Avocados contain more potassium than 26 other popular fruits and 19 popular vegetables. Peruse this list of nutrients and you can see avocados are a powerhouse of nutrition! Th The Avocado is probably descended from a very primitive wild form now limited to a small lowland area of Honduras and a small part of Costa Rica. There are three distinct 'races' of avocado (previously regarded as three closely related species) that arose from selection by the early colonizers of South America of better forms from the local wild populations. Primitive wild forms of the Mexican race have been found (guess where?) in Southern Mexico, primitive wild forms of the 'Guatemalan' race (the commercially important knobbly skinned 'Hass' variety is derived from this race) have been found in isolated parts of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Similarly, primitive wild forms of the 'West Indian' race (the typical thin-skinned tropical avocados are very often derived from this race) have been found in Colombia.
The wild avocado in it's natural range has small fruit, a large stone, and little flesh. Hunter gatherers appreciated this most nutritious of fruits from earliest times- the earliest evidence of human's association with avocados is from cave deposits in the Tehuacan Valley, near Puebla, Mexico. These deposits have been dated to more than 12,000 years ago. There is some suggestion from archaeological sites that avocados may have been selected for larger fruit size as long ago as 6,000 years ago. Selection by the native inhabitants continued up until their decimation by Spanish and Portuguese tribepeople. In fact, today's varieties are little improved over the varieties that were being grown by Native South Americans at the time of the European invasion of South America. Avocado fruits are a dream fruit for the human animal - heavy bearing, easily digestible, fruiting all year round (in tropical areas), no toxicity, they store 'on the tree' for months, nearly twice the amount of protein as rice, for example, and with a similar calorific value to sustain daily activity. e avocado is a fruit, not a vegetable! Because avocados are most often paired with other vegetables in salads and sandwiches, they're often mistaken for veggies themselves. The avocado, however, is actually a fruit--virtually the only fruit we eat that's high in fat. A medium-size avocado contains about 325 calories, or 55 for a fifth of an avocado, with most of those calories coming from fat. But before you banish guacamole from your Cinco de Mayo celebration, remember that most of the fat in avocados is of the healthy monounsaturated type. And studies have shown that substituting avocado for other sources of fat in the diet substantially lowers artery-clogging LDL cholesterol levels. Along with all those good fats, avocados offer a host of disease-fighting nutrients that may help fend off certain cancers and arthritis as well as boost eyesight and memory. Take advantage of the creamy, rich texture of an avocado by using it as the base for a salad dressing: Blend one avocado with rice vinegar and seasonings to taste. Or try my Thai Avocado Soup recipe (below) for a refreshing meal loaded with calcium and good fats. You can also use the chilled soup to top or dip sliced veggies or fruit. Avocados are a commercially valuable crop whose trees and fruit are cultivated in tropical climates throughout the world, producing a green-skinned, pear-shaped fruit that ripens after harvesting. Trees are partially self-pollinating and often are propagated through grafting to maintain a predictable quality and quantity of the fruit.