The best avocado: how to choose it from the lot?

Avocados are healthy. But choosing the best avocado of the lot in the supermarket or grocery store could be challenging for some. Here are some tips to know which avocado is good and suitable for eating.

Avocados

Avocados remain best in flavor, color and texture for a short time of their life. An underripe and an overripe avocado could be disappointing and not fit for consumption. It should have a creamy and soft pulp inside after we open it. But at times, we might find that it is discolored or with poor texture inside. The taste might not be that we expected.

One should not miss the window period of perfection that is very fleeting. It might be very hard and bright green in color when unripe or might be discolored or of varying texture when overmature.

Here are some tips on how to know the best avocado of the lot at the grocery shops and pick it up.

The best avocado: how to know it?

Avocado choosing needs some knowledge about how they grow and mature. Here are some tips on how to know the best of the lot.

Color of the fruit

The avocado fruit has a bright green and light colored skin at the start. After some time, the skin turns darker in color and later becomes black. If you want a fresh avocado that will be consumed in a day or two, opt for those that have a dark forest green color. That is ideal.

And if you want to eat it a few days later, pick up one that has a lighter and brighter green color. These are unripe and will take a few days to become softer and creamier.

Gentle squeeze

A gentle squeeze can help decide its maturity level. Riper fruits give way and recover their shape with gentle squeezing. If they remain deformed, they are more than mature. And if they do not give way, they are still in an unripe stage. And if the pulp inside moves separately than the peel, it implies it is rotten already.

Weighing the fruit by hand

Hold the fruit and try to feel it’s weight. If it appears lighter, it means it has either dried up or has gone stale. If the fruit feels heavy, it means it is good and healthy. It is fresher and one can purchase it.

Blemishes on the fruit

Look around on the fruit exterior for any scars or blemishes. Any dry spot on the skin or a bruise on it means that it is not good and is unfit to consume. It has suffered damage and might be not soft or creamy inside. You might get despaired on slicing it open. Better to not purchase such a fruit. Go to another shop and look for better ones.

Intact stem

Prefer to buy avocado that has a stem or its stub on the top. This is the place where the stem is attached to the fruit. The fruit hangs from it. It’s presence means the fruit will steadily and slowly ripen over time.

The stem serves as a barrier to keep the fruit inside moist. It prevents it’s drying or oxidation from the air. Hence, do not remove this stem. Let it remain intact in order to keep the quality of the fruit as long as possible.

Also, read Passion fruit: nutritive value, health benefits, and uses!

Stems also reveal the ripeness of the fruit. If it is very firm and cannot move, it means the fruit is underripe. And if the fruit stem is loose, it implies the fruit is ready to eat.