Skip to Content

Why Is My Squash Green Inside? (Explained)

Sharing is caring!

Squash, soecifically to say the yellow squash which is close relative to zucchini are delicious, nutritious, and beautiful-looking vegetables that have a creasy inside.

However, at times a yellow squash might not have the natural creamy inside, rather it can have a slightly greenish-looking interior. Thereby, naturally you might think of the reasons why your bought/grown yellow squash is green from the inside. 

Thus, let’s straightly jump into the answers explained ahead regarding this topic.

Why Is My Squash Green Inside?

A notorious plant virus named the Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) is mainly responsible for infecting and turning a yellow squash inside green. Besides, cross pollination and squash variety confusion are the other two reasons that can make a yellow squash have a green inside, instead of a creamy inside.

Many distinct factors and probable reasons such as a natural phenomenon or an effect of an external stimulant like a virus, insect, or others can cause a yellow squash to have green inside.

Here, all the reasons behind a yellow squash having a greenish inside are explained as the following. 

Cucumber Mosaic Virus/CMV: 

The Cucumber Mosaic Virus/CMV which is also known as the Yellow Mosaic Virus is considered as the prime reason that causes a yellow squash’s creamy inside to turn into a green inside. 

A yellow squash affected by this Cucumber Mosaic Virus is likely to have a mottled effect like yellow and green color will be battling on the skin of the squash (half yellow and half green with green patches). and the leaves of the squash will turn white. 

However, the most common sign is a misshapen squash or the squash plant isn’t yielding many squashes as it should be. 

Host plants like weeds or flying insects which are also called carried insects (aphids, whiteflies) usually spread this CMV in squashes.

Cross-Pollination: 

Cross-pollination is another reason behind a yellow squash having green inside. It happens when every year you are gardening in the same garden by planting your own stored up seeds.

As the saved seeds of parent zucchini and yellow squash plants will cross-pollinate and yield offspring with mixed characteristics. 

For example, if you have grown zucchini in the same yard the previous year and have planted yellow squash this year, due to a possible cross-pollination, the yellow squash may have a green inside. 

Confusion In Squash Variety: 

Sometimes, it happens that the squash plant is producing healthy squashes but due to mislabeled seeds, or vague cultivar color can create a confusing situation where the quash might have green inside. 

For instance, cultivars like the “Gold Rush” are yellow whereas maximum zucchini varieties grow in green.

Also, two summer squashes, patty pan and globe either can grow in green or yellow color. So label correctly your saved seeds to avoid this confusing situation.

Is Squash Supposed To Be Green Inside?

Squash isn’t supposed to be green inside because naturally squashes have an orange, a creamy, or sometimes a white inside.

But if the quash variety is infected with the Yellow Mosaic Virus aka CMV, the infected squash/squashes can have green tints inside which obviously isn’t a normal thing to see on a squash.

Some squash varieties can have greenish inside when they are not ripened yet which is natural. 

Are All Squash Green Inside?

Seeing greenings tints on a squash inside, some of you may think whether squashes, specifically spaghetti, butternut, summer, yellow, crookneck, red kuri, kabocha, and winter squash have green inside or not.

Thus, for your information, below the insider color of these squashes has been described. 

Spaghetti Squash:

A spaghetti squash’s flesh tends to be either bright yellow or orange not green. But if the spaghetti squash has green inside accompanied by soft texture, it means the spaghetti squash is rotten. 

Butternut Squash:

Butternut squashes have a deep orange inside without any trace of green. However, if the butternut squash isn’t ripened fully, it naturally can be slightly greenish inside.

Summer Squash:

Summer squashes are creamy from the inside with no trace of green tints. But when it’s affected by Yellow Mosaic Virus, it can have green tints inside. 

Yellow Squash:

Just like the summer squashes, yellow squashes have a creamy inside. And when they are infected with the CMV, their interior start to have green tints. 

Crookneck Squash:

A crookneck squash has dense and pale yellow flesh inside with edible seeds. If any crookneck squash seems to have green inside, it’s because the Yellow Mosaic Virus has infected it. 

