The avocado (Persea americana) is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae), native to the Americas. It is widely cultivated for its large, fleshy fruit. The tree likely originated in the highland regions of south-central Mexico to Guatemala. Its fruit (called avocado, avocado pear, alligator pear, or colloquially avo) is botanically a large berry containing a single large seed. Avocado trees are partially self-pollinating, and are often propagated through grafting to maintain predictable fruit quality and quantity.
Avocados are cultivated in tropical and Mediterranean climates of many countries, with Mexico as the leading producer of avocados in 2019, supplying 32% of the world total. Avocado production is one of the most environmentally intensive fruits, using 18 US gallons; 15 imperial gallons of water per avocado, and over 400 grams of CO2 emissions. In major production regions like Chile, Mexico and California, the water demands for avocado puts pressure on overall water resources. Avocado production is also connected to other concerns, including environmental justice and human rights concerns, deforestation and connections of Mexican avocados with organized crime. Climate change is expected to cause significant changes in the suitable growing zones for avocados, and put additional pressure due to heat waves and drought.
The fruit of domestic varieties has smooth, buttery, golden flesh when ripe. Depending on the variety, avocados have green, brown, purplish, or black skin, and may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or spherical. Commercially, the fruits are picked while immature, and ripened after harvesting. The high nutrient and fat contents and texture of avocado flesh are useful for different cuisines, including salads and vegetarian diets.
Persea americana is a tree that grows to 66 ft, with alternately arranged leaves 5–10 in long. Panicles of flowers with deciduous bracts arise from new growth or the axils of leaves. The flowers are inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, 3⁄16–3⁄8 in wide.
The species is variable because of selection pressure by humans to produce larger, fleshier fruits with a thinner exocarp. The avocado fruit is a climacteric, single-seeded berry, due to the imperceptible endocarp covering the seed, rather than a drupe. The pear-shaped fruit is usually 3–8 in long, weighs between 31⁄2 and 351⁄2 oz, and has a large central seed, 2–21⁄2 in long.
Persea americana, or the avocado, possibly originated in the Tehuacan Valley in the state of Puebla, Mexico, although fossil evidence suggests similar species were much more widespread millions of years ago. However, there is evidence for three possible separate domestications of the avocado, resulting in the currently recognized Mexican (aoacatl), Guatemalan (quilaoacatl), and West Indian (tlacacolaocatl) landraces. The Mexican and Guatemalan landraces originated in the highlands of those countries, while the West Indian landrace is a lowland variety that ranges from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador to Peru, achieving a wide range through human agency before the arrival of the Europeans. The three separate landraces were most likely to have already intermingled in pre-Columbian America and were described in the Florentine Codex.
The word avocado comes from the Spanish aguacate, which derives from the Nahuatl (Mexican) word āhuacatl [aːˈwakat͡ɬ], which goes back to the proto-Aztecan *pa:wa. In Molina's Nahuatl dictionary "auacatl" is given also as the translation for compañón "testicle", and this has been taken up in popular culture where a frequent claim is that testicle was the word's original meaning. This is not the case, as the original meaning can be reconstructed rather as "avocado" - rather the word seems to have been used in Nahuatl as a euphemism for "testicle".
The modern English name comes from a rendering of the Spanish aguacate as avogato. The earliest known written use in English is attested from 1697 as avogato pear, later avocado pear (due to its shape), a term sometimes corrupted to alligator pear.
In Central American, Caribbean Spanish-speaking countries, and Spain it is known by the Mexican Spanish name aguacate, while South American Spanish-speaking countries Argentina, Chile, Perú and Uruguay use a Quechua-derived word, palta. In Portuguese, it is abacate. The Nahuatl āhuacatl can be compounded with other words, as in ahuacamolli, meaning avocado soup or sauce, from which the Spanish word guacamole derives.
In the United Kingdom the term avocado pear, applied when avocados first became commonly available in the 1960s, is sometimes used.
Originating as a diminutive in Australian English, a clipped form, avo, has since become a common colloquialism in South Africa and the United Kingdom.
It is known as "butter fruit" in parts of India.
Seventy-six percent of Mexico's avocado exports go to the United States, with the free trade agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico in July 2020 facilitating avocado shipments within the North American free trade zone. The Mexican domestic market was expanding during 2020. Mexican avocado exports are challenged by growth of production by Peru and the Dominican Republic to supply the US and European markets.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mexican avocado farmers restricted harvesting as the overall demand and supply chain slowed due to labor and shipping restrictions. Later in 2020, demand in the United States and within Mexico increased at a time when American retail prices continued to rise. During 2020 in the United States, month-to-month volume sales of avocados were similar to those of tomatoes at about 250 million pounds per month. A report issued in mid-2020 forecast that the worldwide market, which was US$13.7 billion in 2018, would recover after the end of the pandemic and rise to US$21.6 billion by 2026.
In 2022, a prospective cohort study following 110,487 people for 30 years found that eating two servings of avocado per week reduced the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases by 16–22%. The study involved replacing half a daily serving of saturated fat sources, including margarine, butter, egg, yogurt, cheese, or processed meats, with an equivalent amount of avocado.
This old-fashioned recipe for Fried Cornmeal Mush is one that won't ever go out of style. Most Midwesterners will tell you it's one of their go-to breakfast staples, while some folks will say it makes a tasty side dish! However you eat it, there's no denying it's gooood.
- 2 3/4 cups water
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup bacon bits
- maple syrup for drizzling
- Coat an 8- x 4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
- In a saucepan, bring water to a boil over medium heat. Gradually stir in cornmeal, cold water, sugar, and salt; cook until thick. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour into loaf pan, cool, and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Invert onto board and cut into 1-inch slices.
- In a skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat and fry cornmeal slices for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle with bacon bits and drizzle with maple syrup.
1925 – Peter Sellers, English actor (d. 1980)
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