However, the amount of water needed depends on where it is grown; for example, in the main avocado-growing region of Chile, about 320 L (85 US gal) of applied water are needed to grow one avocado.[32]. In Kenya and Nigeria, the avocado is often eaten as a fruit alone or mixed with other fruits in a fruit salad, or as part of a vegetable salad. Click Here to SUBSCRIBE -- https://goo.gl/b4fiOA Troll / Like / Follow / Pin us at The United States imported the fruits, but they were a tough sell because Americans had a hard time saying the word. Avocado fruits have greenish or yellowish flesh with a buttery consistency and a rich, nutty flavour. [25] Sometimes the Nahuatl word was used with the meaning "testicle", probably due to the avocado's perceived resemblance to a testicle. Back then, avocados were called the Nahuatl word āhuacatl—which also happened to mean “testicles.” Scholars think the Nahua chose the name because of the fruit has a, uh, suggestive shape and was considered an aphrodisiac, according to NPR. They are five to eight centimetres long; the whole fruit may be eaten, including the skin. Avocados originally came from Mexico and Central America, where the indigenous Nahua people found them. avocado at USDA Plants database “Avocado” in Michael Quinion, Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, 2004, . See more. From this origin center, avocado dispersed to the southeastern part of the U.S., to the Antilles, to a large part of South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Las Guyanas, Brasil, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and Chile. Greetings, player! There are two main forms of allergy: those with a tree-pollen allergy develop local symptoms in the mouth and throat shortly after eating avocado; the second, known as latex-fruit syndrome,[76] is related to latex allergy[77] and symptoms include generalised urticaria, abdominal pain, and vomiting and can sometimes be life-threatening. More avocado facts to drop at your next party: The Aztec word for avocado, ahuacatl means “testicle”. 2. It is produced from an unpollinated blossom in which the seed does not develop. Another word for Opposite of Meaning of Rhymes with Sentences with Find word forms Translate from English Translate to English Words With Friends Scrabble Crossword / Codeword Words starting with Words ending with Words containing exactly Words containing letters Pronounce Find conjugations Find names 'Hass' avocados from Peru are seasonally available to consumers from May through September and are promoted under the auspices of the Peruvian Avocado Commission, headquartered in Washington, D.C. Other avocado cultivars include 'Spinks'. [17], The earliest residents were living in temporary camps in an ancient wetland eating avocados, chilies, mollusks, sharks, birds, and sea lions. “Seems to me that contemporary Nahuah get a giggle out of looking up at the fruit hanging in the trees and thinking of them as vegetable testicles,” says Dr. Karttunen. It is also common to serve layered multiple fruit juices in a glass (locally called Spris) made of avocados, mangoes, bananas, guavas, and papayas. Natural History New York, NY 91, no. O’Brien, Christopher, Jayeni CA Hiti-Bandaralage, Alice Hayward, and Neena Mitter. [2] It is used in both savory and sweet dishes, though in many countries not for both. Commercially valuable with production increasing worldwide over 2018-26 at 10% per year,[6][7] avocados are cultivated in tropical and Mediterranean climates of many countries. The Aztecs attributed aphrodisiac properties to the fruit motivated by the fact that they observed that the male Quetzal (a bird very important in many myths of this civilization) nested near the trees of avocado and ate of the fruit during the time of mating to ensure the fertility. [60] Known in the avocado industry as "cukes", they are usually discarded commercially due to their small size. The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins. The scion cultivar grows for another 6–12 months before the tree is ready to be sold. "For coming up with the greatest avocado in the world, my father's royalties totaled 4,800 bucks over the life of the patent," the younger Hass told the newspaper. Once the stem has grown a few inches, it is placed in a pot with soil. If there is no change by this time, the avocado pit is discarded. Avocado is the official fruit of the state of California.