UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



% BULLETIN No. 1073 



jrC^^fi, 



Contribution from the Bureau of Chemistry 

 W. G. CAMPBELL, Acting Chief 





Washington, D. C. 



May 12, 1922 



SOME CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF CALI- 

 FORNIA AVOCADOS DURING GROWTH. 



By C. G. Church, Assistant Chemist, and E. M. Chace, Chemist in charge, Laboratory 

 of Fruit and Vegetable Chemistry. 1 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



The California avocado industry 1 



Purpose of investigation 2 



Investigational work: 



Methods of sampling 3 



Methods of analysis 4 



Results of investigation 4 



Page. 

 Discussion of results: 

 Composition of standard varieties tested ... 15 

 Correlation between maturity and compo- 

 sition 16 



Conclusions 22 



THE CALIFORNIA AVOCADO INDUSTRY. 



Avocado growing is still one of the infant industries of California. 

 Although many single trees or small groups of trees have been in 

 existence for some time, real attempts at commercial production 

 extend back for little more than 10 years. About 45,000 trees are 

 now registered, but the greater part of these are not in bearing and 

 many more are dooryard trees not intended for commercial purposes. 

 Large commercial plantings are rare and the industry will not reach 

 its maximum for years to come. All of the different varieties now 

 being planted are more or less in the experimental stage, for no large 

 planting is old enough yet to tell what the trees will do at an advanced 

 Bge under orchard conditions. 



It would be difficult to list all the varieties of the avocado in 

 California, for new types of trees are being continually raised from 

 Beed and the first fruits of several such trees are exhibited at prac- 

 tically all of the meetings Of the California Avocado Association. 

 The finil of BlOSl of these ! ices, however, is too poor to he of use, SO 



1 'I;. i Indebted to the California Avocado Association, a cooperative body of avocado [rowers, 



and to many individual growers for infc ■ materia] of great assistance is this investigation. 



94446 M Bull. 1073 — 1 



