We’ve all experienced that disappointing moment, when you open the fridge to retrieve the avocado you cut up just yesterday to find that the fruit has turned an unsightly brown colour in the fridge, effectively ruining your breakfast or lunch plans.
No matter how you try, whether you wrap the open fruit in cling film or coat it in lemon juice, pesky avocados seem to ripen and turn bad at an alarming rate when stored in the cool temperatures of the fridge.
Fear not though, as a savvy woman from New Zealand has revealed a simple trick for preventing the browning process, keeping vegetables fresh for up to a week after they’ve been cut into – and the secret is lettuce leaves!
“Sort of accidentally I discovered that I have been throwing away 1st class food wrap,” she wrote on Facebook. “Lettuce leaves, primarily the outer ones that are a bit harder, Make excellent food wrap! Since they’re designed for that purpose in the first place… ( who knew!)”
Sharing an image of her cut avocado, she added: “This avo was cut a week ago, and stored in the fridge ever since, wrapped in lettuce leaf. All good for today’s breakfast. Incidentally, Lettuce leaves even keep buns fresh!”
The woman’s original post was shared an incredible 5,000 times by other social media users who couldn’t believe how effective the simple trick was. One person commented: “WOW!! That’s awesome.”
Another wrote: ” I didn’t know that – great idea!” While another said: “Thanks for that, great tip!”
Starts at 60 recently put together a list of tips for keeping fruit fresh in the fridge, from using cling wrap to utilising the powers of other food stuffs you most likely have lying around.
To keep apples fresh, simply soak slices in salt water for 10 minutes — the salt interferes with the oxidation process and prevents discolouration. Just be sure to give the slices a quick rinse with tap water before serving, so your fruit doesn’t taste salty.
In addition to salt water, lemon juice can also prevent browning due to the ascorbic acid in the fruit, which helps to reverse the oxidation process. Simply soak the apple slices in a bowl of cold water and lemon juice for three to five minutes, before draining and rinsing.
For pears, lemon also works, or you can also soak slices in a mixture of two tablespoons of honey and a cup of water for just 30 seconds.
Another commonly used method for preventing avocados from turning brown is to store them in an airtight container with a chopped-up onion or, if you’ve already mashed up the fruit to make guacamole, simply scatter some chopped onion over the top to help it stay fresh for longer.