Cooking Spray Might Just Be Your Answer To Keeping Avocados Green

If you are someone that goes crazy over a plate of avocado toast or a fresh bowl of guacamole, you're not alone — many love it so much they'd eat it every day. (And if you do, Doctor JeJe Noval told Eating Well it's no problem at all, since they're so packed with essential nutrients). The fiber-filled fruit can be used in literally anything, and it's that versatility that keeps us coming back for more. 

While avocados are certainly considered great by many loyal fans, everything has its drawbacks.  And for the avocado, it has a serious problem with browning quickly. Slice open the fruit a day too early, and you may as well head back to the store for another bundle. After you've opened an avocado, you might think your only two options are to use it all or trash the part you don't use. Well, you might want to reconsider this, because we have the perfect hack to keep those opened avocados green: Just take out your cooking spray.

While there is a whole lineup of things you could try to keep your avocados from browning, some methods work better than others. If you're tired of storage containers and lemon juice, we have a freshness-saving idea you probably haven't thought of. The best part? You probably already have it in your kitchen.

The answer to your avocado-preserving woes lies in your cooking spray. That's right, this versatile spray has more than one purpose. Not only is it perfect for greasing up pans, it's also a great preserver. Just spray a little bit on one half of your avocado and hide the fruit away in your fridge. That's it. When you're ready to eat, wipe the oil off your fruit, and voila. 

So how does it work? The fragile compounds in the avocado are very susceptible to reacting with air, so they brown quicker. (More specifically, the enzyme polyphenol oxidase acts on them, per Compound Interest). Cooking spray prevents oxidation by creating a much tighter barrier against oxygen than other storage methods. So whether you choose Pam, olive, or even avocado oil spray, give it a shot (or a spritz). And that's just one of the many unexpectedly awesome uses for cooking spray.

Cooking spray aside, there are a whole lot of other methods avocado lovers swear by to keep the fruit fresh. If you have an unopened, unripe avocado, place it somewhere on your countertop. This helps quicken the ripening process so it'll be ready to eat faster. If you don't know how to tell if your avocado is ripe, lightly press down on the fruit. If it has a little give, then it's ready. When your avocado is at this stage, store it in the fridge to help it last a little longer.

Now, if you've already cut into your avocado and have some leftovers, there are other ways to keep those leftovers from browning. Lemon juice is a common contender for preservation: Pour some on top of the flesh of your avocado and stick it in the fridge if you'd like to hold off some of the color loss. Another common option is to wrap the fruit in plastic wrap. This creates a barrier between the avocado and the air to keep it from oxidizing. Still, the cooking spray method is number one.