Avocados are a popular, nutritious and tasty fruit grown in tropical and sub-tropical climates around the world. As one of nature’s most traditional and delicious treats, avocados offer a great nutritional balance for a healthy lifestyle. Avocados can be eaten on their own or used in salads, spreads and sandwiches. But before you pick and prepare your own avocados, it’s important to know when an avocado is ready to be picked from the tree.
The most important factor in determining when an avocado is ready to be picked from the tree is ripeness. An avocado should be left on the tree until it is fully ripe. Many engage in a technique known as “thumping” to determine ripeness. To thump an avocado, you hold your hand firmly over the bump on the avocado where the stem used to be. If the avocado gives a little, it’s ready to be picked.
Another way to tell if an avocado is ripe is to check the skin colour. Ripe avocados tend to be a dark green to purple in colour, while unripe avocados are usually bright green. Additionally, ripe avocados will be smoother in texture than unripe avocados, which tend to have more circular bumps. A last way to check for ripeness is by looking inside the stem end of the avocado. If the avocado is unripe, it will have a green flesh inside the stem end. On the other hand, a ripe avocado will have a yellow or brown flesh inside the stem end.
It is possible to buy unripe avocados from grocery stores, although their ripeness must be determined before consumption. Unripe avocados can be left to ripen in a paper bag at room temperature for 2-5 days. Generally, avocados that are picked unripe will not ripen as well as those that are left to ripen on the tree. Unripe avocados can also be ripened more quickly by placing them in a paper bag with a banana or apple.
How to Care for Avocado Trees
If you own an avocado tree, proper care is essential to ensure that you get a good harvest of ripe avocados. Firstly, the tree needs to be planted in a location with good, quick-draining soil. Additionally, avocado trees need lots of sunlight, so select a spot in your yard that gets at least six hours of sunlight a day.
Avocado trees also require regular water. While some species of avocado trees are drought-tolerant, most prefer about one inch of water each week. If the weather is especially hot or dry, you can increase the amount of water to up to two inches per week. Avocado trees should be fertilized in spring and early summer with a nitrogen-based fertilizer.
Additionally, avocado trees need lots of space. The tree will grow fairly quickly, so it is important to prune it regularly by removing dead or diseased branches, and thinning out any branches that cross. Pruning also helps to open up the canopy and increase the amount of light and air circulation to the tree.
What to Do with Ripe Avocados
Once you have a ripe avocado, there are many different ways to enjoy it. Many like to slice the avocado into wedges and eat with a sprinkle of lemon juice, sea salt and pepper. Avocados are also popular in salads and sandwiches. Additionally, avocados make an excellent base for dips, spreads and sauces. Guacamole is a popular dip made from avocado, tomato, onion, garlic and lemon juice.
Baked avocados are also a delicious option. Cut the avocado in half and fill the middle with an egg. You can also top with cheese, tomatoes, bacon and your favourite seasonings. Bake the filled avocado halves in the oven for 15-20 minutes and enjoy.
Finally, avocado can also be used as an ingredient in many desserts. A popular option to try is an avocado mousse. To make, you simply need to scoop out the avocados and blend with honey, lemon juice, cocoa powder, banana and coconut milk. Then you can pipe the mousse into small cups and chill until ready to serve.
Health Benefits of Avocado
Avocado is known for being a nutritious superfood. It is a rich source of vitamins A, C and E, as well as potassium, magnesium, iron and fibre. Eating avocados in moderation can help to promote overall health as it is an antioxidant-rich food, meaning it can help to reduce inflammation in the body. It is also high in healthy fats, which are known to reduce bad cholesterol levels. Additionally, the magnesium and potassium found in avocados are necessary for healthy bones and teeth.
Avocados also contain loads of antioxidants that can help to protect the body from free-radical damage. Free radicals are molecules that react with other molecules in the body and can damage DNA, proteins and other healthy cells. So, by reducing the number of free radicals in the body, avocados can help to reduce the risk of developing many conditions, such as heart disease, cancer and other illnesses.