Red Kuri Squash:

Inside, a red kuri squash naturally has a firm, orange flesh with a fine texture that tastes dry but has a rich chestnut-like flavor. Sometimes it can have greenish tints around its seeds due to not being fully ripe. 

Kabocha Squash:

Kabocha squash isn’t green inside, rather it has a bright yellow-orange flesh inside.

Winter Squash:

When winter squash is not fully ripe, it can have greenish inside. But upon maturing, it will have a whitish-yellow inside.

Is Green Squash Ok To Eat?

In most situations, it’s okay to eat green, raw squash without having little to absolutely no serious health issues.

But you may find the taste of a green squash bitter sometimes due to cucurbitacins in squashes, very rarely it can cause toxic squash syndrome.  

What Kind Of Squash Is Light Green?

A good number of squashes are found in light green color, here among all of those light green squashes, the most commonly found and eaten ones are listed below with short descriptions. 

White Zucchini: 

White zucchinis which are identical to the mostly eaten dark green zucchinis are pale green.

However, the appearance and the taste of white zucchinis are similar to the dark green zucchinis. The only difference is white zucchini’s skin is thinner than the dark green zucchini. 

Bianco di Trieste: 

Bianco di Trieste zucchini is another squash variety with pale green glossy skin. The pale green skin of this zucchini is so light that it nearly looks white sometimes. However, they make a good squash option in the salad plates.

Magda Zucchini: 

Mazda zucchini is also a variety of squash that grows with a unique pale/light green color. It has a pretty thick skin and tastes nutty.

Pattypan Squash: 

The pattypan squash which is also known as UFO squash due to its roughly a flying saucer-like shape is grown in light green. But it can be found in yellow color as well. 

Cousa Squash: 

Cousa squash, a delicious squash variety that’s oftentimes popular in Middle Eastern dishes is a pale, speckled green squash that is slightly more bulbous in shape in comparison to zucchini. It has thin skin. 

Tatuma Squash: 

Tatuma squash is a Mexican variety of squash that has a round shape and can be found in either dark green or light green color. 

Ronde de Nice (Gourmet Globe):

Ronde de Nice aka gourmet globe is a round-shaped, light green squash, and it’s known for being a French heirloom squash. 

Tinda Squash:

Tinda squash is not exactly a squash, it’s just an immature fruit that’s related to the squash family. It has smooth and pale green skin.  

How Do You Know If Green Squash Is Bad?

Even though green squash is quickly perishable, luckily there are many detectable symptoms to recognize a bad squash. Below the signs of a bad squash have been listed. 

Appearance: 

Usually, fresh green squashes have an appearance of pretty smooth, glossy skin, but when the squash has gone bad, you will notice rotten spots or moldy areas on the green squash skin. 

Sometimes, along with rotten spots, wrinkles might be there too on squash skin. And all these signs indicate that the green squash is rotten or getting old inside. 

Texture: 

Bad green squashes have a mushy and soft texture that you can recognize just by touching them from outside.

And you’ll cut them, you may find a sponge-like, stringy, and fibrous texture inside that’s accompanied by an unpleasant scent and hard, large seeds. 

Sometimes, the inside can have a pulpy texture and can release a white-looking liquid as well if the green squash has gone fully bad. 

Smell: 

Fresh green squashes have a pleasant veggie scent, but upon getting bad, it will have vinegar or sour-fermented alike smell. 

Taste: 

At times, even if the green squash has gone bad or gotten old, its appearance or texture may not change much, in that case, you have to taste the squash to know if it’s a bad green squash or not. 

Thus, cut a small piece of the squash and lick it before cooking, if your tip of the tongue tastes a sharp bitter taste, know that it’s a bad green squash.

Final Thoughts 

Primarily, a squash with a natural creamy inside can start to have a greenish inside when the Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) has infected the squash. Except for CMV, cross-pollination or confusion in squash varieties can also cause a green inside in a squash, instead of a creamy interior.

Sharing is caring!