Avocado (Persea americana)

Alpukat or avocado (Persea americana) is a plant species in Lauraceae, a small tree with a height of 3-10 m, taproot, woody stem, round, brown, many branched and fine-haired twigs. Leaf buds are reddish and have tight hair, while old leaves are green and bare.

P. americana has a single leaf crammed at the end of a branch with a stem length of 1.5-5 cm, shaped long to round egg length, thick as a leather, pointed tip and base, the flat edge sometimes slightly curled upward, bone pinnate, 10-20 cm long and 3-10 cm wide.

Large avocado trees produce millions of flowers in a season. Compound flowers, androgynous, arranged in panicles that come out near the tips of the branches, greenish yellow. A single female flower with a long stamen and ends with an enlarged anthers.

Each flower has three stamens in the inner stamen and six in the outer stamen. Hermaphrodite flowers but dichogamy in which each flower blooms twice at different times. Female flowers bloom on the first day and male flowers bloom the next day.

The fruit is spherical or ovoid, has a length of 5-20 cm, is green or yellowish green or has purple spots, weighs 200-400 grams, but can sometimes be 600-700 grams depending on the variety. A tree produces around 200 fruits/tree.

Ripe fruit contains soft mesocarp, yellowish green and fatty with a thin layer of skin bordering the seed coat. Signs of maturity when the fruit is shaken will sound because the seeds are released from the mesocarp and the cavity is widened.

Alpukat have a great fruiting season in December-February and a reserve fruiting season in May-June. Each fruit has a large seed in the middle, spherical, 2.5-5 cm in diameter and reddish white.

P. americana grows at an altitude of 5-1500 m, but will flourish at 200-1000 m. This plant requires strong winds for the pollination process, but no more than a speed of 62.4 km / h which will break the soft and brittle branches.

Minimum rainfall for growth is 750-1000 mm/year, while other varieties are at 2500 mm/year. The need for sunlight ranges from 40-80% and a temperature of 12.8-28.3C, but can tolerate 2C and some varieties survive at -4.5C.

Avocado grows optimally requires loose soil, not easily flooded, good drainage systems and contains lots of organic matter. Good types of soils are sandy loam, clay loam and alluvial loam with a pH of 5.6-6.4.

Every fruit 100 g contains vitamin B and vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin E and potassium, also contains phytosterols and carotenoids such as lutein and zeaxanthin. About 75% of energy comes from fat where 67% is monounsaturated fat as oleic acid.

Fruit has a function as an important staple in foods that have limited access to other fatty foods such as meat, high fat fish and milk. Alpukat oil is more expensive than ordinary salads and cooking oils.

The fruit is not sweet, but has a different taste and smooth texture for savory and sweet dishes. Avocados are common in vegetarian cooking as a substitute for meat in sandwiches and salads for high fat content.

Generally served raw, although some cultivars can be cooked for a short time without becoming bitter. Avocados are often used for milkshakes and are sometimes added to ice cream and other desserts.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Angiosperms
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Persea
Species: P. americana

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