Avocado, also called alligator pear, is a fruit native to the Western Hemisphere from Mexico south to the Andean regions. It is commonly used as a vegetable despite the fact that it is a fruit. Avocado fruits have greenish or yellowish flesh with a buttery consistency and a rich, nutty flavour. Like the banana, the avocado is a climacteric fruit, which matures on the tree, but ripens off the tree. The flesh should be virtually fibreless and of agreeable flavour and, for the dieter, of low oil content. They are often eaten in salad, milkshake, ice cream, soup, cake, toast, Japanese rolls, sandwiches and desserts. Apart from being consumed as fresh fruits, their oil is also used as cooking oil and used in cosmetic industry. Avocado is highly nutritious and unique amongst fruits in that it contains mono-unsaturated fat type of oil.
