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Our yellow squash has some brownish discoloration inside in a ring down that extends length-wise. Is this normal variation and safe to eat, or is this an indicator that the squash has gone bad?

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Tashus
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    .....So this is *probably* bad advice, but does it smell okay? Does the brown stuff feel the same as the white stuff? Have you fried a slice and tasted it? If the internet fails you, sometimes you've gotta test things the caveman way. Given that I suffer from a yearly squashpocalypse, I'd probably toss it. But if I really hated to waste it, I'd see if I could cut away the white/good looking bits and puree them for a pie, maybe... I'd like to know for sure too though. – kitukwfyer Jun 23 '18 at 04:37

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This can be one of two things: 1) If you bought this from a store the squash is a bit old. It own't hurt you as mentioned in one of the comments above it just isn't pretty. 2) If this is a fresh squash, if you had a heavy rain storm or a higher than normal concentration of smoke in the area (like forest fires) then it is possible for excess minerals to be deposited in the meat of some veggies (squash is among that list).

Either way it won't hurt you.

J Crosby
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Hi there I came across this post looking for something else and thought I would add my two cents as a farmer: the brown ring is a result of irregular watering as explained above, we have seen a lot of it this year in the South with our drought! The plants draws water up quickly after a period of dry weather and deposits minerals from the soil in the growth layer. Perfectly fine to eat!

Laurie Moore
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  • Thanks for confirming the answer I wrote. I was basing my answer from experience in Northern Alberta (Canada). Glad to see that this is applicable elsewhere as well. – J Crosby Oct 07 '19 at 16:23