Avocado, West Indian Avocado

Where does Avocado grow?

Found in: Africa, Amazon, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Bougainville, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Terr., BIOT, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Caribbean, Central Africa, Central African Republic, Central America, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Congo DR, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Easter Island, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, FSM, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guiana, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Himalayas, Hispaniola, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Israel, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mariana Islands, Marquesas, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North America, Northeastern India, Pacific, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, PNG, Philippines, Pohnpei, Puerto Rico, Rotuma, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sikkim, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, St Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tasmania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, United States, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, West Africa, West Indies, West Papua, West Timor, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Notes: There are about 200 Persea species. Most are in America.

Status: It is an important fruit tree in many tropical and subtropical countries. The tree and fruit is getting quite wide acceptance at least in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Growing Avocado, West Indian Avocado

Cultivation: Plants are often grown from seed. Seeds remain viable for 2-3 weeks. Fresh seed held at 25°C day to 15°C night will germinate in 3 weeks. It is best to propagate vegetatively. Tip cuttings, layers and grafts can be used. Because different types have pollen at different times of day, for best pollination a mixture of trees which have pollen and flowers receptive at different times gives bet fruit set. Although trees will grow in shade, they need sun for fruiting. The leaves do not rot easily and can accumulate under trees. Other plants cannot be grown under avocado trees.

Edible Uses: The pulp of the fruit is eaten raw or cooked. It is eaten in salads, soups, sandwiches, spreads, ice cream, and also in tortillas and in wine. The fruit are mixed with sugar and water to make a drink. Oil is extracted from the flesh. It is used in salad dressing. The leaves can be used for tea sweetened with sugarcane juice. Toasted leaves are used to season stews and bean dishes. Caution: Some people are allergic.

Production: Seedlings grow quickly and continuously in warm, moist conditions. Seedlings bear after 5-8 years. Grafted trees can fruit in 1-2 years. A good tree produces 400-600 fruit each year. A fruit can weigh 50 g to 1 kg. In the subtropics trees often produce 2 main flushes of fruit per year. From fruit set to maturity can take 6-12 months. Fruit ripen off the tree in 4-14 days. For the Mexican types, the fruit weigh less than 250 g and they ripen 6-8 months after flowering.

Nutrition Info

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