Why is my avocado mash still green?
Asked by
Mariah (
25883
)
March 15th, 2015
About three days ago, my boyfriend and I made avocado mash to put on sandwiches. It contains: avocado, green onion, garlic, lime juice, jalapenos, honey, olive oil, and cilantro. 3 days later in tupperware and it hasn’t browned at all. Is one of those ingredients a natural preservative or something?
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13 Answers
I’d guess it is the lime. I occasionally dip apples in lemon or lime juice so they don’t brown on salads.
Really? Is lime more effective than lemon? I’ve made guacamole with much larger quantities of lemon juice that has browned.
Lemon and lime work about the same. They are high in acidity and contain vitamin C – both of which work to stop/slow the oxidation that causes the browning of the avocado.
Did you add a larger amount of juice to this batch? Are you opening the container as much (or has it been just sitting there, unopened for 3 days)?
It’s probably the combination of the lime, jalapeno, honey and olive oil. Those are good preservatives on their own.
You also sealed it in a container right? I’m sure that helped some.
I always make my guac with lim ejuice and it still browns out by a day or so later. It there was no air between top of the avocado mush and the top of the container that might have done it.
There was just a little squirt of lime juice in it. It was in a sealed tupperware but there was air in the tupperware too and we’ve opened it once per day. I’m just perplexed because I’ve made guacamole a bunch of times before (which is a different combo of ingredients than the ones used in this batch) and stored it similarly and it always browns.
Damned near everything in the mix (save the avocado) is renowned for its defenses against microbial rot.
Drat! I recently saw an article that I now cannot find about this subject. The author ran an experiment with a control, nothing but leaving the pit in, submersion in water, plastic wrap, brushed with olive oil, citrus, and coarse chunks of onion. The samples that performed best were a close win between lemon juice and the onion.
It sounds as if your ingredients in combination with an airtight container managed to get the guacamole from browning.
You have solved an ancient problem. Don’t question the outcome, just get some chips!
By the way, the trick I learned for not getting bron guac is to put saran wrap directly on top of the guac in the container or bowl. I don’t think tha twill last a week but it does last longer.
Neat! An interesting food conundrum today – thanks everybody :)
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