PERSEA AMERICANA

THE AVOCADO is a one-of-a-kind fruit. Instead of ripening on the tree like most fruits, it ripens about a week or two after it’s picked—like Bartlett pears. Instead of sweetening up like most fruits as it ripens, it fattens up, filling itself with precious avocado oil.

Its flowers are also unique in the plant world. Like many plants, they contain both the female part (stigma) and male parts (stamens). But unlike any other plant, they open once a day for two hours on two successive days, changing their sex in the process. The first day, the stigma will accept pollen from other avocado flowers, but not its own. Then it closes. The next day, its stamens shed pollen, but its stigma is now dormant. So effectively, it’s a female flower the first day and a male flower the second day. Go figure.

The pre-Columbian peoples of the Americas grew avocados as far back as 5000 bce, according to archeological evidence. When the Spanish arrived around 1500 ce, they found avocados growing from the Aztec Empire in Mexico to the Inca Empire in Peru and northern Chile. The Aztec word for avocado was ahuacatl, which meant both the fruit and human testicles, since the fruit grows in pairs. The Aztecs prepared a delicious dish from avocados that they called ahuaca-mulli, and which we today call guacamole. You can easily see the similarity between the names, especially when you know that the g in guacamole is pronounced like an aspirated aitch.

THE ORGANIC FACTOR

Tons and tons of over 100 different chemicals are used on Califor-nia avocados each year, so it behooves us to look for organic growers. They’re out there. The Cali-fornia Certified Organic Farmers’ web site (http://www. ccof.org) lists about sixty growers. Thanks to national outlets like Whole Foods, organic avocados are available around the country now.

NUTRITION

While avocados have a high fat content, it’s good-for-you fat: Avocado oil has a greater percentage of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat (primarily oleic acid) than olive oil and, for cooking, a higher smoking point (490 degrees Fahrenheit) than olive oil.

Beyond the fat, avocados are nutritional champions. In one study, subjects were given a half to one and a half avocados per day. Total blood cholesterol began to fall in one week. Body weight didn’t increase. Although they can contain up to 30 percent fat, they average only 136 to 150 calories per half an avocado. They are good sources of vitamins, especially A, the B vitamins, C, and E. They’re 1.  ....read more