Avocado: nutritional values, calories, health benefits, recipes & uses

How to Pick the Best Avocado?

When grocery shopping, gently squeeze the avocado to make sure it is not too firm or too soft. As you may already know, an avocado that’s too firm is not ripe. However, you could still pick it if you don’t plan on eating an avocado in the next few days. That being said, if you would rather it one later in the day, choose an avocado without stains or bruises. A ripe avocado should yield easily, while an avocado that’s too soft and has dark spots is most likely overripe.

Availability of avocados

Although avocados only grow in hot climates, they are exported everywhere in the world, which is why you can easily find some in the fruit and vegetable section of your grocery store all year long. Plus, you can find diced avocado in the frozen foods section. Plain and seasoned guacamoles are also available in the vegetable dips section.

How to store avocados 

If your avocado is not ripe, store it at room temperature. This way, it will release ethylene and will thus continue its ripening process. Besides, if you put your avocados in a paper bag, they will ripen quicker since the bag traps the ethylene. That being said, if your avocados are already ripe, place them in the refrigerator to slow down the ripening process. Also, if you only ate part of the fruit, drizzle the remaining half with lemon juice and cover it in plastic wrap before refrigerating it. Otherwise the flesh will go brown.