Avocado is popular in last years fruit rich in fiber and healthy fats. There are about 500 in the world different varieties avocado, but we know the commercial Hass variety, which is found on the shelves of our stores more often than others.
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Avocados can be used to make many healthy and delicious dishes, but all this is possible only under one condition - the avocado must be ripe. Here's how to find and choose ripe avocado we will tell you today.
Photo source: When you come to the store, look at all the avocados that are on the shelves. You will have to evaluate not only appearance, but also several other parameters. Only everything in combination can guarantee you that you will get exactly the juicy pulp that you expect.
Appearance
A ripe avocado is ovoid in shape, and its peel is uneven and lumpy. When pressed, you can feel that the fruit is soft and the color is approaching dark green or even purple-black. However, avoid avocados with parts that are too soft, which indicate the beginning of the rotting process.
Pulp
The inside of the avocado should be soft and buttery, light yellow in color. One of the main characteristics of a ripe avocado is that the pulp easily separates from the skin. If you can do this with a spoon, then the fruit is fully ripe.
How to make an avocado ripe at home
Photo source: It happens that it is impossible to find a truly ripe avocado. Then choose fruits that are firm, but without visible stains or damage. Place them in a paper bag and leave them for a few days. room temperature. After 2-4 days you will receive a ripe and tasty fruit. And ready-to-eat avocados can be stored in the refrigerator, but no more than two to three days.
I’m always perplexed - in our stores, avocado fruits are sold mostly unfit for consumption. But someone is buying up these mountains of avocados!
1. In the store: Lightly press the avocado with your fingers. It should be a little soft. They often sell very hard avocado fruits - their flesh is like wood, this is not at all the same. The avocado should not be rotten or have transparent semi-liquid spots on the skin, but it should be soft - slightly yield under your finger, like a ripe peach.
2. Clean the avocado: Cut it in half, cutting through to the bone.
Can be cut into quarters. Carefully break it into sections, remove the pieces from the pit - they come off easily if you bought a RIPED avocado. Throw away the bone. Remove the skin from the avocado - it comes off very easily and completely if you bought a RIPED avocado.
The pulp of a truly ripe avocado fruit is simply wonderful - soft, oily, with a light, fresh, unique aroma. Avocado, like cucumber, has a neutral taste, only cucumber has a watery-fresh taste, while avocado has an oily-fresh taste.
Avocado, like cucumber, goes well with soft, white, salty cream cheese or white, soft, salty cheese spread. You can put this cheese on bread, with a slice of avocado pulp on top - this is the food of the gods!
Like cucumber, avocado goes well with shrimp and other seafood.
Try simple salad: peeled, boiled and cooled king prawns mix with avocado slices and chopped lettuce, pour over pink sauce ( pink sauce: mayonnaise + ketchup in a ratio of 50:50).
Avocado is good for cooking sauces for salads and hot dishes, whipping its pulp in a blender with 10% cream and various flavoring additives - spices, seasonings, fried mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, etc.
Stuffed avocado- do not throw away the avocado skin halves, prepare a salad using avocado pulp and other finely chopped ingredients - and fill the avocado skin halves with this salad. Top with herbs and chopped egg.
Enjoy the delicious and healthy avocado fruit!
How to choose an avocado - this question invariably arises among those who decide to treat themselves to something new and exotic. Delicious fruit with unusual buttery-creamy pulp cannot be called a frequent guest on our table. Meanwhile, people who adhere to healthy principles cannot imagine their daily menu without it. And this is not surprising, given the high nutritional value of avocados and great amount contained in it useful substances. This herbal product great for culinary experiments, because even ordinary dish it can add completely new flavors. But only ripe fruits should be used for food, since spoiled or unripe fruits can easily be poisoned. Choosing a high-quality avocado will not be so difficult if you use useful recommendations.
How to choose a ripe avocado - basic rules
There are several effective ways Determine the ripeness of an avocado. First, you need to take it in your hand and gently squeeze it. Even if you press lightly, there will definitely be a dent on the peel - this is a sure sign that you should refuse the purchase. An overripe avocado may well also be rotten inside, and this is not at all easy to determine by eye. If, after pressing, the dimple on the peel quickly disappears, it means that the fruit has just reached the desired degree of maturity and can be used for culinary purposes. An unripe avocado is very hard to the touch, like a stone, but you can also buy it, but you will have to wait a little while eating it - first you will need to wait a few days for the fruit to ripen at room temperature.
