In the fruit world, there are varieties types with thousands level of colors, tastes, and strange names. Avocado is one among them. The special texture and color of this fruit is compared to butter, and it is also known as butter fruit. Let find down some interested things about this fruit.
History of avocado
Avocado or Persea Americana (or also known as alligator pear or butter fruit) is a member of Lauraceae – a flowering plant family. There are many similar species of this fruit which evidences shown their existence around the north to California area from million years ago. However, the exact avocado type was believed to originate to Mexico and the consuming of this food was found there around 10 millennia BC.
It was then cultivated widely in Central and South America. From the early of 15th century, it was popular planted in Europe, Asia, South Africa, Australia, the Levant and many other areas recently.
Description
Avocado trees are usually high to 20 m with long green leaves and small yellow-green flower raceme. They are grown well in tropical and Mediterranean areas.
The fruits’ shape ranges from pear, egg to sphere with a thin skin covers a thick flesh layer and a hard seed at the center. Their skins are mostly in green color and could be smooth or lumpy.
Avocados are harvested when mature but unripe, and they will ripen then. They need to be harvested very carefully because this fruit is easy to be damage if dropped down the ground or collided although unripe. We couldn’t see the damage when harvesting but only when the fruits ripen.
Avocados are hard when unripe and soft when ripe. The ripe fruit skins could be in green, purple-red, dark purple or sometimes black. The flesh however opposes to the outer with smooth and soft slightly yellow texture or some types ivory. If you have tried the ripe avocado, you would love its slight sweet, fresh and fatty taste. This fruit is very popular in culinary especially making smoothies, salads, and skincare recipes.
Avocados and worms
If you have known the avocado trees, you would also know their worm. The two popular types which affected the plants are Seirarctia echo (orange worm with black-white crossed strike and black hair) and Feltia subterrania (a grey brown worm). They are two types of moth with scary outfit and hardly harm to the avocado plants. They eat the immature trees, the mature leaves and lower the development of the plants.
Till the worms mature to build cocoons and become moths, they would destroy our avocado trees if we don’t stop them. The sight of hundreds of orange worms crawl up and down as queues steadily on the trunk could be nightmare to anybody that catches it. That’s why different ways are used to stop these insects to protect the trees and help them in their giving tasty fruits to our consuming.
