Avocados make a much-diversified food item as you can use them in various meals. From plain toasts and sandwiches to salads and more, avocados can be used to give an instant uplift of taste to almost any dish.
What adds to the allure of this fruit is that it is known to be filled with healthy nutrients, which are very good for your wellbeing. As such, this ingredient is a central part of many popular shampoos, soaps, and face creams.
However, in some cases, you may notice a little reddening or red spots on your avocado, which may leave you wondering – why is my avocado red? Most of the time, this redness appears around the pit of the avocado, the internal flesh. And you may notice scattered red spots around the center of the fruit.
If you have seen similar signs on your tasty, green fruit, keep reading to find the answer to “why is my avocado red.”
Possible Causes of Why is Avocado Red
While most of the time, the redness occurs inside the center of the fruit, sometimes you may notice that the outside flesh is turning red. The exterior of an avocado turns red due to sunburn when the fruit has been kept on the plant for too long, and now it has over-ripened. The redness inside may also spread to the outside flesh of the fruit in some cases.
Let’s find out more about it and answer your query – why is my avocado red?
Redness of the flesh inside
If you see that your avocado’s inside flesh has turned red, it is no reason to throw away the whole avocado. The red area inside the avocado is a common occurrence, and you shouldn’t worry. It happens when the inside of the fruit comes in direct contact with oxygen.
For example, you may have used half of the avocado and left the other half lying around on the table, causing oxygen to mix up with the avocado and turn it red.
The pit of the avocado fruit contains a bitter, milky liquid which gives avocado its strong taste. As soon as oxygen comes into contact with this milky liquid inside the avocado, the flesh turns red. The reason behind this is the presence of tannin in avocados. If the fruit was overripe, the skin was broken or decayed; the avocado could become red from encountering oxygen.
Tannin
Tannin is not just present in the flesh inside avocado but also in the seed. Tannin is an entire class of biomolecules and gives a bitter taste to the fruit, especially when you cook avocado. This compound is also the reason you experience a puckering sensation as you dig into an unripe fruit or if you drink red wine.
While tannin is present in both the seed and flesh of an avocado, only the seed has a high molecule concentration enough to create a red color on meeting with oxygen. The seed of avocado contains about 13.6 percent tannin.
Tannin is not exactly toxic to human beings, but it may be harmful to some animals like goats. However, even in humans, tannin can cause issues of indigestion if consumed in very high amounts. It may impair the ability of your digestive system to absorb necessary nutrients. This is usually not an issue for people as tannin is quite bitter, making it unpleasant to consume in high concentrations.
Uses for tannin-rich liquid in avocado
If you go back in time, you will find that the bitter, milky liquid in avocados containing tannin was used as an ink. You may be able to look up some documents from the Spanish conquest of Central America and South America that were written in the dark red ink created from the tannin-rich liquid inside the flesh of an avocado.
Redness of avocado on the skin outside
Red spots do not appear on the flesh inside this fruit only, but you may also notice that the skin outside is turning red. The reasons both color changes are different. For the skin turning red, tannin does not play a part. If you leave avocados outside in the sun for too long, the fruit’s skin can turn red.
The leaves that are spread outside the fruit have the function of protecting the fruit from getting sunburnt. But there may be some places where the leaves cannot cover the fruit up, leading to the exposure of the skin to the sun rays. This can cause the avocado to turn brownish red from the outside. The great news is that this change in color from the outside does not affect the inside of the fruit. It remains intact.
There may be no commercial value left for the sunburnt avocados, but they are completely edible and can be eaten from the inside.
Is there a way to restore red avocados?
I am afraid not. The redness happened because the fruit became overripened, and there is no way to take it back to its original form after this has happened. You can cut around the flesh that has turned red and eat the normal part. It would taste just fine.
However, you could be more cautious about the avocados in the future to prevent them from turning red. Don’t leave them in direct sunlight. Make sure the leaves are covering the fruit properly, or plant it somewhere out of the glare of direct sunlight.
You should also be mindful of not leaving the fruit cut in half lying around. Make sure to put it in the fridge in an airtight box if some part is left. Or use the entire avocado.
Conclusion
I hope this helps you understand the reason behind your query – why is my avocado red? You can now be more careful about keeping your avocados from turning red by taking some preventative measures. You could also use the normal flesh, which isn’t affected by redness. The red portion is not harmful, but it is bitter. So, be cautious.
Share any tips you have about keeping the avocados from turning red.