Avocado – Aguacate, Persea americana

Within the PermaTree FoodForest we grow high diversity of fruits.

Avocados are rather unique type of fruit which have been cultivated for thousands of years on our planet. The avocado is a tree that is native to Mexico and Central America. The avocado refers to the fruits, botanically a large berry that contains a single seed.
The word “avocado” comes from the Spanish aguacate, which in turn comes from the Nahuatl word āhuacatl, which goes back to the proto-Aztecan *pa:wa which also meant “avocado”.

The modern English name is not etymologically related to the similar-sounding Spanish word abogado, meaning ‘lawyer’ (as in advocate), but comes through an English rendering of the Spanish aguacate as avogato.

It is known as “butter fruit” in parts of India and goes by the name “bơ” in Vietnamese, which is the same word that is used for butter. In eastern China, it is known as “è lí” a direct translation of “alligator pear”) or huángyóu guǒ (“butter fruit”). In Taiwan, it is known as “luò lí” (“cheese pear”).

3rd year avocado status

The avocado is a key part in our Food Forest zones. July 2018 in out 3rd year on the farm one of the avocado trees seems to be going to have fruit very soon. Most likely in coming the dry / summer season. We are also growing many new avocados directly from seeds we buy at the market and additionally where lucky to get like 30 seeds from a neighbor which has 10 meter tall all year producing avocados trees just on the other side of the Zamora River about 1.5Km away from our farm. About 5 of the 35 avocados we have planted in the different zones on the farm have not grown at all and most of the trees we have been pruning so they wont grow much taller tan 2 meters in hight.

Health benefits of the Avocado

Avocado is loaded with Heart-Healthy Mono unsaturated Fatty Acids. In fact, 77% of the calories in it are from fat, making it one of the fattiest plant foods in existence. But they don’t just contain any fat … the majority of the fat in avocado is oleic acid. Now this Oleic acid reduces blood pressure, increases fat burning to help with weight loss, protects cells from free radical damage, may prevent type 2 diabetes, prevents ulcerative colitis and generates brain myelin.

For example Milk fat contains 25% oleic acid. Avocado contains about 18% to 30% oil healthy monounsaturated oil. Oleic acid is an monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid with many health benefits. The only other fruit with a comparable amount of monounsaturated fat is the olive. The monounsaturated fat in avocados is oleic acid, which helps lower cholesterol.

One study found that after seven days on a diet that included avocados, there were significant decreases in both total and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol as well as an 11 percent increase in the “good” HDL cholesterol. The Mediterranean Diet is one heavily influenced by monounsaturated fats. People in Mediterranean countries consume more total fat than Northern European countries, but most of the fat is in the form of monounsaturated fatty acids from olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids from fish, vegetables, and certain meats like lamb, while consumption of saturated fat is minimal in comparison. The diet in Crete is fairly high in total fat (40% of total calories, almost exclusively provided by olive oil) yet affords a remarkable protection from coronary heart disease (and probably colon cancer), but unlikely breast cancer due to a very high oleic acid content.

The avocado seed

The avocado seed can also be consumed. The seed has about 70 percent of the antioxidants that can be found in the whole avocado. The seed’s antioxidants lower cholesterol, helps fight off diseases, and studies show that the seed has more soluble fiber than oatmeal and just about any other food. They are also great for treating inflammation of the GI tract and diarrhea.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avocado
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monounsaturated_fat
http://authoritynutrition.com/12-proven-benefits-of-avocado/  http://www.livestrong.com/article/254258-health-benefits-of-avocado-seed/  http://omtimes.com/2012/10/13-great-benefits-of-eating-avocado-seeds/
http://inhumanexperiment.blogspot.com/2012/08/avocados-and-cholesterol.html
http://www.mercola.com/infographics/avocado-uses-health-benefits.htm