If you don’t know how to choose a ripe avocado, then you should put it to your ear and shake it a little. A ripe fruit will have a knocking sound inside. An unripe product does not rattle.
And finally, be sure to carefully examine the fruit. There should be no cracks, scratches, wrinkles, stains or other damage on its peel. Pay attention to the avocado stalk - it should be light yellow, not dark. But the color of the fruit itself - green or brown - does not indicate the degree of ripeness, but that these are plants of different varieties.
How to choose the right avocado depending on the variety?
Most often in stores you can find fruits of three varieties: Florentine, Californian and Pinkerton.
- Florentine– with a smooth skin, without pimples, rich green color. The outer shell of this fruit is quite thin and underneath it hides tender pulp and a large seed.
- Californian- a fruit with a brown skin, it has fairly soft pulp with an oily taste and a medium-sized seed.
- Pinkerton has a dark green peel with quite noticeable pimples. The fruit's seed is not very large, and the flesh is dense. Its outer shell is very thick.
You should choose an avocado of one variety or another based on your culinary goals, namely, what dish you plan to prepare from it.
How to choose the right avocado in the store for preparing different dishes?
Many people not only don’t know how to choose an avocado, but also how to eat it. But it can be added to salads and soups, stewed with meat, fried, eaten raw, simply peeled with a knife and cut into pieces.
But you should know that if you want to make a salad or prepare rolls with avocado, then you should buy Pinkerton fruits with dense pulp. If you are going to make puree soup, smoothie, sandwich paste, sauce or, then it is better to choose California avocado variety. It has a soft consistency and is convenient to grind in a blender.
Victoria from Volgograd
The family really loves salads with avocado. How to choose the right fruit in the store so that it is ripe?
Exotic avocado - very delicious fruit, if chosen correctly. Determining its ripeness is not at all difficult if you know some rules. If you did buy green fruit, dont be upset. You can let it ripen at home.
Peel color
Not knowing how to determine the ripeness of an avocado, many first of all evaluate its appearance and choose fruits with brown skin. This is fundamentally wrong. The color of the peel and the shape of the avocado can tell about its variety and indicate spoilage. In our stores you can find three varieties of this fruit:
Advice. Choose fruit that has no signs of spoilage (cuts, dents, mold).
Fruit hardness
You can determine the ripeness of an avocado by tactile sensations, namely by assessing its hardness.
Take the fruit in your hands and press the peel with your finger without much effort. The result of pressing will tell you about the ripeness of the avocado:
- the avocado is hard, there is no dent when pressed - the fruit is unripe, the flesh will be bitter and unpleasant in taste;
- there is a “porridge” feeling inside, a deep dent is a signal that the avocado is overripe and most likely rotten inside;
The degree of ripeness of the fruit can be determined by the hardness of the fruit.
- when pressed, a dent formed and quickly fell apart - you have in your hands a perfectly ripe avocado with the best taste properties.
Advice. Don't be overzealous with pressing the avocado. If the fruit is overripe, it may fall apart right in your hands. Why do you need trouble in the store?
The seed and stem will tell you about ripeness
In a ripe avocado, the pit inside peels off from the pulp, but in a green avocado, it is fused with it. Bring the fruit to your ear and shake it. If you can hear the tapping sound of the pit, rest assured that the avocado is ripe. Deaf silence in response? Let such fruit still ripen.
Fruit of optimal ripeness (left) and overripe (right)
The color of the area under the stem is an indicator of the ripeness of the avocado:
- brown – the avocado is already overripe;
- with yellowness - it’s too early to eat the fruit;
- bright green - here it is, the perfect exotic pulp. If a bonus to the color under the stalk is Fresh Juice, feel free to buy the fruit.
Ripening at home
Sometimes it happens that, through negligence or intentionally, you have to buy an unripe avocado. Don't despair. You can let it ripen at home.
