How to Keep an Avocado from Browning

Much like tomatoes, when we slice an avocado open to eat, we usually aren't gunning to devour the whole fruit in a single meal. There's a critical point at which crisp toast can't take another dollop of mushed avocado, salad greens can't support another creamy slice, and we have to tackle the conundrum of keeping an unused avocado half as green as possible until our next meal.

The most common piece of advice is to leave the pit in the avocado half, or rather, use the pitted half first. However, while the parts of flesh that are in contact with the pit stay fresh, the rest of the avocado easily browns. This is simply because the pit is blocking air from reaching part of the flesh. So, to keep the exposed avocado from browning, we have to mimic what the pit does and create alternative barriers. Though avocado halves will always brown to some degree, the following methods kept the fruit green, longer.

Check out the slideshow above to learn easy ways to prevent an avocado from browning.

Avocado Toast Advice, From a Few Professionals
5 Variations on Avocado Toast
How to Break Down an Avocado

This article originally appeared on Food52.com: How to Keep an Avocado from Browning.