I tried two avocado storage hacks - one kept them a lot fresher for longer

Sick of my avocados going brown a few hours after cutting them, I put two storage tricks to the test (Image: Nicola Roy/Reach PLC)

There's not a week that goes by when I don't pick up at least a couple of avocados during my visit to the supermarket. 

Along with eggs and sourdough, they're my go-to lunch when I'm working from home - something I've been having for months now, and I'm yet to get sick of it. 

However, one thing I'm most definitely sick of is how quickly avocados rot once you've cut them. 

If I'm just cooking for myself, I'll only use half of one at a time, wrapping up the other and putting it in the fridge for the next day.

But when that day comes, more often than not I'm faced with a brown and unappealing-looking fruit - the last thing I want to put on my toast. 

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I compared some popular avo storage hacks to see which was the most effective (Image: Nicola Roy/Reach PLC)

So I decided to try out two expert-recommended avocado storage methods to see how well they worked against each other, and how long they'd preserve one once it had been cut. 

It's worth noting that avocados browning is a completely natural process and sometimes is inevitable, especially after they have been cut in half. 

It feels as though it happens really quickly as well, and while it won't do you much harm if you eat it, it's still not what you want to see when you open the fridge. 

The two hacks I tried were pretty similar, using one key ingredient - lemon juice - but storing them in different ways. 

Lemon juice can act as a natural preservative (Image: Nicola Roy/Reach PLC)

The reason lemon juice does the trick is thanks to its acidity. The acid found in lemon juice can decrease the pH of avocados and lower enzymatic activity, in turn stopping the green parts of the fruit from turning brown, according to holistic nutritionist Kayla Chandler

So after I prepared my usual lunch earlier this week, I followed her advice and drizzled a tiny bit of lemon juice over the other half of my avocado before putting it in an airtight container in the fridge for the following day. 

Now I'm well aware that keeping avocados fresh before they're cut is simple, but it's a whole different ball game from the moment you cut it open. Regardless, I was pretty disappointed to look in the fridge a day later and find the avocado had already began to brown. 

The avocado wasn't perfectly green like I was expecting (Image: Nicola Roy/Reach PLC)

It wasn't too bad and I did eat it anyway - waste not, want not - but decided to opt for a slightly different strategy for my next avocado to see if it was any more effective. 

This time, I drizzled the lemon juice again, but instead wrapped it up in cling film instead of putting it in a box. According to Avocados from Mexico, this is the way to do it, promising to 'prolong its beauty and flavour for an extra few days.'

And it ended up doing exactly that - completely blowing the box trick out of the water. 

The cling film trick kept my avocado fresh in the fridge for longer (Image: Nicola Roy/Reach PLC)

I checked the following day and it still looked great, but just to see if it would last even longer, I added some extra lemon juice and wrapped it up again. 

Two full days after I'd cut it open and it maintained that fresh look. Admittedly, there was the tiniest bit of browning around the sides, but I'm putting that down to the avocado already being very ripe. 

It's defintely worth a go if you're looking for a way to make your avocados last that little bit longer. However, one storage method that could do more harm than good is submerging it in water. 

According to the experts at Plantura, water encourages the growth of bacteria which can lead to food borne illnesses such as salmonella. 

So if you want to continue to get your avocado fix without falling ill, opt for clingfilm instead.