The avocado (Persea americana) is a tree native to Mexico and Central America, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel. Botanically the avacardo is actually a large berry that contains a single seed. Avocados have a green-skinned, fleshy body that may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or spherical. Commercially, they ripen after harvesting.
The fruit has a markedly higher fat content than most other fruit, mostly monounsaturated, and as such serves as an important staple in the diet of various groups where access to other fatty foods (high-fat meats and fish, dairy products, etc.) is limited, it is also very popular in vegetarian cuisine, as substitute for meats in sandwiches and salads because of its high fat content.
Sick of buying unripe avocado at the supermarket?? A ripe avocado yields to gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed.