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Avocado is a fruit that is grown in tropical climates. Its wide distribution began relatively recently. Many consumers are still not accustomed to the peculiarities of the culture. The choice in the store is complicated by the fact that the fruit may be unripe or overripe after long-term transportation and storage. Ripe avocados at home can only be subject to certain rules.
How to know when an avocado is ripe
To choose an avocado, you need to know the main signs of maturity of this unusual fruit. Judging the maturity of the fruit by the color of the skin is impossible, although many advise choosing dark green fruits and no more. There are several varieties, the most common color among which is considered to be fruit with a dark green skin, but there are varieties of light green, brown and dark brown. The main signs of maturity:
- when pressed, a dent is formed, but it quickly disappears, the shape is completely restored;
- when shaking, a slight tapping of the bone is heard;
- on the site where the cutting was attached, there are no dark spots, indentations;
- in place of the handle, when pressed, a drop of oil may be released;
- the fruit is cut without effort;
- inside the pulp has an even light green hue without spots and dots;
- the stone is easily separated from the pulp.
An avocado can ripen at home, but an overripe one begins to taste bitter, covered with black dots from the inside and quickly deteriorate.
Ripe fruit is rich in useful trace elements. It is unique in its composition and is often recommended for regular use in serious diseases. One of the conditions is the freshness and proper use of the pulp. To help the avocado ripen, you need to show a little patience and use one of the appropriate methods.
How to quickly soften an avocado
After purchasing an unripe avocado, you can either bring it to ripeness at home or soften it enough for further cooking. To soften avocados, housewives resort to using some tricks.
Express ripening avocados in the oven
There are times when a tough fruit needs to be quickly softened to make a homemade sauce, pasta or cocktail. Then the housewives use a quick way to ripen using the oven. This technique can affect the taste of the fruit.
- The fruit is pierced with a fork from all sides.
- Cover with a lid or towel.
- Place in the microwave and turn on for 30 seconds.
If necessary, leave for another 30 seconds. After cooling, it is cut and prepared according to the recipe. The pulp is suitable for making traditional homemade guacamole, sauces, smoothies, cocktails.
How to quickly ripen an avocado in the oven
The method that allows you to ripen an avocado is only suitable if you strictly observe the time for which it is sent to the oven. If you increase the time period, the result will be the preparation of homemade casseroles.
The fruit is wrapped in aluminum foil. At the same time, make sure that there are no gaps or voids. Then it is placed in the oven and kept for 10 – 15 minutes at a temperature of 180 – 200 ° C.
How to quickly ripen avocados at home
You can help ripen avocados at home in other ways that won’t change the taste and allow them to ripen naturally. This will take several days and the creation of certain conditions.
You can speed up the ripening at home by placing avocados next to fruits. The place where it lies can also affect the ripening of the fetus. It is known that fruits are able to ripen where there is no high humidity.
An avocado can fully ripen when its pit is fully ripe. During the stage, until this happens, the pulp performs a protective function in relation to the seed, being tough and dense.
Avocado ripening at home is the result of running biochemical processes. This is a natural mechanism that can be influenced by accelerating or slowing it down. The main feature of this mechanism is the so-called fruit breathing. Stone fruits are able to breathe more intensively if additional stimulation factors are created at home.
Where to put an avocado for ripening
In order for avocados to ripen faster at home, you can use the principle of ripening based on the regulation of lighting and air temperature. The fruit is wrapped in food parchment and stored in a dark place where air humidity is kept at an average level. Hanging kitchen cabinets or shaded shelves are suitable for this.
For ripening at home, it will take 5 – 7 days. You should constantly check the ripeness to prevent overripe. When ripe, the surface will begin to spring slightly, ceases to be hard and hard to the touch.
Complete softening of the fruit indicates overripeness, so the fruit should not be brought to such a state.
What to put an avocado with so that it ripens
Ripening at home can be accelerated by exposure to ethylene. It is a hydrocarbon that speeds up plant growth or seed germination. Exposure to ethylene provokes several reactions:
- activation of starch hydrolysis;
- breakdown of tannins;
- tissue softening.
All these processes lead to maturation. How to achieve ethylene treatment at home? The answer is simple. Bananas are used to ripen avocados.
It is necessary to put the avocado in a paper bag along with 1 – 2 bananas. They release ethylene in small amounts, which is enough to ripen 1 or 2 avocados at home.
The paper bag is tightly closed, without releasing excess air, and put away for storage. After the neighborhood for 1 – 2 days, the fruits will become ripe. In this case, the banana skin may turn black.
How to ripen a cut avocado
It is much easier to ripen a cut avocado at home. To do this, follow a few simple rules.
After cutting, the bone is not removed from one half: it will speed up the ripening process in the future.
The peculiarity of the fruit lies in the fact that when cut, the flesh quickly becomes covered with dark spots. It does not look very appetizing and often confuses those who first purchased the fruit.
In fact, this process has a simple explanation. Iron, which contains the pulp, as well as compounds of other trace elements, enter into a chemical reaction with oxygen, which leads to a complete darkening of the pulp. The cut halves may remain unripe, tough and bitter. To speed up the ripening process, the housewives resort to some tricks.
- Avocado halves generously smeared with lemon juice.
- Then put into a container with an airtight lid.
- Store near the back of the refrigerator.
- The cut must be on top.
Lemon juice slows down the oxidation process, on the one hand, activates the softening of tissues and the breakdown of organic acids, which lead to ripening, on the other hand.
Another option for storing the cut fruit with its subsequent ripening is considered abundant lubrication with olive oil. The oil softens the pulp and envelops the pores, preventing air from entering. The halves are oiled with a culinary brush and put into a container. The container is tightly closed, cleaned in the cold.
The disadvantage of this method of ripening for avocados is the inability to determine ripeness by appearance. In order to understand whether the fruit has reached the degree of maturity that was needed, it has to be taken out of the container and tasted.
A cut avocado can ripen with the help of onions. The tandem of vegetable and fruit activates the process of tissue softening. At the same time, the smell of onion does not penetrate into the pores of the avocado and does not change its taste characteristics.
- Onions are cut into rings and placed on the bottom of the container.
- Place half an avocado on top, cut side up.
- The container is tightly closed and put in the refrigerator.
How to make an avocado ripening chamber
The above methods of ripening are good when it comes to several fruits. If it is necessary to bring several kilograms of avocados to ripening in a natural way, then special chambers are used.
In order for the avocado to ripen faster at home, you need to choose a heated room with the ability to make shelves for fruit chambers there. With the possibility of supplying ethylene or oxygen, the ripening time can be significantly accelerated.
Open, well-ventilated chambers are placed on the territory of the premises, where the following conditions can be ensured:
- air temperature — from +22 to +25 °C;
- relative air humidity – from 80 to 90%;
- lack of daylight, subdued artificial lighting.
Fully unripe fruits can ripen in 7 days, when ethylene or oxygen is supplied, the period is reduced to 2-3 days.
Conclusion
Avocados can be ripened at home using several methods. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the cut halves can change the taste due to the influence of additional ingredients. Hard fruit should not be cut, it is better to leave it immediately so that it can ripen naturally.
