Avocados are a delicious fruit enjoyed on toast, in salads and pastas or mashed to make guacamole, but the annoying thing about them is they go off so quickly. If you’re only using half an avocado for a dish, you likely wrap the remaining half in cling wrap and place it in the fridge hoping to eat it the next day.
But, more often than not, when you go to grab it for your next meal, it’s already turned brown and mushy and there’s nothing left to consume. It’s a dilemma that most people face if they eat avocados, and one that you may now be able to solve.
An American woman recently took to social media to share her hack for saving avocado, and it’s incredibly simple! In a post shared on TikTok, the woman, who goes by the username Kmag1, claimed it’s her “greatest contribution to TikTok” and she could be right.
https://www.tiktok.com/@kmag1/video/6845272715889298694
“You ready?” she says in the video. “How to save half of an avocado.” She then grabs a contained filled with water and places the avocado into it. “You’re welcome,” she says.
You see, avocados turn brown after they are cut open because of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase which is found under the fruit’s skin. When it’s opened up the enzyme reacts with oxygen in the air which turns the avocado brown. But, cold water actually prevents oxygen from penetrating the skin and reacting with the enzyme, so it stays fresher for longer.
It’s a fact that not many people seemed to have known before now, with many claiming they are eager to try out the hack and see if it works for them.
“This could not have come my way at a more perfect time” @samanthagrace commented on the TikTok post. “[I] Was just staring at my left over half from my lunch wondering what to do with it!”
“Thank you! All the other stuff people show me hasn’t worked. I’m counting on this one!” @verna_s said. While @marysherwood5 wrote: “Thanks, I needed that. Mine always go grey. I’ll use your idea.” And @fitoverfifty added: “It is the greatest contribution to my life!”
Over the years people have come up with many different ways to prevent avocados from going off so quickly, including one woman who earlier this year introduced everyone to the “Dinosaur Egg Avocado Hack”. In a short video, which was also shared to TikTok, the savvy woman showed people the unusual way she cuts into an avocado to prevent it from turning brown.
“This is how to cut your avocado so it doesn’t go bad when you’re only using a little piece of it every day,” she said in the video.
Instead of slicing the avocado right down the middle as most people would, Margaret sliced a round piece off the very top of the avocado. With a tablespoon, she then scooped the fruit out of the chopped-off piece, before continuing to dig out some from the rest of the avocado. She then placed the remainder of the avocado in an air-tight container, with the rest of the peel and seed intact, which protects the avocado from turning brown.