Food, Drink & Health
Avocado Seeds, To Eat Or Not To Eat?
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To eat or not to eat? That is the question. When it comes to the avocado, we’ve come up with a million ways to eat the pulp, use it for other uses like skincare, hair, nails, use it for decorations and even ornaments. But have we ever gone about to how we can utilise the avocado seed too? Can we consume it without any problem?
Preparing And Eating The Seed
Many recipes found online when it comes to eating the seed involves a lot of work. Firstly, it has to be dried out using either a dehydrator or an oven, heated at 250 degrees for about two hours, chopping it up, and then blending it to make a smoothie shake. The seed has an interesting nutty and slightly bitter taste. So, it is recommended that half a teaspoon is a decent quantity for one single serving. The powder made out of the seed can also be roasted and sprinkled over salad dressings, salads, soups and sauces.
What’s In The Seed?
Eating the seed can give you a lot of phytonutrients. Phytonutrients, also called phytochemicals, are chemicals produced by plants to stay healthy. Phytonutrients can also provide benefits for humans who eat plant foods. Phytonutrient-rich foods include brightly coloured fruits and vegetables, nuts, tea, legumes, whole grains, and many spices. They may affect human health but are not considered life-essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. In fact, a lot of the phytonutrients in the seed compared to the flesh of an avocado is off-the-charts, and that’s why people do it.
Is It Toxic?
If you’re going to consume the seed, you have to be aware that it contains a natural fungicide which is called Persin. On one hand, it is toxic to animals, but it is not as toxic to humans. When seeds are eaten in large quantities, certain people can be sensitive to them and can cause some adverse reaction, they could have allergies to it but genuinely it’s non-toxic to humans.
To eat or not to eat?
While sometimes adding small amounts of avocado seed to your food might not cause a lot of problems, why take a chance with something that has not been deemed safe for human consumption? Even the California Avocado Commission, an advocacy group and public relations company that promotes avocados on behalf of California growers, suggests sticking to the fruit pulp and not eating the seed.
What else to feed if not the seed?
There are tons of delicious and safer foods that can provide you with the same healthful nutrients found in avocado seeds starting with the obvious first contender, our signature Simplot Harvest Fresh™ Avocado pulp! Made of 100% Hass avocados, it provides an ample amount of heart-healthy fats and is free of additives and preservative. Convenient and simple to use, all you have to do is just leave it to thaw and it’s ready! Beyond tasty avocado toast and guacamole, the avocado pulp has a versatile usage and can be used in numerous savoury and sweet dishes!
Remember that if you still want to try the avocado seed, keep your intake to a minimum to reduce the risk of potential adverse side effects.
Sources:
https://californiaavocado.com/avocado101/is-it-safe-to-eat-the-avocado-seed/
https://www.livescience.com/52541-phytonutrients.html
https://www.indexofsciences.com/9-ways-to-use-an-avocado-pit/#Eating_it
