A storage tip shared on a homemaking Facebook group claims that keeping avocados in the fridge with a lemon extends their freshness for more than five weeks, offering a safer alternative to a popular but potentially hazardous social media method.
Lemon and fridge trick wins over water method
While social media advice often suggests submerging avocados in water to preserve them, this technique is both ineffective and risky, as the moist environment encourages bacterial growth, including Salmonella. Even if the water looks clean, contamination is inevitable because any bacteria on the avocado's exterior will multiply.
Posting in the Homemaking Tips Facebook group, John Wheeler shared his experience with the citrus-based method. He wrote: "Y'all, I am shooketh! I read somewhere that storing avocados in the fridge with a lemon makes them last longer, so I decided to try it."
He added: "The last purchase ended up in the crisper drawer of the fridge. Almost six weeks later, I see them when I'm making burritos and think, why not see. After just over five weeks, they were perfectly ripe and bright green inside still. I will never store them another way."
How the citrus trick works
The natural acids in lemons reduce the pH level of avocados and limit enzyme activity, preventing browning. Keeping avocados chilled also slows their ripening process.
It is advisable to put a ripe or nearly ripe avocado in the fridge. However, avocados should first be left at room temperature to ripen properly before being transferred to the fridge alongside a lemon. Refrigerating an avocado before it is ready will eventually allow it to ripen, but the texture and flavour may not be as good.
