In good news for Millennials (and parents footing the bills while they stay at home to save for a house), a California-based company has unveiled a new avocado that will be able to be stored for two to three times longer than the average avo.
The fruits are coated in an odourless, tasteless additive – called Apeel – made from lipids and glycerolipids that naturally occur in produce (sounds very un-appeal-ing to me).
This time-lapse video comparing treated and non-treated avos will give you the idea.
The coating slows the rate at which the avocado loses water and increases oxygen – extending its famously short shelf life to the delight of brunch lovers worldwide.
While it does come at a cost to growers, they can recoup their costs with more sales.
There is a more serious side to the story too. Apeel was partly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a way to protect crops and extend food’s shelf life without refrigeration – potentially saving millions of dollars in food waste.
Even better, the technology arrives at the same time as Australia’s avocado production gets set to double by 2025.
So we may not be able to buy a house but at least we’ll have perfectly ripe, all-you-can-eat avocado toast.
