So that you always choose a ripe, juicy avocado, and not be disappointed in the hard, tasteless fruit over and over again, expert Dmitry Zmievsky has compiled a 5-step checklist.
1. Decide on softness
If you will be eating an avocado in the next few hours, choose a ripe, soft fruit, and if in a couple of days, choose one with thicker pulp. If you plan to eat an avocado sometime later, choose a firm fruit – it will have time to ripen.
By the way, to ensure that a firm avocado ripens in less than a day, store it at room temperature along with apples and bananas. And if you want to preserve its juiciness and ripeness longer, put it in the refrigerator – away from these fruits, which emit ethylene and accelerate ripening.
2. Learn to pick out ripe fruits
A ripe avocado is slightly elastic. If the fruit is hard and not pliable, it is not yet ripe, and if it is soft and crumbly, alas, it is overripe.
Important: do not press your finger on the surface of the avocado – you will damage the flesh. Place your palm around it and squeeze lightly, gently and evenly.
If you feel soft areas, then these are darkened spots.
3. Carefully remove the tail
The dry tail, or stem, is a great way to test the ripeness of an avocado. Remove it and look underneath: a rich green color is a good sign, while brown indicates that the product has begun to deteriorate. If the tail does not come off, the avocado is unripe.
4. Check the weight-to-size ratio
If the avocado is ripe, it feels heavier due to its size. And if you pick up a fruit and are surprised by its lightness, it means it is old and overdried.
5. Avoid avocados with cracks, stains, or dents.
Such damage is a sign that the flesh has partially darkened, which means that there is no need to talk about a good tasty fruit.
