Avocado oil

Avocado tree & avocado fruit

The Avocado belongs to the plant family Lauraceae (laurel plants) and is a berry fruit, not a stone fruit. The 6 to 7 meter high avocado tree grows in many subtropical countries and prefers a warm climate, needs plenty of water and plenty of light. The tree is evergreen and does not shed its up to 45 cm long, dark green, pointed, spirally arranged leaves in winter.

Only after 4 years the avocado tree bears fruit. After about eight months it produces ripe fruit from its fine flowers. These are pear-shaped to round, the colour varies from green to dark red, purple to black. Depending on the variety, the skin is smooth or ribbed and they have different strengths. The weight of the up to 12 cm long fruits is between 140 g and 900 g depending on the variety. The golfball-sized kernel makes up about 13-18% of the whole avocado fruit. It encloses the small embryo. The colour of the fruit flesh ranges from green-yellow to golden yellow, has a nutty taste and is very soft. As soon as it is exposed to the air, the colour changes to a dark brown. Both the flesh and the seeds contain up to 30% fat. There are 400 different varieties of avocado in total. The most common varieties are the Fuerte avocado and the Hass avocado.