Don’t throw away that avocado pit

When you cut open an avocado, what do you do with the pit? For the vast majority of us, the answer is chuck it in the trash bin. But apparently we should not be so quick to discard the seed of the avocado, as it has culinary (and some say medicinal) uses as well. In this recent Guardian recipe for mole negro, Tom Hunt shows us one way to use the pit in your cooking. 

He recommends grinding the seed as you would nutmeg, saying that it adds “a bitter twang” to his mole sauce. Hunt also notes that some people have claimed that the pits have antioxidant properties and can help reduce blood pressure. Whether these health claims are true is a matter of debate as the scientific studies on this matter are still in the early stages. 

Using avocado pits in cooking is news to me but apparently I am slow to join the party, because a quick search shows oodles of articles recommending it. Other suggestions including grinding the pit into your favorite smoothie to benefit from its minerals or adding crushed avocado seed to a bread recipe. However, not everyone thinks eating avocado seeds is a great idea. The California Avocado Commission does not recommend eating the pit, stating that “there is not enough research to support consuming an avocado seed.” Judging by how much work is involved to crush and chop the pit, I am probably too lazy to do it anyway. Have you ever eaten an avocado pit? 

Photo of 30-minute mole from The Washington Post