Avocado Herbal Medicine
Avocado Health Benefits, Dosage, Side effects and Warnings.
Scientific Name: Persea americana
Common Name: Avocado, Alligator Pear (English); Aguacate, Palta (Spanish)
The fruit of Persea americana, commonly known as avocado, is an edible fruit from Central America which is easily adaptable in tropical regions. The avocado has an olive-green peel and thick pale yellow pulp that is rich in fatty acids such as linoleic, oleic, palmitic, stearic, linolenic, capric, and myristic acids. Avocado is normally used for human consumption, but it also known to provide many health benefits thus it is used in herbal medicine in Mexico and elsewhere in the world
The Avocado tree (Persea Americana) is an evergreen tree that is native to Central and South America. Avocado is classified as a flowering plant of Lauraceae family. Avocado can grow to heights of 40 to 80 feet and is well branched forming a broad tree.
Avocado is highly valued for its fruit and oil. Avocado is widely cultivated in southern American regions and was introduced in other countries with tropical climates.
The popular variety in the Untied States are grown in California and Florida. Other popular varieties are from Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Brazil and from west India. Avocado is commercially cultivated in Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malyasia, Sri Lanka, Japan, China, Spain, Palestine, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand,, and Hawaii.
Avocado leaves are alternate, glossy, elliptic or oval in shape, 3 to 10 inches long and dark green with paler veins. The Guatemalan and Mexican varieties are anise scented and are used for its medicinal properties, while other varieties are scentless. Avocado leaves contains high level of oil, shed its leaves every 2 to 3 years.
Avocado flowers are small, greenish, and perfect (has both male and female parts). Avocado flowers appear in January – March before the first seasonal growth. The pale-green or yellow-green flowers are borne profusely in racemes near the branch tips. They lack petals but have 2 whorls of 3 perianth lobes, more or less pubescent, and 9 stamens with 2 basal orange nectar glands.
The avocado fruit is oblong resembling a pear shape, that is about 10 to 30 cm long and about 12 to 16 cm wide. The skin of the avocado fruit may vary in texture and color. The skin may be yellow-green, deep-green, reddish-purple, purple or almost black, and sometimes speckled with tiny yellow dots.. The skin may be pliable to woody, smooth to rough, The flesh of the fruit is greenish yellow to bright yellow when ripe with buttery consistency. In some varieties of avocado the flesh may be fibrous. The avocado fruit has one large oblate, round or conical ovoid seed which constitutes 15 to 25% of the fruit weight. Avocado seed is coated with two brown thin papery layer that is lightly attached to its ivory colored core.. Avocado fruits range from 150 grams to more than a kilo in weight.