Does the newspaper serve to ripen avocados?

The avocado or palta is cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. The fruit has a pleasant aroma and flavor and also offers high nutritional value and various medicinal benefits.

It presents dimensions of 5 to 6 cm in length. The normal weight ranges between 200-400 grams, although pieces weighing up to 2 kilos can be found. The bark is thick and hard, green in color, the tone of which depends on the variety. The flesh is oily, cream to yellowish-green in color, with a nut-like flavor.

These fruits contain essential fatty acids and high-quality proteins. that are easily digested. According to a study published by the American Heart Associationthe fruit helps reduce cholesterol and prevent cardiovascular diseases.

Avocados, which belong to the Lauraceae family, have vitamins E, A, B1, B2, B3, D and to a lesser extent C. It is also rich in fourteen varieties of minerals, among which iron, phosphorus and magnesium stand out. In addition, this fruit is a source of folic acid, niacin and biotin.

This fruit is very common and can be eaten on its own but also with a variety of dishes, as well as in the form of salsa (guacamole). In any case, for many it is difficult to know the product is ripe.

It is important to see the color of the avocado, because when it is totally green it means that it is not yet ripe, he details. niusdiario. But, if it is very dark, it will probably be past. Ideally, the avocado should be somewhere in the middle: with a hue between green and purple, without reaching black.

Ripening and techniques

To know if an avocado is ripe, it is important to touch it, but it is recommended to do it at the ends, so as not to spoil it. If the skin or shell does not give way, it will be green, while if it sinks too much, it will be past. The sweet spot will be when it touches and sinks just a little.

Another option is to remove the stem and check the color of the pulp. If it is deep green, it is not ripe and if it is brown, it is past. The ideal color of ripe avocado should be yellowish.

Now, if what you want is to ripen the avocado _a climacteric fruit, like bananas or apples_, you can do it in different ways, although It must be taken into account that speeding up and forcing the maturation process could slightly alter its original flavor.

One of the techniques to speed up ripening consists of wrapping the fruit in aluminum foil and taking it to the oven at 100 degrees Celsius. Later it will be left to cool and it will be ready for consumption.

Another technique consists of piercing the avocado with a fork, wrapping it in transparent film and taking it to the microwave oven for 30 seconds at full power.

In addition, you can chop the avocado and put it in a covered jar, although in this case the ripening process will take longer, or you can also apply the most common technique: wrap it in newspaper.

paper technique

Fruits have different maturation periods depending on the group to which they belong. Non-climacteric fruits, such as citrus, tend to ripen much more slowly since they stop developing when they are cut from the tree. But with climacteric fruits this does not happen, since their maturation never stops even if they have been cut from their tree.

This is because they produce a gas called ethylene that accelerates the hydrolysis of starches and pectins. The biological process that makes fruit softer and sweeter, details the portal tekcrispy.

In essence, ethylene is in charge of starting the ripening process and the higher its quantity, the faster the ripening will be. But keep in mind that this gas quickly flies into the atmosphere when the fruits are cut, so they will take time to ripen.

For this reason, if the fruit is placed inside a piece of paper _which can be newspaper or any other type_, the ethylene will concentrate there and wrap it, which will speed up the ripening process of the enzymes inside the avocado. (YO)