Everything You Ever Need To Know About Avocados 🥑 (Drew's Digest #01)

Where do they come from?

Avocados originated in southern Mexico and Central America, where it got the scientific name, Persea Americana. The name Avocado, however, comes from the Aztec word, ahuacatl (also used for ‘testicle’), before being translated to, ahuacate or aguacate, by the Spaniards.

The Spanish word is thought to have been altered for English pronunciation and referred to as an ‘avogato pear’. Of course, this then led to the term (my personal favourite) ‘alligator pear’, due to obvious reasons 🐊

According to archaeological evidence, avocados have been eaten as far back as 10,000 BC in central Mexico and were cultivated and traded for thousands of years. Avocados were later introduced to Europe in the 16th century, and Australia in the 19th century.

What are they exactly?

Avocado trees produce the fruit that we eat and call avocado. But they aren’t fruit. Technically speaking they are considered berries (i.e. they are a fruit that comes from a single ovary). The trees themselves are evergreen but can be semi-deciduous in cool regions and can grow up to 20m in height 🌲.

The green fruits (or berries) that contain a large pit can sprout into a new plant by placing 3-4 toothpicks in the side of the seed and placed on top of a glass of water. (Pro-tip: stand your ground - the cracking of the pit will indeed test your patience but stick with it 💪)

There are many popular types of avocados (around 80 varieties), which makes for year-round produce (all the smashed avo please!). Haas is by far the most popular variety and is grown in many regions around the world due to its high frost tolerance ❄

When are they available?

They are more or less available year round, due to the many different varieties grown. Some countries like New Zealand and Mexico are lucky enough to skip the dormant stage of the plant and produce fruit year round 🙌

How do I choose and store them?

I’m sure many of you have encountered the avocado selection dilemma.
Whether it be choosing bright green under-ripe fruits for later use, or picking up darker blackish-green ones to be used that day, only to find it has turned brown inside. If not, then you’re doing well by my standards.

The ripening process of avocados is quite fast and somewhat unique. Avocados are climacteric, which basically means that they mature on the tree but don’t actually begin to ripen until they are picked. This is believed to occur due to specific sugars that stop ripening from happening while it’s on the tree 🛑

Once it has been picked, ripening at room temperature can take around 5 days or so. The reason it ripens so fast is that it is super susceptible to the plant hormone, ethylene, which it begins to produce after being picked to start the ripening process.

There are a few ways to store your avocados, depending on how far along they are in the ripening process. Bright green fruits that are firm are very unripe and can be stored for later, whereas darker/softer ones are ripe and ready to be eaten immediately (ENJOY!). Another way to test for ripeness is to pick the stem. If it comes off easily then it is good to go 👍

Storing /unripe/ avocados:

• leave at room temperature to ripen on their own.
  OR
• place in a paper-bag with another high ethylene producing fruit like an apple or banana, at room temperature, to speed up the ripening process.
  OR
• store inside the fridge, which dramatically slows down the ripening process.

Storing /ripe/ avocados:

• place in the fridge inside a ziplock bag or container to minimise any contact with oxygen, until you are ready to use it

"But what if I have already cut it in half and its still rock hard?"

Once exposed to oxygen, the green edible part of the fruit (or the mesocarp for all you biology nerds) starts to turn brown and becomes, well... oxidised.

Have you ever stored half an avocado with the pit still attached, inside the fridge? Then removed it and noticed that the area beneath the pit is still green? That is because there is no oxygen getting to that part of the fruit.

To get a longer lasting avocado half, coat it with something acidic like lemon or lime juice and piece the two halves back together. Now just pop it in a ziplock bag and remove as much air as possible (I use a straw for this), or tightly wrap in cling-wrap and put it in the fridge until it softens up. This method will also work if you use only half of the fruit, just remember to check that it doesn’t go brown 🍋

Avocado can also be frozen as a puree. Buy them in bulk and throw ripe avocados in a food processor or blender with about 1/2 tbsp of lemon or lime juice, per avocado, then just put in a freezable container or ziplock bag.

It should be noted that not all varieties turn dark as they become riper. The ‘Shepard’ variety, for example, will remain green when it becomes ripe, and the flesh inside won’t brown. So no need for lemon juice there.

How do I use them?

Avocados are, without a doubt, the perfect margarine/butter substitute. They are easily spreadable when ripe and soft and will make a great addition to just about any sandwich or salad.

Probably the most common dish that uses avocado, is guacamole. There are many variations of this recipe, but all you really need is some ripe avocado, tomato, onion, chili, garlic, lemon juice, coriander and a few spices to round it off 🌮

Around 5% of all avocados in America are purchased for the Superbowl weekend. Known as one of the biggest ‘snacking’ events, Super Bowl Sunday has increased avocado sales continually over the past 15 years due to the love of guacamole at game time 🏈

If you want to get a little more creative, avocado can make some fantastic desserts like ice creams and mousses.

Did you know?

Avocado is toxic to all animals, except humans, due to a chemical called persin that leeches from the pit into the flesh. Cats and dogs may also be exempt but can become ill when large quantities of the flesh are ingested and also due to the risk of swallowing the pit 🐱

Seed dispersion of avocado pits raises a few questions about how the plant evolved over time. Most large fleshy fruits are distributed after an animal eats the seed and excretes it into another area where it may potentially grow. Toxins in the flesh mean that no animal alive today is likely to have eaten the fruit, allowing for dispersal of the seed. Therefore, evolution is thought to have occurred via certain megafauna, which would have been large enough to digest the entire pit.

Why should I eat them?

Avocados are full of fats, but don’t let that deter you. They are ‘healthy’ fats, known as monounsaturated fatty acids or MUFA (predominately oleic acid [18:1]).

Monounsaturated fats come from plant sources like nuts, seeds, olives, and avocados, whereas saturated fats (the ‘bad’ fats) that come from animal sources should be kept to a minimum as they increase cholesterol in the blood and can lead to heart disease. A single serving is around 1/5th of a whole avocado, which is around 50 calories.

Personally, I will eat at least half an avocado per serve which supplies you around 20% of your DI for Vitamin K, and are rich in Vitamin E, B6 and C. In addition, they are a great source of fibre (4.6 grams/half avocado), are low in sugar compared to other fruits (0.2 grams/half avocado) and cholesterol free!

Research on the health benefits of avocados has shown that they can reduce triglycerides and that bad cholesterol (LDL) in the bloodstream because;

• foods high in MUFA (such as avocado) play a greater in cholesterol management than foods high in complex carbohydrates

• they contain the highest amount of phytosterols (plant version of cholesterol)

• half an avocado at lunchtime may help to support healthy weight management by increasing satiety (i.e. makes us feel fuller), therefore reducing the urge to eat more foods later in the day 🏃‍♀️

• avocados are high in the carotenoids (colour pigments in plants), lutein and zeaxanthin which support eye and skin health by reducing the damaging effects of UV light on the retina and skin 👀

Although avocados are delicious and great for your health, some people are allergic to avocados and there seems to be an association between latex and avocado allergies. If you have never eaten avocado and think you may suffer from an allergic reaction, you should probably perform a skin prick test.

Thank you so much if you got this far, I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog. Also, I would love to hear any comments or feedback you may have, so please get in touch here on Steemit or via my social media 😄

---

Get in touch at:

Steemit
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Snapchat

---

Photos are my own or sourced from Pixabay