This Is Why Your Avocado Is Rubbery

Sometimes it feels like there isn’t a perfect time to eat an avocado, which can either seem too unripe to enjoy or past its prime and ready to toss. 

But instead of seeming too unripe or overripe, some consumers have encountered produce, including avocados, with an unusual “rubbery” texture. If you have ever experienced avocados, bananas, blueberries, or other types of fruit with a rubber-like interior, you may have also wondered what’s going on. 

So, what’s making certain fruits rubbery? And is there a way to fix it?

Why Is My Avocado Rubbery? 

If you have ever cut into an avocado you thought was perfectly ripe to find it has a hard, bendable quality, you aren’t alone. The problem of “rubbery fruit” has started trending on social media, with users wondering why their fruit feels “fake” or like “plastic.”

In a video on TikTok, the user @rileypw113 posted a video of a rubbery avocado. The video got over 9.2 million views, with users speculating the cause. Other similar videos have popped up on social media showing the same thing: rubbery watermelons, berries, and other types of produce.

While many have speculated why this happens, it could just be because your fruit is actually still unripe. This answer is less exciting than some of the conspiracies found online—but it’s probably true, according to these sources.

The Hass Avocado Board, an organization dedicated to promoting and researching avocados, notes that the most likely cause for rubbery avocados is uneven ripening. When fruits like avocados are ripened in temperatures that are too high, especially when harvested in the early season, some of their parts don’t ripen normally. This could also be the reason parts of the flesh stick to the pit when you try to cut it. 

This applies to other fruits as well. According to the National Watermelon Promotion Board, all watermelons become rubbery during the breakdown process. While this stage might seem a little alarming, it’s a natural part of ripening for a lot of fruits. 

What About GMOs? 

Many speculate that genetic modification is responsible for rubbery fruit. However, there is no evidence that this is the case. 

According to the FDA, there are some fruits grown in the United States that are GMOs–such as apples, papaya, and pineapple. However, this list does not include avocados, watermelon, or bananas. Other shipping and storage conditions may be responsible for your fruit arriving in your kitchen too unripe. But, there is currently no reason to believe that GMOs are the culprit of rubbery produce.

How Do I Avoid Rubbery Fruit? 

Unfortunately, buying fruit and eating it at the right time can be a never-ending battle. However, we have some great articles on how to pick perfectly ripe produce instead—from avocados to peaches to watermelon to bananas—to help you avoid rubbery fruit in the future.