Avocados
Seasonality:
- Avocados are available year-round.
Health Benefits of Avocados:
- More than 75% of the fat in avocados is considered “good” fats, and can help manage blood pressure, increase absorption of essential vitamins and lower cholesterol.
- Avocados contain nearly 20 essential vitamins and minerals, including Vitamin K, folate, Vitamin C and potassium.
- Avocados are high in fiber.
How to Select Avocados:
- Gently squeeze an avocado. If it yields to pressure, it’s ripe and ready to eat. If it does not, it will take a few days to ripen.
How to Store Avocados:
- Store ripe avocados whole in the refrigeration for up to 2-3 days.
- Unripe avocados can take up to 5 days to ripen. Store unripen avocados at room temperature until ripe.
- To speed up the ripening process, place unripe avocados in a paper bag along with an apple or banana for up to 2-3 days, or until ripe.
- To store cut avocados, sprinkle with lemon or lime juice and place in air-tight container in refrigerator for up to 1 day.
How to Prepare Avocados:
- Always wash avocados before cutting.
- To cut, grip the avocado gently. Use a large, sharp knife to cut the avocado lengthwise around the seed. Twist to open the two halves to expose and remove the pit.
- Sliced avocado by either removing the peel and slicing, or slice while in the peel and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh.
Fun Facts:
- Avocados do not ripen on the tree. They ripen after they have been harvested.
- Avocados originated in Mexico 10,000 years ago.
- Avocados From Mexico account for over 80% of the US market for Hass avocados
- Per capita use of avocados tripled since the beginning of the 2000s and now totals over 7 pounds per person annually in the United States. (USDA Economic Research Service, 2017)
- Mexican Hass avocados are the only source of avocados available year-round!
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