Nice experiment. Oddly enough food scientists in Florida have looked into the same problem, and achieved results similar to yours: [THE RETARDATION OF ENZYMATIC BROWNING IN AVOCADO PUREE AND GUACAMOLE][1] > Enzymatic browning in avocado puree and guacamole was evaluated by reflectance measurements for several varieties of av ocado with varying amounts of chemical additives. Paste from Booth 8 had a greater tendency to br own than that from Lula. Browning at 75°F was effectively retarded wit hout flavor change by 30 mg percent of sodium bisulfite or 200 mg percent ascorbic acid. Lemon juice or citric and hydrochloric acid adjustment of the puree from pH 6.6 to 5.1 accelerated br owning of Booth 8. Combination of sodium bisulfite and ascorbic acid were particularly effective in preventing browning in all avocado pre parations under all handl ing conditions - refrigerated, frozen and thawed, or freeze-dried and reconstituted. (Booth 8 and lula are different varieties of avocado. You probably used [Hass][2].) Looks like it's an enzymatic reaction that produces the browning: > The efficacy of sulfur dioxide in retarding browning is thought to be due to the formation of addition products with the polyphenolase enzyme, thus in terfering with the catalytic activity. So a little bisulfite might be called for if you *must* prep the stuff long in advance. [1]: http://www.avocadosource.com/Journals/FSHSP/FSHSP_VOL_81_PG_230-235_1968.pdf [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hass_avocado