If you are confused weather Avocado a fruit or vegetable. Avocado is a fruit. Do not be confused by that greenish color, not because it is of that hue has to be definitely a vegetable. You may have heard that it is very good for your diet because it is an important source of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids (those that benefit our good cholesterol), but that does not necessarily make it a vegetable. The avocado, also known as avocado, is born from the Persea americana tree and is an exotic fruit, which has been consumed for centuries since even the time when dinosaurs roamed these lands.
It has its origin in Mesoamerica (southern half of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, as well as western Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) and it was the Aztec peoples who cultivated it for decades, which made it last until today. The name of the fruit comes from one of its words “ahuacatl”, which means “the testicles of the tree”, one that grows up to 20 meters high, but its fruit remains at a considerable height of about 5 meters.
Types of Avocados
There are 7 different varieties of avocados depending on their characteristics and properties:
Hass
It is the most common and the one most consumed in the world. Its long harvesting period throughout the year makes it the one with the most facilities to be cultivated. It is the one that is usually used to make guacamole.
Zutano
It is the most resistant to cold. It ripens in early winter, but the pulp is of poorer quality.
Bacon
Don’t be fooled by the name. Similar in quality to Zutano, since this variety is one of the most suitable for cold areas.
Strong
It is another type of avocado that maintains a considerable quality compared to Hass, although it is produced in less quantity.
Reed
These mature in summer. If you see an avocado that has a pronounced rounded shape, it is very likely of this type.
Pinkerton
It has good quality and finishes maturing between spring and summer.
Lamb Hass
It is very similar to the Hass variety, although larger and wider.
How much Avocado can we consume
According to dietitian and nutritionist Paula Arroyo, belonging to the Spanish Nutrition Foundation, the recommended amount of avocado will depend on the individual tastes and characteristics of each person (age, sex, physical activity level… but there are more points to take into account : “Being a fruit with a high lipid content, the consumption of a 200 g avocado represents 7% of the energy requirements and 17% of the recommended daily lipid intake for a man between 20 and 39 years of age who exercise moderately, and 9% and 22%, respectively, for a woman with the same characteristics. ” Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the rest of the foods in our diet in order to balance this part of good fats.
As Arroyo well says, it is not the only food with a good source of energy, macronutrients, vitamins and minerals, there is more that we must take into account due to its good properties: “Some micronutrients such as potassium or vitamin C, present in significant quantities in avocado, they also appear in most fruits and vegetables (onion, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, custard apple, kiwi or banana, among others). Vitamins E and B 6 are also found, for example, in oils and nuts as well as avocado ”.
So if you are thinking about those 5 daily fruits that you should eat a day, do not forget that avocado can be one of them.
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