[50]. [71] Leaves of P. americana, Guatemalan variety, are toxic to goats, sheep, and horses. B varieties open as female on the afternoon of the first day, close in late afternoon and reopen as male the following morning. In Mexico and Central America, avocados are served mixed with white rice, in soups, salads, or on the side of chicken and meat. This limitation, added to the long juvenile period, makes the species difficult to breed. Avocados that fall off the tree ripen on the ground. [21], The earliest known written account of the avocado in Europe is that of Martín Fernández de Enciso (circa 1470–1528) in 1519 in his book, Suma De Geographia Que Trata De Todas Las Partidas Y Provincias Del Mundo. "Neotropical anachronisms: the fruits the gomphotheres ate." Avocado, also called alligator pear, fruit of Persea americana of the family Lauraceae, a tree native to the Western Hemisphere from Mexico south to the Andean regions. Science 215, no. [28], In other Central American and Caribbean Spanish-speaking countries, it is known by the Mexican name, while South American Spanish-speaking countries use a Quechua-derived word, palta. When even a mild frost occurs, premature fruit drop may occur, although the 'Hass' cultivar can tolerate temperatures down to −1 °C. Learn more. Yield is reduced when the irrigation water is highly saline. We recommend our users to update the browser. Avocados were known by the Aztecs as 'the fertility fruit', they The avocado, a true “ghost of evolution,” lives on. High winds reduce the humidity, dehydrate the flowers, and affect pollination. [14] There is evidence for avocado use at Norte Chico civilization sites in Peru by at least 3,200 years ago and at Caballo Muerto in Peru from around 3,800 to 4,500 years ago. [2] The fruit of the plant, also called an avocado (or avocado pear or alligator pear), is botanically a large berry containing a single large seed.[5]. Origin and Distribution. Marketers tried using “avagato pear” and “alligator pear” in reference to its shape (a more G-rated choice than the first time around). Originally, the Aztec word for avocado was "ahu?catl," which actually meant "testicle. [68] In Haiti, they are often consumed with cassava or regular bread for breakfast. There are some reasons to think that the fruit, with its mildly toxic pit, may have coevolved with Pleistocene megafauna to be swallowed whole and excreted in their dung, ready to sprout. [27] Because the word avogato sounded like "advocate", several languages reinterpreted it to have that meaning. In the United Kingdom, the avocado became available during the 1960s when introduced by Sainsbury's under the name 'avocado pear'. Prime quality varieties are therefore propagated by grafting to rootstocks that are propagated by seed (seedling rootstocks) or by layering (clonal rootstocks). [64] To prevent this, lime or lemon juice can be added to avocados after peeling. The trees also need well-aerated soils, ideally more than 1 m deep. Avocado is a primary ingredient in avocado soup. That is the case for programs at the University of California, Riverside, as well as the Volcani Centre and the Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias in Chile. Like the banana, the avocado is a climacteric fruit, which matures on the tree, but ripens off the tree. It is about the size and shape of a large pear; -- called also avocado pear, alligator pear, midshipman's butter. They are often eaten in salads, and in many parts of the world they are eaten as a dessert. The fruit is sometimes called an avocado pear or alligator pear (due to its shape and the rough green skin of some cultivars). Die Frucht ist aus botanischer Sicht eine Beere und hat historisch viele andere, heute seltene Bezeichnungen wie etwa Avocadobirne, Alligatorbirne oder Butterfrucht erhalten.. Der Baum hat seinen Ursprung im feuchtwarmen tropischen Regenwald … The plant normally grows large enough to be prunable; it does not bear fruit unless it has ample sunlight. The flesh of some avocados may be rendered inedible by heat. [40] The offspring is unlikely to be identical to the parent cultivar in fruit quality. Not only are they chock-full of good fats that keep your heart healthy and cut your cancer risk, but they taste dang delicious. The avocado tree has been traced back over 10 000 years, to the ancient civilisations of Guatemala and Mexico. [51] Peru has now become the largest supplier of avocados imported to the European Union and the second largest supplier to Asia and the United States. Persea americana is a tree that grows to 20 m (66 ft), with alternately arranged leaves 12–25 cm (5–10 in) long. Also called alligator pear, avocado pear. Avocado derives from the Aztec word, “ahuacatl”, meaning “testicle”, as it is a rather large, ellipsoid fruit. It's unknown whether that name came from the way that the avocado hangs from the tree in pairs, or if it was a reference to the aphrodisiac quality of the food. 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