Buying This Food
Look for: Fruit that feels heavy for its size. The avocados most commonly sold in the U.S.
are the Hass—a purple-black bumpy fruit that accounts for 85 percent of the avocados
shipped from California—and the smooth-skinned Florida avocado (“alligator pear”). The
California Avocado Commission lists several more on its Web site (http://www.avocado.
org/about/varieties): the oval, midwinter Bacon; the pear-shaped, late-fall Fuerte; the Gwen,
a slightly larger Hass; Pinkerton, pear-shaped with a smaller seed; the round summer Reed;
and the yellow-green, pear-shaped Zutano.
Avoid: Avocados with soft dark spots on the skin that indicate damage underneath.
Storing This Food
Store hard, unripened avocados in a warm place; a bowl on top of the refrigerator will do.
Avocados are shipped before they ripen, when the flesh is hard enough to resist bruising in
transit, but they ripen off the tree and will soften nicely at home.
Store soft, ripe avocados in the refrigerator to slow the natural enzyme action that
turns their flesh brown as they mature even when the fruit has not been cut.
Preparing This Food
When you peel or slice an avocado, you tear its cell walls, releasing polyphenoloxidase,
an enzyme that converts phenols in the avocado to brownish compounds that darken the
avocado’s naturally pale green flesh. You can slow this reaction (but not stop it completely)
by brushing the exposed surface of the avocado with an acid (lemon juice or vinegar). To
store a cut avocado, brush it with lemon juice or vinegar, wrap it tightly in plastic, and keep
it in the refrigerator—where it will eventually turn brown. Or you can store the avocado as
guacamole; mixing it with lemon juice, tomatoes, onions, and mayonnaise (all of which are
acidic) is an efficient way to protect the color of the fruit.
What Happens When You Cook This Food
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food
Avocados