SKILL INDIA

In the United States, California is the top producer of avocados and is home to more than 5,000 avocado farms, which generate
over 400 million pounds of avocados each year. Avocados contain a wide range of nutrients and may have various health benefits. These include improving digestion, lowering the risk of depression, preventing bone loss, supporting heart health, and protecting against cancer. Avocados are a source of vitamins C, E, K, and B6, as well as riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and potassium. They also provide lutein, beta carotene, and omega-3 fatty acids. Avocados contain high levels of healthy, beneficial fats, which can help a person feel fuller Trusted Source between meals. Eating fat slows the breakdown of carbohydrates, which helps keep blood sugar levels stable. The fruit of domestic varieties have smooth, buttery, golden-green flesh when ripe. Depending on the cultivar, avocados have green, brown, purplish, or black skin, and may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or spherical. For commercial purposes the fruits are picked while unripe and ripened after harvesting. The nutrient density and extremely high fat content of avocado flesh are useful to a variety of cuisines and are often eaten to enrich vegetarian diets. Persea americana is a tree that grows to 9-20 m (30-66 ft) with a trunk diameter between 0.3-0.6 m (0.98-1.97 ft). The leaves are 7.62-25 cm (3-10 in) long and alternately arranged. Panicles of flowers with deciduous bracts arise from new growth or the
axils of leaves. The tree flowers thousands of blossoms every year. Avocado blossoms sprout from racemes near the leaf axils; they are small and inconspicuous 5-10 mm (3/16-3/8 in) wide. They have no petals but instead 2 whorls of 3 pale-green or greenish-yellow downy perianth lobes, each blossom has 9 stamens with 2 basal orange nectar glands. The fruit of horticultural cultivars has a markedly higher fat content than most other fruit, mostly monounsaturated fat, and as such serves as an important staple in the diet of consumers who have limited access to other fatty foods (high-fat meats and fish, dairy products). Having a high smoke point, avocado oil is expensive compared to common salad and cooking oils, and is mostly used for salads or dips.

A ripe avocado yields to gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed. The flesh is prone to enzymatic browning, quickly turning brown after exposure to air. To prevent this, lime or lemon juice can be added to avocados after peeling. It is used in both savory and sweet dishes, though in many countries not for both. The avocado is common in vegetarian cuisine as
a substitute for meats in sandwiches and salads because of its high fat content.

Generally, avocado is served raw, though some cultivars, including the common ‘Hass’, can be cooked for a short time without becoming bitter. The flesh of some avocados may be rendered inedible by heat. Prolonged cooking induces this chemical reaction in all cultivars. In Mexico and Central America, avocados are served mixed with white rice, in soups, salads, or on the side of
chicken and meat. They are also commonly added to pozole. In Peru, they are consumed with tequenos as mayonnaise, served as a side dish with parrillas, used in salads and sandwiches, or as a whole dish when filled with tuna, shrimp, or chicken. In Chile, it is used as a puree-like sauce with chicken, hamburgers, and hot dogs; and in slices for celery or lettuce salads. The Chilean version of Caesar salad contains large slices of mature avocado. Avocados in savory dishes, often seen as exotic, are a relative novelty in Portuguese-speaking countries, such as Brazil, where the traditional preparation is mashed with sugar and lime, and eaten as a dessert or snack. This contrasts with Spanish-speaking countries such as Chile, Mexico, or Argentina, where the opposite is true and sweet preparations are rare. With the exception of the Philippines, a former Spanish colony where avocados are traditionally used in sweet preparations and savory uses are seen as exotic. In Ethiopia, avocados are made into juice by mixing them with sugar and milk or water, usually served with Vimto and a slice of lemon. It is also common to serve layered multiple fruit juices in a glass (locally called Spris) made of avocados, mangoes, bananas, guavas, and papayas. Avocados are also used to make salads.
In Kenya and Nigeria, the avocado is often eaten as a fruit alone or mixed with other fruits in a fruit salad, or as part of a vegetable salad. In Ghana, they are often eaten alone on sliced bread as a sandwich. In Sri Lanka, their well-ripened flesh, thoroughly mashed or pureed with milk and kitul treacle (a liquid jaggery made from the sap of the inflorescence of jaggery palms), is a
common dessert. In Haiti, they are often consumed with cassava or regular bread for breakfast. Raw avocado flesh is 73% water, 15% fat, 9% carbohydrates, and 2% protein (table). In a 100 gram reference amount, avocado supplies 160 calories, and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of several B vitamins (such as 28% DV in pantothenic acid) and vitamin K (20% DV), with moderate contents (10-19% DV) of vitamin C, vitamin E, and potassium. Avocados also contain phytosterols and carotenoids, such as lutein and zeaxanthin.