Why Avocados Get Stringy And How To Remove It Easily

Avocados can be very tricky to get perfectly green and creamy. If you are an avocado fan like me, you have most likely found yourself asking why some avocados get stringy and how to remove it, as well as how do you keep avocados from getting stringy in the first place?

There are various reasons for stringy avocados. The avocado may have been picked from a young tree or improperly stored. Remove the strings from an avocado by pushing it through a sieve or strainer. To keep avocados from getting stringy the fruit should be picked at the correct time and handled carefully.

Every avocado fan knows the struggle of deciding when to enjoy the fruit. While most avocados will go brown when over-ripe, there are a few that will get a little stringy. That is one reason for stringiness, but there are more. In this article, I’ve got to the bottom behind stringy avocados and what you can do to remove it.

Is It OK To Eat Stringy Avocado?

An avocado is not necessarily bad if it’s stringy. If your avocado is generally green inside and is soft but firm, a few strings will probably not mean that it has gone bad. Dark strings could mean that it is over-ripe, but this will also be accompanied by very soft flesh, brown color, and sometimes a bad smell.

Should you find that your avocado is not rotten but is just quite fibrous, it could be attributed to the growing conditions of the avocado. If this is the case, it will be up to you whether or not you eat it. 

There are those that will go ahead and eat a stringy avocado that is not over-ripe and those that do not enjoy the texture. If you decide not to eat your avocado because of the texture, you can always use the method below to remove the strings and have some mashed avocado instead.

What Are The Strings In Avocados?

The strings that we sometimes find in avocados are vascular bundles. They are the plant’s veins that bring nutrients and water to the fruit. When the fruit and tree mature in many avocado plants, the vascular bundles tend to get smaller. However, some avocado species are simply stringier than others.

There seems to be a trend with avocados that suggests that fruit picked earlier in the season is stringier, and those picked later in the season are creamier. One theory that we found to explain this is that the enzymes used to mature the avocado become more active during the season, resulting in more breakdown of cell walls within the fruit. That could account for there being fewer strings found later in the season.

While it may not be too appetizing to find strings in your avocado, they should not influence the taste of your dish. Your avocado will pack the same punch filled with fiber, potassium, monounsaturated fats, folate, and so much more. What’s more, scientists can find no real evidence to suggest that eating a younger avocado has fewer health benefits. So, stringy or not, you are still good to eat that avo!

Why Is My Avocado So Stringy?

While it is possible for avocados to become stringy if kept too long to become over-ripe, there are three other possible reasons for the rise in the number of stringy avocados.

The younger an avocado tree is, the more likely you are to find vascular bundles (strings) in the fruit. Similarly, the earlier in the season the fruit is picked, the more likely it is to have pronounced vascular bundles. Since the demand for avocados has risen, farmers have planted new trees to accommodate the need and supply the stores. 

Avocados have become known and revered as a superfood. With their list of benefits, like being rich in fiber, potassium, monounsaturated fats, folate, and being great for your heart and brain, it’s no wonder they are getting all the love. The thing about getting all the attention, though, is that the demand for avocados has skyrocketed. The implication for us is that we are more likely to find stringy avocados in the store.

That means that we are eating avocados from a mixture of the more mature trees we are used to and the younger trees that have been planted more recently. Fruit from the older trees will typically have fewer strings, and the younger fruit will have more.

Secondly, an avocado may have strings if it was poorly handled after picking. It is essential that you handle your avocados with care to ensure that they ripen into creamy, smooth fruit. Of course, when you are purchasing your avocados from the store, it may be a little challenging to know how they were treated along the supply line. In that case, once you have inspected the skin, the rest is up to luck.

The last reason for stringiness is the type of avocado. Some varieties are simply stringier than others. If you find yourself in the United States, you may have noticed that Haas avocados tend to be a little creamier than, for example, Stuart, which tends to have more pronounced veins. 

