses its beneficial properties or becomes harmful: it is just a sign of the level of ripeness and a characteristic of taste.
What to do if your avocado is bitter
If the fruit is overripe, it will definitely taste bitter. You can mask this taste with additional ingredients. It all depends on the skill of the cook or housewife.
If the avocado is bitter due to insufficient ripeness, then you can leave it for several days to lose bitterness through ripening. For this purpose, you can use one of several methods.
- Place the pieces in a container, sprinkling generously with lemon juice. After 3 - 4 days after storage, the fruit will no longer taste bitter and can be eaten.
- Uncut fruit should be left to ripen. To do this, it is wrapped in food paper and put away for several days where it is dark and dry.
Conclusion
Whether an avocado is black inside or not is decided depending on the reasons for the appearance of black spots. Small black spots on the surface of a fresh fruit will not cause harm. A spreading black spot, which is a precursor to the rotting process and evidence of spoilage, is a signal that such a fruit should not be eaten. In addition, you should know that unripe avocados can be bitter and hard, so the best option would be to leave such fruit to ripen.
