Why Do Avocados Turn Brown So Quickly?
Question:
Dear Digger Doug,
Why do avocados turn brown so quickly?
Answer:
Dear Silas,
I’m glad you asked this question, because I have wondered about it myself. Avocados grow on an avocado tree and are classified as a fruit. The seed is called a pit, much like a peach pit, except an avocado pit is very smooth and a peach pit is bumpy. When a person cuts into an avocado, oxygen hits the green pulp. This begins a chemical process called oxidation between the oxygen and an enzyme in the avocado. The process creates a brown pigment called melanin that forms on the parts of the fruit where the oxygen hits. Interestingly, melanin is the same pigment that your body creates to protect you from the Sun. We call it a suntan! Also, oxidation is the same reaction that occurs on metals that we call rust. Even though the slightly brown parts of an avocado are edible, after a while, the pulp begins to rot and decay. This process helps us remember that all the physical things in this world will “grow old and wear out like a garment” (Hebrews 1:11), but God and spiritual things will remain forever.
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