Overall, avocados are a nutritious, delicious fruit that can offer numerous health benefits when consumed in moderation. Knowing when an avocado is ready to be picked from a tree is the first step to enjoying this tasty fruit.
Storage and Shelf-life of Avocados
To get the maximum shelf-life out of avocados, it is important to pick and store them correctly. If the avocado is picked from the tree and not completely ripe, it will have a longer shelf-life. Unripe avocados should be stored in a cool, dry place at room temperature. Once ripe, the avocado should be placed inside an air-tight container and stored in the refrigerator. This will preserve their freshness and flavour for up to four days.
If the avocado is already cut, it should be wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. In this way, the avocado can be kept fresh and relatively free of air-induced oxidation for two to three days. Additionally, a cut avocado can be frozen and then thawed out when needed. It is important to note, however, that the change in texture and darkening of the flesh is almost inevitable, meaning a frozen avocado should not be used for baking or mashing.
With proper care, avocados can remain fresh for one to two weeks. Additionally, it is important to wash the avocado with cold water before cutting as this will help to keep the fruit fresh for longer periods of time.
Harvesting Avocado
Avocados are a relatively easy fruit to harvest from the tree. Generally, it is best to wait until the fruit has reached its full size before picking. Additionally, it is important to use caution when harvesting avocados as the fruit can be quite fragile. Avocado pickers should use a pole picker or a gentle ladder to reach the fruit. It is also important to wear protective gloves as some varieties of avocados have spiky skins.
When picking avocados, it is important to handle them with care. The stem and other delicate parts of the fruit should be avoided as they can easily be damaged. Additionally, cut avocados should be left on the tree until ready to be picked. Finally, it is important to use a harvester or scissors to cut the fruiting stem from the tree. This will ensure that the stem does not tear and damage the fruit.
When harvesting, it is also important to be aware of any pests or diseases that may be present on the tree. Common avocado pests and diseases include fruit flies, avocado seed borer and anthracnose. If these pests or diseases are present, it is best to discard the fruit as pests and diseases can easily be spread from tree to tree.
Nutritional Content of Avocado
Avocado is known for its exceptional nutritional content. A one cup serving of raw, diced avocado contains approximately 240 calories. This serving also provides 11-16 grams of fat and 3-6 grams of protein. Additionally, avocados are a good source of dietary fibre, with two-thirds of a single avocado providing 6 grammes of dietary fibre. The same serving also provides 15% of the daily recommended intake of potassium and include healthy fats, such as oleic acid and monounsaturated fats.
Avocado’s most noteworthy nutrient is its high vitamin content. One cup of diced avocado contains 40% of the daily recommended intake of vitamin K, 25% of the recommended intake of folate, and 20% or more of the recommended intake of vitamin C, A and B-6. These vitamins are essential for healthy skin, hair, bones, teeth and overall health.
Environmental Impact of Growing Avocado
Like other agricultural products, growing avocados has an environmental impact. Avocados are very water-intensive fruits, meaning that growing them can require a large amount of water. Avocados also require chemical fertilizers and pesticides for successful growth, meaning that high levels of chemicals can be finding their way into the soil and surrounding ecosystems. Furthermore, many of the forests and wildlands have been cleared to make way for large scale avocado orchards, further damaging the environment.
Avocados are also a large contributor to deforestation in some countries. The large-scale avocado orchards have led to the destruction of vast areas of tropical forests for land to get planted. This large-scale deforestation has had a significant impact on the forest ecosystems and the communities that inhabit these areas. Not only is this deforestation harmful to the environment, but it also leads to the loss of biodiversity and the loss of food security.
Despite these negative effects to the environment, avocado farming can still be done with minimal environmental impact. The avocado industry has been exploring more sustainable ways of producing the fruit, such as using grey-water irrigation systems and planting native plants around the orchard to promote biodiversity. Additionally, farmers can look into organic farming practices and other sustainable agriculture techniques to help reduce the environmental impact of their farms.
