Name Avocado

Name	Avocado
Peak season	Year-round, depending on the variety
Uses	hand-fruit, salads, ingredient
Vegetation	tree
Scientific Name	Persea americana
Spanish Name	aguacate

Avocados originate in Mexico and Central American, and they have been cultivated and used in this region for several centuries. Its name comes from the Aztec word “ahuacatl”. This fruit has high nutritional value, containing lots of proteins and fat. Furthermore, aphrodisiac qualities have been attributed to this fruit.

Avocados are long, round fruits with one end being thinner than the other. The rind is green but will turn purple as it ripens. Avocado pulp is very soft and buttery, colored greenish at the outer side and yellow more to the inner side. The seeds are round and are always found in the wider end of the fruit’s body. Avocados can be eaten as hand-fruit, directly out of the rind, and it can be used for salads, cocktails, and some plates like the traditional “guacamole” (made from avocado, eggs, lemon, onion, and salt).

In Nicaragua there are several commercial varieties of avocados, plus some other local varieties. They can be found throughout the country and almost year-round as the different varieties ripen at different times of the year.