While you may not like the sight or texture of strings in your avocado, it is interesting to note that those that tend to be stringier also tend to have a richer and nuttier taste than those with fewer strings.

What Can I Do With A Stringy Avocado?

It is certainly not too enticing to open up an avocado and find large fibers running down the length of the fruit. While it may not be pretty to look at, the taste should not be affected in any way. If your avocado is fine in color and not too soft, it will still be good to eat.

The fantastic news is that you can eat a stringy avocado as is. If you don’t mind the change in texture from the typical creamy, you are good to go. Simply prepare the avocado as you would have done sans veins.

If you feel that you cannot eat the avocado with the strings in, there is another way you can make use of the fruit without losing too much of it in the process. It’s a method that is simple and effective. Read on to learn the secret.

How To Remove Strings From Avocado

Once you have cut the avocado in half and found the strings, simply squeeze the fruit’s flesh into a fine strainer or mesh – you can use a flour sieve or tea strainer for this. Push it through until you have an avocado pulp on the other side. Take your time to push all the green flesh through to really get the most out of the avocado. You should see brown strings left behind on the strainer. These can be tipped into the trash.

Removing the strings from your avocado is a simple process, though we must admit that it takes a little patience. Once done, you will have a creamy avocado that you can use and enjoy.

And there you have it. You should have a string-free solution ready to make into a dip, pesto, dressing, guacamole, or anything else your heart desires.

What Can I Make With Mashed Avocado?

So you were dreaming of a fresh and creamy avocado to display in slices or cubes. Now all you have is a mushy pulp on the underside of your strainer. Well, we have some excellent news for you. There is so much you can do with mashed avocado, and the best part is that it still has fantastic health benefits while keeping a great taste.

Let’s look at a few dishes you can make using your mashed avocado.

1. Guacamole

Guacamole has to be a favorite of ours. Even people who don’t enjoy avocado often enjoy this dish of full flavor.

To make guacamole, simply place your mashed avocado in a bowl. Add a clove of minced garlic, salt, and pepper to taste, chopped tomato and onion, and a little lime or lemon juice. Mix it all together, and it’s done.

Enjoy your homemade guacamole with toast, vegetables, chips, tortillas, and more.

2. A Green Smoothie

Would you believe that avocado is actually a fruit? Even though we may not use it quite like the others, using mashed avocado in a smoothie can add a wonderful creamy texture, as well as health benefits, to your meal in a cup.

To make an avocado smoothie, place avocado, banana, milk, ice cubes, spinach, honey, and vanilla extract into your blender. Blend it all together until smooth. Add more honey to create a sweeter smoothy if you would like.

Enjoy your smoothie, nice, and cold for a healthy pick-me-up that will keep you satisfied for hours.

3. Serve It On Toast

Avo on toast is a staple for avocado lovers. If you have mashed avocado at your disposal, spreading it on toast can be just as delicious as having slices.

To make a divine mashed avocado on toast, place your avocado in a bowl. Add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to suit your taste, and then raid your refrigerator. We love using sliced black olives, diced onion, chopped tomato, bacon bits, and feta to create a masterpiece on toast. Run with your imagination and reap the rewards of a meal full of great tastes.

Enjoy your avocado on toast with a fresh salad as a side for added satisfaction.

Conclusion

We know the frustration of finding stringy avocados, but it doesn’t have to mean the end of the road for your avocado meal. If the avocado is still in good condition, it is absolutely acceptable to eat the strings. If you would like to remove them, filter the flesh through a strainer and create a new recipe from the ones we have provided. 

How do you keep avocados from going stringy? It all comes down to picking the fruit from a mature tree, late in the season, and carefully handling it before ripening. While we cannot control the age of the trees that your avocados come from, we can definitely suggest making the most of the delicious fruit at your fingertips.

Enjoy avocados, stringy or not, to get the best taste and health benefits for your body, and keep in mind that that stringy fruit may just come from a young tree that was planted for your benefit.

Have any questions? Ask me in the comment section below and I’ll get back to you.