The questions that come in stump many of us, but we often have ways of finding answers. Here's a recent request and Mary Lu Arpaia's response. She's one of our Postharvest Physiologist Specialists.
The Question:
"I am an extension specialist in NH, and I work with (mostly temperate!) fruit/veg crops. A consumer has reached out to the NH Division of Public Health here, with concerns about an avocado they purchased. I'm reaching out to you because you have written some outreach materials relating to avocado, and I suspect that you are much more familiar with this crop than we in New Hampshire are.
Would you have any insights about red discoloration inside an avocado fruit (see attached photo)? It does not look like typical chilling injury to me. Any thoughts would be welcome. Thank you for your time!"
Mary Lu's Response:
"You occasionally see this problem in ripe fruit, especially in lower maturity fruit.
Anyway the best guess is that it is phenolics from the seed coat leaking into the flesh of the fruit.
Not dangerous but the affected flesh may be bitter. I would cut it out and eat around the discolored flesh which is surface only."
Consumers in far away places often will see problems that we in avocado growing regions may never see. Increasingly though, the fruit is grown not so close to home and has traveled long distances, been handled by many different people and treated in less than acceptable fashion. So we may see more fruit problems in California as we import more fruit.
Attached Images:
