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What's Inside An Avocado Pit?

Posted 25 June, 2008 at 1:13pm by Michael Chu
(Filed under: Cooking For Engineers, Food)

While prepping the photos for a Guacamole recipe, I removed the pits from four avocados. It was at this time that I began to wonder what was inside the pit. Was there a nut inside this over sized seed like the pit of a peach, almond, or cashew?

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I took a slice off of one side so I'd be able to hold the pit with stability as I cut.

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I then proceeded to take slices off the pit.

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I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't anything in the pit. It's solid through and through.

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11 comments to What's Inside An Avocado Pit?

Scott, June 25th, 2008 at 8:12 pm:

  • It's pretty, though. What was the consistency of the "filling?"

Michael Chu, June 26th, 2008 at 9:25 am:

  • It's was relatively hard an a tiny bit grainy (not perfectly smooth after the slice). Reminded me of water chestnut, but I have no idea what a raw water chestnut's consistency is…

Christy, June 26th, 2008 at 12:22 pm:

  • Might be interesting to let one start growing and then having a look inside?

Maggie, July 29th, 2009 at 6:00 pm:

  • Did it dry nicely? or did it shrivel? I'm wondering if perhaps it is easily carved/hollowed out, and if it retains it's shape.

Michael Chu, July 29th, 2009 at 9:58 pm:

  • I don't know… I threw out the pit shortly after these photos were taken.

Jack Karle, September 24th, 2009 at 7:31 am:

  • What does it taste like?

Marla Yonamine, January 7th, 2010 at 12:21 pm:

  • I was surprised that nothing was visible inside. I agree, it would be good to start one growing and then look. I know we've grown avocado seedlings from pits in past years, though I don't remember the details…I remember them as fairly easy to sprout.

Sesaria, March 16th, 2010 at 7:52 am:

  • Wow, love those pictures! 'Wondering for the past days about what's inside these pits. For some reason I can't bear to throw them out (I dried them & put in plastic) What to do I don't know yet; I have two left thumbs and their color isn't green. The classic "how can I throw a future orchard of trees that bear my favorite fruit?"
    Now that I know what's inside, I have to find out, what exactly is that beautiful white thing…….
    Thanks!

nikki, November 21st, 2011 at 8:39 pm:

  • be careful with the pits. theyre actually toxic. keep them away from pets and children because theyre poisonous.

kathy henning, November 26th, 2012 at 1:11 am:

  • I boil the avocado pit. and then the skin comes off, so i use a morter and i pulverize the soft seeds.till its creamy.and i put it in a jar. i use the paste that's made and i use it to deep condition my scalp and hair. just 1 tsp.i also add a little water to soften up the paste so i can distributed through my hair. i leave it on for 10 minutes and rinse completely my hair is so soft and is the best deep conditioner for my hair. im still experimenting with the seed to make an avocado butter.keep the mixture in the refridgerator. so it doesn't go bad.

Michael Chu, November 26th, 2012 at 1:30 am:

  • Wow, that seems like quite a novel use of avocado pits. I've never heard of it used as a conditioner before - where did you learn to do this?

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