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Yes, you can still eat an avocado once it has turned brown from green.
You might not want to eat the brown part of an avocado, mostly because it looks rather unappealing, but the browning of the food is not always an indication that it has turned bad.
Why Does An Avocado Turn Brown?
When an avocado turns from green to brown, the fruit is undergoing a perfectly natural process called oxidation. The fleshy inside of the avocado is reacting with the oxygen that is found in the air around it, much in the same way that bananas and apples turn brown when they are left on the counter, or potatoes turn brown once they have been peeled and/or cut.
Polyphenol oxidase are enzymes that react with the polyphenols found in the flesh of an avocado, when the flesh comes into contact with oxygen. The brown discolouration that you can see is actually melanin.
Is the Brown Part of an Avocado Bad for You?
No, the brown part of an avocado is not bad for you.
It may taste slightly different, and have a slightly different texture, but the brown discolouration on an avocado will not negatively affect you. It is not toxic (melanin is not toxic), and it is not poisonous, on the contrary to what you might have read or seen on the internet.
How Long Does It Take for Avocado to Turn Brown?
Lots of factors will come into play when looking at how long it takes for green avocados to turn brown from oxidation. The oxidation process is slowed down at colder temperatures, but sped up when the temperatures get higher. The ripeness of the avocado will also have an impact.
If the fruit was very ripe when you cut and served it, it will take a shorter length of time to turn brown.
If the avocado isn’t quite ripe yet, it will generally take a little longer.
At room temperature, the green flesh of an avocado will usually start to change colour after 3 to 5 hours.
Photo by Daria Shevtsova
How to Stop Avocado Turning Brown
Keeping the flesh of an avocado in an airtight container, in the fridge, will help it stay greener for longer. The airtight container helps to keep oxygen at bay (which causes the oxidation/discolouration process), and the cool temperature of the refrigerator will also slow things down.
You can also try squirting a little citrus juice over the avocado before you put it in the fridge, in or out of an airtight container. This includes lemon and lime juice. The high acid content of citrus fruits – and their juices – will also help to slow the oxidation process down.
How Long Does It Take for an Avocado to Turn Bad at Room Temperature?
Although the brown discolouration (oxidation) of avocado flesh isn’t bad for you, the fruit can become hazardous to your health if it has been left out for more than 24 to 48 hours at room temperature.
Does Brown Avocado Taste Bad?
Some people say that newly-brown avocado tastes exactly the same as fresh, ripe, green avocado flesh.
Other people prefer the stronger, earthier tones they get when eating slightly browning avocado flesh.
And then there are other people, who say that the brown discoloured flesh of an avocado tastes very bitter and unpleasant.
As with most things in life, the green-brown avocado taste debate actually comes down to personal preference.
Some people like it, some people don’t.