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Avocado Delicious, good with a variety of meals and full of nutrients. But I don’t buy them anymore. Without a doubt, I have sold more whole avocados than any other product. Why? Because there seems to be only a 15-second window between the time the avocado becomes firm and completely mush. And I always miss her.
But those days may be numbered, thanks shockingly to artificial intelligence.
It was developed by researchers at Oregon State University and Florida State University Smartphone-powered artificial intelligence It can tell us exactly when an avocado is fully ripe. Using more than 1,400 iPhone photos of Hass avocados, the team trained a deep learning model that can predict firmness, the key sign of ripeness, with more than 90% accuracy. The AI analyzes subtle cues in texture, color and shape that most humans would miss.
“Avocados are among the most wasted fruits globally due to over-ripening,” said Luyao Ma, an assistant professor at Ohio State University. “Our goal was to create a tool that helps consumers and retailers make smarter decisions about when to use or sell avocados.”
Food waste is one of the most important global issues. Nearly a third of everything that is grown, harvested and produced for human consumption never reaches the table and goes to waste. In the United States, federal agencies have pledged to halve this loss by 2030, a goal that calls for innovation throughout the food system, such as an app that can tell you when it’s time to eat fruit.
“Avocados are just the beginning,” Ma said. “This technology can be applied on a much broader scale, helping consumers, retailers and distributors make smarter decisions and reduce waste.”
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The app isn’t yet available to consumers, but that’s the long-term goal.
Read more: No Knife, No Problem: How to Safely Remove an Avocado Pit
In the meantime, if you’re looking for the best avocados at your local market, here are some free tips you can try:
- Feel: Gently crush the avocado between your hands. If there is some give, it is ripe.
- color: Look at the color of the avocado peel. Avocados turn dark when they’re ripe, so dark green or almost black usually means the avocado is ripe, while bright green means it’s immature.
- Yanbu: Gently remove or squeeze the bump at the end of the avocado. If the spot at the bottom of the stem is green, it is ripe. If you see brown, it’s likely overripe.
