Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am at 10th grade. My project is due next week. I only have 5 days left. I have not yet started anything as I thought this project would be easy. I am really having a hard time whether to continue this project as there is not enough research if avocado seeds aren't toxic. Even after achieving avocado tea, there is not enough data that can be shown. There is no twist and people may not find it interesting. Should I continue making it or not? Is there any twist I can add to these experiments? or anything that can make this project interesting?

Hi Shaina and welcome to Scibuddies.

I did a quick search for: can i eat avocado pits

and came up with several reputable sites that said NO, the composition of the pits has not been studied enough to verify that it is safe to consume them.

https://www.berkeleywellness.com/health ... its-edible

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ea ... d#benefits

https://www.californiaavocado.com/blog/ ... ocado-seed

https://www.health.com/food/no-you-shou ... cado-seeds

Likewise, I would not drink tea made from the peels, partly because you don't know if the avocados have been sprayed with chemicals to retard bacterial or fungal growth, or to keep the skin looking 'fresh'. You could have done some experiments to test the antibacterial properties of avocado pit or peel extract, but you have no time now.

Why don't you talk to your teacher and explain what happened and see if they can give you an idea what to do now.

You could do a search of the biomedical literature on PubMed for avocado pits and peels and see if there has been anything published on their properties. You can write a research paper and simply explain to the reader that you had planned to make tea and coffee out of avocado peels and pits, but thought better of it after learning that there was no evidence that these parts of the avocado were safe for humans to eat. This in itself is beneficial and requires scientific thinking and writing, although not of the experimental kind.

Again, you should talk to your teacher right away and, I would say, try to write a paper this weekend.

Good luck, and if you have questions please post again.

Sybee

What were the results of your experiment? Post an abstract if you can.

Hope you completed your experiment on time. Some times it is best to try to complete the project with plenty of extra time as you may need to change the experiment a little.

I hope you continue with new experiments.