What About Stringy Avocados?

What Makes Avocados Stringy?

According to Dr. Mary Lu Arpaia, an extension subtropical horticulturist at the University of California, Riverside who works with the California Avocado Commission, these strings are actually the vascular bundles that bring nutrients and water into the fruit.

The vascular bundles serve an important purpose: They are the internal “plumbing” within the tree and connect the fruit to the rest of the tree (yes, avocados are a fruit). Interesting!

Arpaia explained that there are a few different reasons why some avocados develop more prominent vascular bundles, the first being simple genetics. “Some varieties just tend to be stringier than others,” said Arpaia. “Hass generally is not stringy, but you do run into fruit that is [stringy] from this variety. On the other hand, Stuart, which is a rich, nutty-flavored variety, almost always is stringy.”

And while there aren’t any external signs that a particular avocado is going to be stringy (you have to cut it open to be 100% certain, Arpaia confirmed), fruit maturity (how long the fruit has been on the tree) and seasonality can play a role.

Credits: Health.Com