The crop of the day:
Avocado (Persea americana )
© Paul Gepts 2002
Updated May 28, 2002
Avocado (Persea americana )
Sources
Sauer JD (1993) Persea - Avocado and congeners. In: Historical
geography of crop plants. CRC, Boca Raton, FL: pp. 93-97
Bergh BO (1976) Avocado. In: Simmonds NW (ed) Evolution of crop
plants. Longman, London: pp. 149-151.
California Avocado Commission
Calavo: California Avocado
Growers Exchange Univ. of California:
Avocado
Avocado, the plant
Tropical tree, wide ecological distribution in the tropics
Reproductive system: floral dichogamy: synchronous complementarity
of the 2 flowering types: female receptivity vs. pollen production; maintains
outcrossing and heterozygosity
Some 80 species, most from New World; most distantly related from
P. americana
P. americana : 3 cultivated subdivisions + additional related
wild "species", actually varieties of P. americana
Avocado, the crop
Three subdivisions: increasing cold tolerance
var. americana (West Indian): tropical, large fruits with
lowest oil content
var. guatemalensis (Guatemalan): subtropical, intermediate,
thickest and roughest skin, rounder fruits
var. drymifolia (Mexican): semi-tropical; smallest fruit,
highest oil content, thinnest skin
Independent domestications: Colombia; Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras;
Mexico, respectively
No clear line between wild and cultivated:
Relationships among Persea taxa: RFLPs for cpDNA, rDNA, and cellulase
(Furnier et al. 1990)
Avocado, history and prehistory
Archaeology:
Tehuacán, Mexico: 7,000 BC: wild; 500 BC: cultivated
Huaca Prieta, Peru: 750 BC: cultivated
Linguistics:
Nahuatl: ahuacacuauhitl, testicle tree --> aguacate --> avocado
Mayan: on
Quechua: palta
Dissemination:
West Indian: Greater Antilles
Mexican: Chile, Spain, Canaries
Until recently, limited planting; now: Israel, South Africa, Australia,
New Zealand
U.S.: CA, FL: main producing states
Fuerte (1911), Hass (1930s)
Calavo: grower cooperative
speculative planting
microirrigation (Israel)
Avocado, it uses
Advantages:
Availability over long time span: tree crop, heterogeneity of groves
Stores well on the tree; i.e. will ripen only after harvest
Ripens slowly after picking if kept cool
Composition:
Rich in fats (mostly unsaturated), similar to olive oil; no cholesterol;
rich in dietary fiber
Rich in vitamins (folacin, vit. A, B6, and C) and minerals (K)
Cultivars:
Fuerte: Mexican x Guatemalan: world's leading cultivar; selected
in the groves of the Rodiles family, Atlixco, Puebla, Mexico
Hass: predominantly Guatemalan: 90% of CA crop (CA produces 90%
of domestic crop)
Supposedly an aphrodisiac:
Absent from gardens of Spanish missions
Some Avocado Recipes
Before you buy them:
After you have bought them:
How To Grow Avocados
RFLPs for cpDNA, rDNA, and cellulase
(Furnier et al. 1990)