This is how many of the citizens who have incorporated this pear-shaped tropical fruit into their daily lives feel in just a few years: the avocado.
This ‘green gold’ is known for its buttery, nutritious flesh and versatility, making it a perfect ingredient for a wide variety of dishes.
Avocado: the trendy superfood
The avocado is also on the list of ‘superfoods’ for its health benefits, since it provides numerous nutrients to our body: It is rich in protein, fiber, essential fatty acids, minerals and vitamins.. “The water content of avocado is lower than that found in most fruits, while the lipid content, as in the case of olives, is much higher, which increases its caloric value”, publishes the Ministry of Agriculture , Fishing and Food (MAPA).
It adds that “the fats it contains are mostly unsaturated (monounsaturated), highlighting in particular the high content of oleic acid. In addition, it is one of the most rich in fiber, both soluble and insoluble, the latter being more abundant. It is rich in minerals such as magnesium and potassium. And in terms of its vitamin composition, the avocado provides remarkable amounts of vitamin E —a powerful antioxidant—, unlike the rest of the fruits that barely contain it. In addition, its consumption contributes to cover the needs of other vitamins such as vitamin C, and, to a lesser extent, vitamin B6”.
avocado varieties
The avocado is the fruit of the tree of the same name, an evergreen from the Lauraceae family. And it is an arboreal species native to Mesoamerica. The ancient Aztecs called it ahuacatl (testicle), since it was considered an aphrodisiac fruit. The first Spaniards who arrived in America baptized it as ‘pear of the Indies’.
There are different varieties. The most commercialized at the moment are hash (the best known: small, rough and with dark skin and yellow pulp), Bacchusn (the earliest and green variety), cocktail or date (elongated fruit without a central stone, with a fine and delicate flavor), strong (dull pear-shaped and with thin skin) and, finally, pinkerton (long and pear-shaped, with rough skin). As there are so many varieties with different harvesting times, avocados can be found on the market both in winter and in summer.
Spain is the only European producer thanks to the subtropical Mediterranean climate
Production
The avocado has been gaining popularity since the late 1990s, although the explosion of this product began in 2014, as stated by the World Avocado Organization (WAO). But its success has also come at a cost to the environment.
The boom it has led to rampant deforestation, especially in areas like Mexico’s mountainous Michoacán, the world’s leading producer of avocados. In 2018, the Central American country cultivated some 2.2 million tons, according to Statista. From afar, they are followed by the Dominican Republic, Peru, Indonesia and Colombia.
Since 2014, the demand for ‘green gold’, associated with healthy food, has not stopped increasing, especially in the United States, Canada and the European Union. And here comes another negative impact on the environment: the enormous distance that avocados have to travel to reach consumers and the consequent CO2 emissions.
Consumption in the EU
The younger generations, people between 20 and 30 years old, are the ones who consume avocados the most. Social networks, such as Facebook and Instagram, have played an important role in this popularization (the hashtag #avocado currently has more than 11,000,000 publications on Instagram).
The consumption of avocados in the EU grew 8% in the 2017-2018 period compared to 2016-2017. Since 2012-2013, consumption has increased by 110%, according to data from the Center for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI), an organization in the Netherlands. And it is estimated that demand will continue to grow, since the stagnation of consumption in the EU at just over 600,000 t (1.2 kg / capita) in 2019 was in no way indicative of a slowdown in demand. Rather, it was the offer that was missing.
Experts consider that there is still growth potential in consumption in the European Union, where Spain is the only producer thanks to the subtropical Mediterranean climate. In 2019, 14,104 hectares were dedicated to this crop in Spain, with a production of 97,727 tons compared to 10,470 hectares and 75,655 tons in 2010. Malaga (with 7,390 hectares) and Granada (2,683 hectares) concentrate most of the land destined for this fruit. More specifically, the majority of this crop on a national scale accumulates in the Axarquia region, east of Malaga, considered the “avocado capital” of our country, where the harvest takes place between the months of November and May.
Avocado is very thirsty and requires about twice as much water as growing oranges
The environmental impact of its cultivation
But also here the success of this tropical fruit is not being gratuitous. GENA Ecologists in Action of the Axarquia, which has just published the book The bubble of subtropical crops and the hydric collapse of the Axarquia, denounces that the situation is already unsustainable by the water deficit caused by these plantations, which consume most of the water in the region. And it is that the avocado is very thirsty and requires, for example, about twice as much water as growing oranges.
Environmentalists have been denouncing for years that these crops “damage the morphology of the landscape (the tendency to flatten the relief, with very large earth movements and filling of valleys) and contribute to soil loss.” And they add: “They increase erosion, the loss of soil nutrients, organic matter, all of which leads to a progressive impoverishment of the site and loss of productivity.”