Avocado ripens well in a paper bag
Wrap the fruit in plain paper (paper towel) and leave it in the room. In 3-4 days it will “arrive”. If you want to speed up ripening, wrap bananas in paper with avocados.
Advice. Do not put avocados in the refrigerator to ripen. This will only ruin it.
It is better to store ripe avocados in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator, first wrapped in paper. It will not last longer than two weeks, take this into account when purchasing.
Avocado is dietary and very healthy fruit With unusual taste. You already know how to choose an avocado. Use our tips to avoid throwing money away.
How to choose an avocado: video
How to choose the right avocado is a question that many housewives have asked. What is an indicator of ripeness? How not to buy overripe fruit?
What beneficial properties does it have? We will talk about these and other questions.
So, let's go.
Overseas miracle
Have you ever wondered how to do right choice? Yes, you are right - the question is quite complex. This is an unusual exotic that came to our stores from the tropics themselves!
The interesting thing is that all its parts, with the exception of the juicy pulp, are poisonous. It is impossible to die from such poison, but mild poisoning can be obtained in no time.
It has a special nutty, buttery flavor, which is why it is widely used in cooking.
It is used in the preparation of sauces for rolls, the rolls themselves, for making soups, salads, smoothies and cocktails, or simply spread on bread.
The assortment of these overseas “guests” in our hypermarkets is mainly represented by three varieties.
They come in brownish, dark or light green color, with a small bone and easily removable skin, or with a large bone and an incredibly pleasant taste.
If you want to buy an option with a small core and a large amount of nutritional fiber, then pay attention to the pimply varieties in a dark green shade. Such representatives have a very thick surface layer and a small core.
Benefit
The pulp is incredibly healthy. Containing no cholesterol, it has a high calorie content, which is due to the indicator 160 kcal per 100 g.
Obvious advantages:
- weight loss with a properly selected diet;
- improving the functioning of the cardiovascular system;
- increasing the percentage of iron absorption by the body, which is due to the copper content in dietary fiber;
- improving the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
- strengthening nervous system due to the content of B vitamins;
- increasing attentiveness and memory thanks to the content of rich fatty acids;
- the elasticity, silkiness and moisture content of the epidermis increases due to high content vitamins;
- perhaps protects against cancer and some kidney diseases - these studies have yet to be conducted.
All these advantages are due to chemical composition presented in the table:
| Magnitude | Quantity per 100 g. |
| Calorie content | 160 kcal |
| Fats | 14.66 g. |
| Squirrels | 2 years |
| Carbohydrates | 1.83 g. |
| Water | 72.23 g. |
| Alimentary fiber | 6.7 g. |
| Saturated fatty acids | 2.1 g. |
| Mono and disaccharides | 0.66 g. |
| Vitamins | A, B1, B2, B5, B6, B9, C, K, PP, Beta-carotene, Choline |
| Minerals | Potassium (485 milligrams), Calcium (12 mg.), Magnesium (29 mg.), Sodium (7 mg.), Phosphorus (52 mg.), Iron (0.55 mg.). |
If you suffer from hypertension, include avocado in your daily diet - high blood pressure will stop bothering you.
Harm
No major harm from consumption has been identified. However, if you suffer from individual intolerance to the substances contained, then it is not recommended to eat it.
If you decide that the fruit is harmless and begin to consume it in exorbitant quantities, then we warn you that this action will lead to gaining extra pounds.
Moreover, despite beneficial features product, its excessive consumption will lead to an oversaturation of the body with fats of one type, which are not enough to replace the entire necessary range of fatty acids for a person.
Be sure to remember that the kernel and peel contain toxic substances, so they should not be eaten.
It is necessary to clean the product from toxic components, and only then you can enjoy the unusual taste of this “tropical pear”.
To summarize the above, we emphasize that you do not need to eat the kernel and skin, and you should not eat too much - only if you eat in moderation, it will not cause you any harm.
How to choose quality fruit in a store
Look carefully from all sides. The ripe version should not have any damage, stains, cracks, or dents on the surface.
If there are any, then most likely it is rotten or overripe.
