Is Avocado a Vegetable or a Fruit? How to Properly Peel and Eat Avocado? Embarrassing Questions

Everything you need to know about avocado in 3 minutes.

The question "How do you eat avocado?" made it into the list of top queries on Google in 2019 from Ukrainian users. Tens of thousands of people do not know how to correctly eat and peel this green fruit. The TK Media editorial team decided to help everyone who wants to diversify their diet and explain what avocado is, how to peel it, and what it is eaten with.

Where avocado grows

Mexico is the world's main supplier of avocado, with the Dominican Republic in second place. Avocados are grown commercially in South American countries (Chile, Peru, Colombia, Brazil), the United States, Africa (South Africa, Congo, Kenya, Cameroon), Europe (Spain), and Israel. In general, avocado is cultivated in all countries with a tropical or subtropical climate. 

What avocado is good for

Avocado is rich in fats and oils and is considered one of the most nutritious fruits on the planet, which is why it is often used as a raw material for cosmetics production. Avocado contains about 118 kcal. When eating avocado, a person gets 75% of their energy from fats. 

Per 100 grams of avocado: vitamin K (14.6 mg), dietary fiber (3.65 mg), potassium (437 mg), folic acid salts (45 mg), vitamin C (5.77 mg), vitamin B6 (0.2 mg), copper (0.19 mg). Avocado is rich in protein (73/100 g), and fats make up 14.6 g.

How to choose a good avocado

Try the fruit by touch: if it is firm and springy, the avocado is ripe. If it is hard, it is overripe, and such a fruit is not worth buying because it will taste bad. If the fruit is soft and easily squeezed, it is underripe. However, avocados, like bananas, can ripen at home.

How to properly peel an avocado

Peeling an avocado is not difficult! Here is how to do it in a minute and a half.

You will need:

1. A knife;
2. A kitchen towel;
3. A spoon.

After washing the avocado, follow these instructions:

1. Cut the avocado in half lengthwise;
2. Twist the halves relative to each other and separate them;
3. Remove the pit. To do this, gently tap the pit with the knife so that the blade enters it, but not so hard that it cuts through. Remove the pit by twisting the knife and pulling it out of the fruit; the pit should easily come out of the flesh along with the knife.
4. Cut the avocado flesh however you like: lengthwise or into cubes. Or take a spoon and start eating. If you slice it, do so carefully: the avocado skin seems firm, but it cuts easily with a knife. Do not cut yourself.

The video instructions will show you:

What avocado is eaten with

Avocado is rarely eaten on its own; more often it is combined with other foods. Avocado can be spread on toast (like butter), added to a salad, or made into a dip for snacks (the well-known guacamole). You can also make a smoothie with avocado. Avocado goes well with both fish and meat: the only thing to remember is that avocado should be eaten raw to preserve all its beneficial nutrients.

You can view all the photos by switching the slider.

At the end of summer 2019, in Austrian stores, avocados began to be marked with lasers to reduce the use of paper for labels.