Also Known as
Butter Fruit, Kulu Naspati or Makhanphal
What is Avocado?
Avocado is a large, fleshy pear-shaped berry. It has a single large seed surrounded by buttery pulp and hard skin. The outer skin is yellowish-green to maroon or purple in colour, while the soft flesh is a pale yellow-green.
The flesh has a texture similar to a firm ripe banana, smooth and buttery, with a faintly nutty flavour. This lends itself to a various recipes ranging from sandwiches and salads to smoothies and milkshakes.
Avocado cubes
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To chop an avocado, hold it in your hand, and slice through the skin and the flesh to the pit all the way around, lengthwise. Twist each half in opposite directions to separate them, remove and discard the seed and use a spoon to scoop out the pit. Cut into big chunks of cubes.
Avocado pulp
To chop an avocado, hold it in your hand, and slice through the skin and the flesh to the pit all the way around, lengthwise. Twist each half in opposite directions to separate them, remove and discard the seed and use a spoon to scoop out the pit. Chop and blend in a mixer to obtain a smooth pulp.
Avocado strips
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To chop an avocado, hold it in your hand, and slice through the skin and the flesh to the pit all the way around, lengthwise. Twist each half in opposite directions to separate them, remove and discard the seed and use a spoon to scoop out the pit. Cut each half into thin vertical strips lengthwise.
Chopped avocado
To chop an avocado, hold it in your hand, and slice through the skin and the flesh to the pit all the way around, lengthwise. Twist each half in opposite directions to separate them, remove and discard the seed and use a spoon to scoop out the pit. Chop as desired.
Mashed avocado
Chop a ripe avocado as described above, and mash the flesh with a fork, to form a soft creamy pulp.
Sliced avocado
To slice an avocado, hold it in your hand, and slice through the skin and the flesh to the pit all the way around, lengthwise. Twist each half in opposite directions to separate them, remove and discard the seed and use a spoon to scoop out the pit. Slice the avocado into segments. Over-riped avocados are difficult to slice, hence choose a medium-riped fruit, if you have to slice them.
How to Select Avocado
• Select heavy fruits, with an even and unblemished texture, uniformly hard or soft over the entire surface.
• Avoid any with bruises or soft spots, and those with a hollow between the flesh and skin.
• Shake the avocado to test. If the pit is loose, reject it.
• Avocados do not ripen until picked, so fresh ones will be as hard as rocks. It will however ripen in your fruit bowl, so worry not!
• In fact, it is better to buy hard ones and ripen it at home, as ripe avocados tend to bruise easily in the market.
• To test if your avocado is ready to use, press gently. If the fruit yields, it is ripe.
5 Uses of Avocado
1. Even though the flavour of avocados is mild and almost buttery, it is used to make one of the most famous dips of all time – Guacamole. A touch of salt does wonders, heightening the flavour and bringing out the depth along with garlic, tomatoes and chillies. A dash of lemon makes it even better.
2. Avocados and tomatoes are a perfect match – the acid in the tomatoes perks up the flavor of the avocados. Try tossing them together as a simple Avocado Salad or experiment with different vegetables and fruits.
3. Mashed avocado is popularly used as a sandwich spread, as a replacement to butter or cheese. Sliced avocado may also be used in sandwiches.
4. It can be used in various desserts as well. Whipping mashed avocado gives it a very airy texture that can be used to make Avocado Ice cream and Chocolate Mousse
5. As avocados are nutritious and full of vitamins, their intake should be increased. For that, they can be mixed with different types of vegetables and fruits to make smoothies.
How to Store Avocado
• Do not store unripe fruits in the refrigerator, as they will never ripen thereafter.
• The ripe fruit may be stored in the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator for two or three days.
• To freeze avocado, puree the flesh of two avocados with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar, and pack in an airtight container.
7 Super Health Benefits of Avocado
1.Antioxidant Gallore : Lutein and Glutathione are the main antioxidants in avocado which work towards building a healthy YOU. The main job of antioxidants is to prevent free radicals damage to the cells. These free radicals, which are formed due to metabolism, stress, pollution etc., if not warded off have the power to damage cells of the body. Try a complete antioxidant drink like Avocado Kale and Mango Pulp Smoothie.
2.Vitalizes the Skin & Promotes Vision :Vitamin E, another antioxidant, plays an important role in a youthful skin. Vitamin E increases the moisture and flexibility of your skin. By keeping your skin healthy, it makes you look younger and feel better. It also helps treat sun burn. Furthermore, vitamin C, a water soluble vitamin also contributes in skin health. It participates in collagen synthesis – a protein highly needed to maintain the elasticity of the skin. Avocado Grapefruit and Strawberry Salad fulfills 69% of your days requirement for vitamin C and 8% of requirement of vitamin E. These 2 vitamins along with protein from Avocado also improve vision and reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration and cataract too.
Click here to know more about the 7 Super Health Benefits of Avocado.
Nutritive Information for Avocado :
½ cup of chopped avocado is about 75 grams
RDA stands for Recommended Daily Allowance.
Energy – 120 calories
Protein – 1.5 g
Carbohydrate – 6.3 g
Fat – 11 g
Fiber – 5 g
Vitamins:
7.5 mg of Vitamin C = 18.8% of RDA (about 40 mg)
60.8 mcg of Folate (vitamin B9) = 30.4% of RDA (about 200 mcg)
1.6 mg of Vitamin E = 15.8% of RDA (about 10 mg)
Minerals:
9 mg of Calcium = 1.5% of RDA (about 600 mg)
0.4 mg of Iron = 1.8% of RDA (about 21 mg)
21.8 mg of Magnesium = 6.4% of RDA (about 340 mg)
39 mg of Phosphorus = 6.5% of RDA (about 600 mg)
363.8 mg of Potassium = 7.7 % of RDA (about 4700 g)
5.3 mg of sodium
Glycemic Index
Avocado has low Glycemic Index as its high in good fat and protein . Glycemic Index are for foods you eat, ranks carbohydrate-containing foods by how quickly they digest and raise your blood sugar or glucose levels. Foods rank from 0 to 50 are low GI, 51 to 69 are medium and 70 to 100 are high.