If you managed to purchase a ripe specimen, it will have a sweetish taste and a loose, oily structure, which can be determined by easily crushing it with a fork.
If it is unripe, the taste will be bitter and the fibers will be hard. After a short time, the cut begins to darken and deteriorate.
To prevent this from happening, you can sprinkle it with a few drops of lemon or lime juice - this will preserve the original color and presentable appearance.
In the store you need to pay attention to:
- color;
- elasticity or softness;
- condition of the stalk;
- weight and sound when shaken.
It is better to determine the degree of maturity by all four criteria, and not by one of them - then the purchase will turn out to be of high quality in 90% of situations.
Choice by skin color
The peel changes its color depending on the degree of ripeness:
- Yellow-green. Indicates immaturity. In this case, you need to keep it in a sunny place for about 5-6 days, and it will become soft and tasty.
- Light green. It should ripen for 2-3 days until it reaches the proper degree of ripeness.
- Rich green color. Representatives with this color can be added to various dishes, but they are also capable of sitting for several days without spoiling.
- Brownish-green skin. Look carefully to see if the fruit is overripe. If it is still good, you can consume it immediately.
- Brown color with spots- indicates that it is overripe and is no longer suitable for food.
If you need to immediately use it for food, then choose specimens with a rich green peel. If time is required for transportation or long-term storage, then it is better to choose light green with a yellowish tint.
Selection by softness
Many buyers make a big mistake when they press hard on the surface with their finger, thereby injuring it and creating favorable conditions for rotting.
The suitability of the product can be determined by lightly pressing the surface with a fingertip. If it bends a little and then immediately returns to its original position, it means it is at the best stage of maturation. This may also be indicated by the juice released when pressed.
If the peel remains in a bent state, then this indicates looseness, and, consequently, over-ripeness.
When choosing, press on the upper, narrower part - rotting begins from there, and you can more accurately determine suitability without damaging the skin.
So the surface should be:
- elastic;
- not rotten;
- Some juice may be released.
If the peel does not bend when pressed and feels firm, it still takes a few days to ripen. And, conversely, it is overripe if the peel is too soft and loose and does not return to its original position after pressing on it.
Selection by cutting
The color of the cutting is an important indicator of maturity. In a ripe specimen it will be light yellow or dark brown. Why such a difference in color?
The “overseas miracle” has a light cutting at the optimal stage of its maturity, and it darkens when overripe.
To be completely sure, you can tear off the stalk and look at the tone of the pulp. It happens:
- Light pistachio color and gives off a droplet aromatic juice, then you can safely take it - ripeness is at the right stage.
- Light beige or white in color, it will take several days to fully ripen.
- Dark brown, almost black - not suitable for food because it is overripe.
Selection by impact and weight
A big mistake buyers make is choosing the heaviest avocados. In terms of weight, ripe representatives should be heavy, but not excessively.
If you choose the heaviest and softest specimen, there is a high probability that it is already overripe. And, conversely, too light weight is an indicator that it will be immature.
As for knocking, this is also a convenient way to determine ripeness. The fact is that inside each such overseas representative there is a fairly large bone, inside of which there is a core.
This is what knocks when shaken, indicating sufficient ripeness.
In unripe ones, it is tightly attached to the walls, and overripe individuals envelop both the bone and its interior with rotten mush.
When shaking, bring the fruit to your ear, and you will clearly hear the sound of the kernel hitting the woody walls.
Also note:
What to do with unripe fruit
Having purchased unripe fruits in the store, don't despair.
And, although their taste is a little like tasteless pumpkin or green pear, the matter is still fixable, and you can enjoy them in just a few days.
How to speed up the process?
1 way. Place your purchase on the window - the sun's rays will do their job in 2-3 days.
Method 2. Wrap them in a sheet of newspaper or a paper bag with bananas or apples. This will speed up ripening.
3 way. Place the paper bag with the purchase in an environment where the temperature is above 25 degrees.
Sometimes these methods don't work. This happens in cases where the shell was damaged during transportation. In this case, instead of ripening, immediate rotting occurs.
You shouldn’t keep such exotics in the refrigerator - not only will they not ripen, but they will even begin to spoil.
