Overview
- Recent UK coverage on Monday and Tuesday highlighted that tightly pressing cling film directly onto sliced or mashed avocado and refrigerating it can keep the fruit green for about two days.
- The brown colour comes from polyphenol oxidase, an enzyme that reacts with oxygen on exposed flesh and forms brown pigments when left in air.
- Placing wrapped avocado inside an airtight container in the fridge slows the enzyme by lowering temperature and further reducing oxygen contact.
- Rubbing or sprinkling lemon or lime juice supplies citric acid that inhibits polyphenol oxidase but may change the fruit's flavour.
- Reporters and food sites note the trade-off between single-use plastic and the result, and recommend reusable options such as beeswax wraps as a greener alternative.