How To Keep An Avocado Green Overnight

Taylor A Ritz

As amazing as avocados are, they can be a pain to keep fresh. We wait and wait for the day they ripen. When it’s time to use an avocado, but a recipe only calls for half of one of the delicious fruits, we must resign ourselves to watching the remaining half wither away and turn brown. Or do we? 

Luckily, TikTok use @kmag1 has discovered a solution.

How To Save Half An Avocado

After you cut an avocado in half and split it, use the half without the pit for your recipe or as a tasty snack. The half with the pit, on the other hand, needs to be properly prepared to keep it from turning brown. The solution is simple, but genius: simply place the avocado, skin-side up, in a sealable container with some water. Make sure there is enough water to cover the exposed surface of the fruit; it shouldn’t take much. 

This method will keep your remaining avocado half entirely fresh and ready to be used the next day. The surface of the avocado may be a bit wet, but a quick pat-down with a paper towel quickly remedies that.

Other Ways to Keep Your Avocado Fresh

Cut avocados turn brown due to their exposure to oxygen and the resulting chemical reactions. 

Rub lemon juice on exposed flesh

The enzymes that cause avocados to turn brown are sensitive to acidic conditions. In these conditions, the browning process occurs much slower. Lemons are acidic, so rubbing lemon juice on an avocado half keeps it from turning brown as quickly. 

Cover the avocado in cling film

Covering half an avocado in tight cling film prevents oxygen from reaching the fruit. Keeping oxygen from the fruit prevents browning from occurring.