Green, healthy, and delicious; avocados have become one of the most popular food products in the world.
They offer great versatility to everyone who wants to provide a creamy addition to a meal while adding a bit of color.
In addition, since avocados are rich in healthy fats, they are often recommended by nutritionists making us all want to get our hands on them right now.
However, it doesn’t take long before we feel that our avos have become soft, so we can’t help but wonder whether avocados go bad.
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Does Avocado Go Bad?
Avocado is a fruit, and just like all fruits, it can go bad.
In fact, it has happened to every avocado lover.
First, you look forward to eating your avocado, but it is still rock-solid. Then soon after, it has gone soft and seems to be bad.
The window between an avo that is way too hard to enjoy and one that has gone too soft to seem edible seems to be very small and nearly impossible to locate.
However, if you understand the shelf life of an avocado and the best ways to store it, you’ll find that you are always enjoying this tasty fruit instead of throwing it away.
How Long Does Avocado Last?
Knowing the shelf life of an avocado will help you avoid future disappointments.
Of course, there are exceptions to the rules because not all avocados are of the same quality, but as a general rule, if you purchase whole avocados, they can last up to a week in the fridge or pantry.
If you have cut your avocados and they are ripe or bought them this way, you can keep them in an airtight container for up to four days.
However, if you don’t use a proper container and keep them open in the fridge, your pieces of cut avocado won’t last longer than a day in the refrigerator.
It is not recommended that you keep avocados that have been cut or opened in the pantry as the warmer temperature will make your avo pieces last only a couple of hours.
If you freeze your avocados after prepping them correctly, you will find that they freeze well for up to four months.
How Long Does Avocado Last? |
|
| Whole avocado stored in the pantry | 7 days |
| Whole avocado stored in the fridge | 7 days |
| Cut avocado stored in an airtight container in the fridge | 4 days |
| Cut avocado stored openly in the fridge | 1 day |
| Cut avocado stored in the freezer | 4 months |
4 Tips to Tell if Avocado Has Gone Bad
You don’t want to skip guacamole night just because your avocado has gone bad, and you don’t know how to tell if an avocado has become inedible. That’s why it is convenient to know how to tell if an avocado has gone wrong. Here are four ways that you can tell if an avocado has gone past its best:
Examine the avocado
A whole avocado should have that lovely dark purple color, and it should not have cuts or openings where bacteria can easily contaminate the flesh inside.
If your avocado’s outer layer has become black, it has its best time of consumption.
In addition, if you spot any organic growth or mold spots on the peel of your avocado, you shouldn’t eat it.
When cutting the avocado, if you find that the flesh contains many fiber strings, you should not eat it.
Although it doesn’t carry any health risks, having too many fiber strings in your avo will make it unenjoyable.
If your avocado’s flesh has experienced discoloration and is no longer green, it is best to avoid it.
Finally, if the pip of the avo seems to have become infected and is showing signs of bacterial or mold contamination, it is best to throw the avocado away.
Smell the avocado
Avocados have a very light scent that is not unpleasant. However, if you pick up your avocado and it has a rotten or unpleasant smell, you should not eat it.
Touch your avocado
Avocado tends to soften as the quality decreases. Therefore overly soft avocado isn’t fresh anymore.
The avocado’s skin also becomes softer as time passes, so if you feel that the outer layer is too soft, hairy, or oozing, it is best not to eat the contents.
An overly mushy texture is never a good sign when it comes to an avocado.
Taste your avocado
Avocado has a delightful light and creamy flavor.
If you taste that your avocado has lost that creamy and light taste and instead tastes rancid or unpleasant, don’t eat any more of it. You won’t enjoy it anyway.
3 Tips to Store Avocado
Avocados can stay fresh and delicious for a few days longer if you take the time to store them correctly.
You can keep your avos in your pantry, fridge, and freezer, although they all have different requirements when it comes to increasing your avo’s quality. Here are a few tips that will help you keep your avocados fresh for longer:
Keep your whole avos stored correctly in your pantry.
Avocados that have not been opened or damaged can last well in your pantry for up to seven days.
You can store them in a dark corner of the pantry where they won’t be close to any heat elements such as your stove. Also, be sure to keep them away from direct sunlight since it will dramatically decrease their shelf life.
Keep your whole and cut avos in the fridge.
Whole avos can last in the fridge for the same time as in the pantry, so seven days.
Be sure to place your whole avos in a space where they won’t be damaged. Once you have cut your avos, you need to store them differently.
The best option is to keep them in an airtight container because this will increase their freshness and lessen the risk of bacterial contamination.
By storing your cut avos in an airtight or ziplock container, you will be able to enjoy them for up to four days.
If you plan to finish your cut avocado within one day, you can store it openly in the fridge, but be sure to finish it quickly as it will become unpleasant if stored this way for longer than 24 hours.
Store your cut and prepped avos in the freezer.
If you plan to use your avos much later than the purchase date, it is worth freezing them.
The Risk of Consuming Expired Avocado
Fortunately, consuming expired avocado doesn’t carry any significant health risks. Instead, you might just have an unpleasant experience.
However, people with IBS might find gastrointestinal discomfort after consuming avocado that has gone past its best.
In addition, people that are overly sensitive to food might find that they get a rash around their mouths if they eat spoiled avocado.
It is also important that pregnant and breastfeeding women take caution when consuming avocados since overconsumption of avocados can be bad for the baby.
In addition, it can affect the mother’s mammary gland, which means the milk supply won’t be reliable.
Lastly, people have been warned about consuming Mexican avocados since they may contain high levels of estragole and anethole. Both of these substances have been linked to liver damage.
Can You Freeze Avocado?
Yes, you can freeze avocado, and you will be happy to hear that avocado freezes remarkably well if prepared correctly.
If you plan on freezing your avocados, cut them into pieces or strips. The peel and the pip don’t freeze well, and also, a whole frozen avocado is challenging to work with.
Therefore, it is worth your while to take the time to remove the peel and pip and cut the avocado into blocks or strips. Then place it in an airtight container or a ziplock bag.
Be sure to close the bag or container properly since air can significantly decrease the quality of your avocado.
If you take the time to remove the pip and peel and cut your avocado, you will find that it freezes nicely for up to four months.
When you are ready to use your avocado, you can either let it thaw completely if you are using it in a salad or on a sandwich, for example. Or you can use it while it is still frozen if you are using it as a pizza topping, for example.
It is also possible to mash your avocado first and freeze it in a mashed form. The results will be just as well as when you froze it in a block or strip form.
Summary
Avocados can lower our cholesterol and give us healthy skin and hair while making our food taste great.
Avocado truly seems to be a superfood, so we should take great care to store it properly to enjoy this delicious product instead of having it go to waste.
Take the time to prep and store your avo correctly so that you don’t have to worry about whether your avocado has gone bad.
Resources
- How to Store Avocados
- How Long Do Avocados Last and How to Tell if One Is Bad?
- How to Buy and Store Avocados So They Last Longer
- HOW LONG DO CUT AVOCADOS LAST IN THE FRIDGE?
- How Long Do Avocados Last?