Avocado’s Shelf-Life can be Extended by UV Light

A good avocado is a light green color when cut open and an avocado that has gone bad will be brown or even black on the inside of the avocado. Avocado is a dark green color and the  firmness will give just a little when pressed. An avocado has most probably gone bad when it is black and you can leave an indent in the avocado with a gentle press of your finger. The Shelf Life of an avocado is 3-4 days. Revolutionary technique promises to extend an avocado’s shelf-life by two days by using ultraviolet light beams.

A packaging innovation that involves running them through a beam of shortwave ultraviolet (UV) light to kill off bacteria spores mean they can be kept for long. Two days of extra shelf life is being given to ripe avocados which can quickly spoil, becoming black and squishy. And they are being packaged in a revolutionary film with tiny microscopic holes, which creates a controlled atmosphere that stalls ripening.

The combination of the two means that perfectly ripe avocados have an extra two days of shelf life, promising to reduce the wastage. The avocado has become something of a food phenomenon, yet it is notoriously difficult to keep and eat at the peak of its ripeness. The new UV ‘cleaning’ process and so-called modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for avocados has been developed by a company called Greencell, based in Lincolnshire, who supply Tesco and Waitrose.

The company follows the seasons around the globe, sourcing avocados from Spain, Israel and California through Peru and South Africa, to meet Briton’s insatiable demand.