Avocado
The
avocado is a
tree and the
fruit of that tree (
Persea americana) in the
flowering plant family
Lauraceae. The avocado tree does not tolerate freezing temperatures, and so can be grown only in subtropical and tropical climates, where the fruit is sometimes called a
pear or
alligator pear.
The avocado tree is native to
Central and
South America. Introduced to
California in the
19th century, is has become extremely successful there as a
cash crop.
Fallbrook, California, in
San Diego County claims the title of "Avocado Capital of the World," and hosts an annual Avocado Festival.
Avocado fruit is a
berry. Horticultural varieties range from more or less round to egg or pear-shaped, typically the size of a temperate zone
pear or larger, on the outside bright green to green-brown (or almost black) in color, and high in fat, with a large central
seed or pit.
While dozens of varieties exist, two cultivars of avocados are commonly available: the
Haas and the
Florida. The former is the most common variety (pictured), with a dark rippled skin, and rich, creamy flesh. The Florida variety is larger and rounder, with a smooth, medium-green skin, and a less fatty, firmer flesh. These are occasionally marketed as low-calorie avocados.
The flesh is typically greenish yellow to golden yellow, if ripe turning dark soon after exposure to air. The avocado is very popular in
vegetarian cuisine, making a good substitute for meats and cheeses in sandwiches because of the high fat content. The fruit is not sweet, but fatty, flavorful, and of smooth, almost creamy texture. It is used as the base for the
Mexican dip known as
guacamole.
The name "avocado" is from its
Nahuatl name 'ahuacatl' which also meant
testicles, with influence from the irrelevant but much more familiar Spanish
avocado an obsolete form of 'abogado' (lawyer). The Nahuatl
ahuacatl could be compounded with others, as in
ahuacamolli, meaning “avocado soup or sauce,” from which the Spanish-Mexican word
guacamole derives.
The avocado fruit does not ripen on the tree, but will fall off in a hard, "green" state, then ripen quickly on the ground. Generally, the fruit is picked once it reaches a mature size, and will then ripen in a few days — faster if stored with other fruit such as
bananas. Up to a point, fruit can be left on the tree until required, rather than picked and stored.
Barlow & Martin (2002) identify the avocado as a fruit adapted for
ecological relationship with large mammals, now extinct (as for example the South American herbivorous giant ground sloths or Gomphotheres). This fruit with its mildly toxic pit, co-evolved with those extinct mammals to be swallowed whole and excreted in dung, ready to sprout. The ecological partners have disappeared, and the avocado plant has not had time to evolve an alternative seed dispersal technique.
References
\n* Barlow, Connie and Paul Martin. (2002) The Ghosts of Evolution: nonsensical fruit, missing partners and other ecological anachronisms.
External links
Category:Fruit
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