LONDON (dpa)

A UK supermarket is trialling in-store avocado scanners that allow shoppers to assess the ripeness of the fruit before purchase so they can pick the right one for them.

Tesco said the machines, which will be in five stores from this week, work like a tiny X-ray to read what the fruit looks like inside.

Shoppers can hold an avocado in front of the scanner and it will return one of two ripeness readings - immediately ready for smashing, or better used to be sliced in a salad.

The technology, called the One Third Avocado Scanner and named after the Dutch company which invented it, can measure the ripeness of an avocado in seconds.

Tesco avocado buyer Lisa Lawrence said: "The scanner will enable shoppers to choose the avocado that is right for them and which therefore can help them plan their usage and desired shelf life, thereby cutting down on waste.

"Smashed avocado on sourdough continues to be one of the trendiest snacks at the moment, garnering millions of views on social media sites for recipe ideas, so we think, for that reason, the scanner will be really popular with shoppers."

Tesco said avocados have never been more popular and in the last year it sold nearly 15 million more avocados than it did in the previous 52 weeks.