Avocado: Are you missing out on this amazing fruit?

It has stolen the hearts of celebrities—the likes of Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Victoria Beckham, Tom Selleck, to name a few. In like manner, world fashionistas, socialites and “wellness bloggers” rave about it and what’s more, it has turned into an instagram art food.

Amazing as it may sound, it is no more than just a simple fruit—the Avocado (Persea Americana Lauraceae).

You must have seen an avocado, or even tasted one. If not, you will want to work this wonder fruit into your meal plan for its incredible nutrient-dense value after reading this.

Does ‘alligator pear’ ring a bell? For its dark coarse rind, an avocado is also called an alligator pear. ‘Butter fruit’ is it’s another popular name. The next name of this fruit, I bet, will make you grin like a Cheshire cat.

Native to South Central Mexico and the Central America dating back to 10,000 years, the native peoples, the Nahuatl including the Aztecs, called this pebbly-skinned pear shaped fruit as the “Ahuacatl” meaning the “testicles.” The natives also believed it to be an aphrodisiac.

This pit-bearing fruit got its present name avocado in 1915 when a cadre of US Californian farmers joined force to start farming avocados on a large scale.

There are nearly 400 varieties of avocado found all around the world. Of them, the widely available are: the Hass, almost black in colour and coarse skinned. The other one is the green Fuerto with thinner smoother skin. Of the two, the Hass is more popular for its buttery texture and smaller pit.

Many would not know that avocados are packed with nearly 20 vitamins plus minerals and it is the only fruit that contains a substantial amount of monounsaturated fatty acids.

As little as half an average sized avocado is packed with almost 140 calories and 15 gram fat—75 per cent of the total fat being monounsaturated.  It’s cholesterol and sodium-free and rich in fibre, potassium and loaded with folates and vitamin E.

Little wonder, it has been labelled as the ‘wonder fruit’, ‘richest fruit on earth’, ‘super-food’ and has won many more accolades.