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• Tips

1 There are different varieties of avocado. They differ in taste, color, shape.

• Hass, Lamb Hass, Gwen, Reed, or Sharwil are more nutty in flavor. The most common Hass variety is round with an uneven bumpy surface.
• Other varieties are lighter in flavor, contain less oil and less calories.

2 Determine what you are buying an avocado for. If you will be using it immediately, or to make guacamole, buy ripe and ready-made fruits. But if you buy an avocado in advance, buy an unripe fruit that will ripen at home.

3 Check avocados for the following qualities:

• Ripeness: Place the avocado in the palm of your hand. Squeeze the fruit lightly, but gently, without leaving any dents from the fingers. The ripe fruit will be soft, springing back slightly under your fingers, but not soft. If the avocado is too hard, then it is not ripe. But you can buy an unripe fruit, it will ripen at home.
• Appearance: Choose avocado with intact skin. The shiny avocados are not ripe, however, you can buy them and they will ripen at home.
• Colour: The color of a ripe avocado depends on the variety. For example, the California cultivar Hass turns dark green or purplish black when ripe.

4 Do not buy too soft avocados, the fruit is overripe. Do not use fruits with spots, pits, or dents.

Tips

• To ripen your avocados at home, store them at room temperature. On average, they will mature in about 5 days. To speed up the ripening process, place the avocado in a brown paper bag with an orange or banana. To stop the ripening process, simply place the avocado in the refrigerator.