Who doesn’t love avocados? These super fruits are not just delicious, they are also very nutritious and will put a smile on your face when you eat them.
One con of avocados, however, is that they spoil quickly, especially once they are ripe.
For how long do avocados last and how can you increase their shelf life? Read this article to find out.
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How Long Do Avocados Last?
If you bought fresh, ripe, and uncut avocados from a store, they could last for three to four days without keeping them in a refrigerator. However, your unripe avocado can stay over five days so long as you do not keep them in a hot spot.
If you keep your avocados in a refrigerator, they can last for over a week so long as they are not exposed to a lot of moisture in the fridge.
In a freezer, your processed avocados can last for up to four months.
The shelf life of avocados depends on how ripe the fruits are and some atmospheric conditions such as temperature and humidity.
If you want your fruits to last for a longer time, don’t expose them to high temperatures and humidity. Also, store them when they are not fully ripe.
How to Store Avocados So They Can Last Longer?
Avocados spoil quickly, especially when they are ripe. To help store them for a longer time, use these tips:
1. Buy Slightly Unripe Fruits
When buying avocado fruits in a store, select the hard textured ones. You can mix them with the soft and ripe ones but ensure that you eat the ripe ones first.
If you are growing avocado trees in your garden, you can leave the fruits attached to the tree to keep them unripe for some extra weeks. When you pluck them from the tree, they will ripen quickly.
Unripe avocados do not spoil quickly, and they usually start spoiling after they ripen.
This means that it does not matter how you wish to store your avocados, if you store them when unripe, they will stay good and safe for eating for a long time.
2. Keep Them in a Cool Room
Keeping avocados in a cool, dry room is an effortless method to store your fruits.
You only need to keep them in a kitchen cabinet, a cool room, or your basement. Just ensure that you keep them in the right spot.
Don’t expose your avocados to direct sunlight, as sunlight ripens and spoils them quickly.
Don’t keep the fruits on the bare floor, as it may be too cold and can cause some bruises on the lower parts of the fruits (i.e., the parts resting on the ground).
Keep your fruits in a basket or paper bag with holes so that they can be in a ventilated environment.
Also, don’t wash them before you store them. Simply store them as they are from the store.
3. Refrigerate
You can keep your fruits for a longer time when you store them in a freezer.
Keep your avocados in the fruit compartment in the fridge. If you have other fruits, don’t mix them with your avocados.
Ensure that you keep the avocados far from water or anything wet, as moisture can encourage the ripening and spoiling of the fruits.
You can keep them in a plastic container before transferring them to the fridge.
When you take your fruits out of the fridge, eat them quickly, as they will go bad in less than two days.
4. Freeze Pureed Avocados
If you love pureed avocados, you can make a lot of them and keep them in a freezer for up to four months. Make your pureed avocados by adding a little lemon juice so that they can last longer and become more nutritious and delicious.
Keep the pureed fruit in an airtight container and leave it in your freezer. The puree will not go bad so long as the freezer stays on.
You can make as much puree as you want and collect some whenever you need.
However, ensure that you are fast so that you do not expose the delicacy to an extended period of heat.
5. Wrap the Fruits in Tight Plastic Wrap
This is a general storage tip for avocados and other fruits. If you can prevent external moisture from reaching your avocados and internal moisture from leaving the fruits, they will last longer.
Wrap your avocados in a tight plastic bag. The tighter the wrap, the better for the fruit.
After wrapping the fruits, store them by leaving them in a cool room, refrigerating them, or freezing them.
Remember that if you keep your avocados in an open room, don’t expose them to direct sunlight or high temperatures.
How to Know When to Dispose of Your Avocados
Before you eat your stored avocados, check them to be sure that they are still safe for eating. Here are some signs to watch out for in your avocados:
1. Presence of Dented and Black Skin
Carefully observe your avocados. When you lift them, do so gently and do not press any part of the skin.
The soft and dented parts of the skin of your avocado indicate that the avocado will soon go bad.
With a knife, slice the fruit open to reveal the parts with spots outside. You will most likely see that those parts are discolored.
If other parts of the fruit look good, use your knife to slice off the bad parts and enjoy your avocados.
2. Dark and Stringy Flesh
If you open your avocados and you see that the flesh is dark inside, dispose of it, as it is already rotting. Sometimes, you may find some strings or fiber in the dark part of the flesh as well.
Avocado flesh should be bright and not look dull or dark, so do not eat your avocados with discolored flesh.
You can slice off the bad part if it does not make up the major part of the fruit. However, disposing of the fruit is the safest thing to do.
3. Foul Smell
You do not want to eat fruits with a foul smell. Avocados have a sweet and not foul smell. A foul smell from your fruits only indicates that the fruits are rotting.
Microbes responsible for spoiling fruits release different gases and the smell that you perceive is simply the gases released by these microbes. Dispose of your smelly fruits.
Also, check the avocados around a smelly one and ensure that they are safe for eating before you eat them.
4. Bad Taste
Sometimes, bad avocadoes don’t have a bad smell or dark flesh. Some fruits are simply bitter and not good enough for consumption.
If your avocado has a bitter taste because it is rotting, don’t eat it. However, note that some avocados do not have a pleasant taste because they are not ripe yet.
If the avocado is still fresh and firm, consider wrapping it with a tight plastic wrap for a day and check if it tastes better.
5. Mold
The presence of mold on your fruits is enough to make you conclude that the fruits are bad and not safe for eating. Mold on your avocados can tell you that fungi have been in the fruit for a long time.
You can’t tell which part of the fruit is safe for eating or not, so dispose of your moldy avocados.
Also, check the other fruits around and ensure that they are mold-free before you eat them.
Final Thoughts
To keep avocados for a longer time, buy unripe ones.
However, you can use the tips listed in the article to store your fruits for a longer time.
Remember that before eating the avocados you have been storing for a while, check them to be sure that they are still edible. If they are spoiled, dispose of them.