Edible Products. 



156 



fruits, reports similar values for the avocado — i.e., flesh 67 per cent, seed 15 per cent 

 and skin 8 per cent. As the avocado contains about 75 to 80 per cent water and 

 consequently 20 to 25 per cent total nutritive material, it is apparent that 

 t is more directly comparable with succulent fruits and vegetables than with 

 isuch foods as bread. As regards the proportion of the water, protein, 

 crude fibre, and ash, the avocado is similar to common fruits like the apple, 

 pear and banana. In the case of nitrogen-free extract (sugar, starches, etc.) 

 the proportion reported in the avocado was smaller than in the other fruits 

 mentioned. The high percentage of fat in the flesh of the avocado is noteworthy, 

 a large proportion of this constituent in succulent edible fruit being very unusual. 

 In this respect the avocado suggests the olive, which is, of course, very rich in 

 this constituent, the flesh containing, according to recent analyses made at the 

 California Experiment Station, from 13 to 88 per cent. Generally speaking, a 

 higher percentage of fat is found in nut and oil-bearing seeds than in succulent 

 fruits, the high fat content being accompanied by a low water content, as in 

 the case of coconuts, cited in the table on page 155 (T.A.) 



Avocado fat is solid or semi-liquid at ordinary temperatures and has 

 been separated, being known as alligator pear oil, Persea fat, and avocado oil. 

 According to Andes, it has at present no commercial importance. Wright and 

 Mitchell state that avocado oil is very similar to laurel butter or bay berry fat, 

 from Lauras nobilis, which consists largely of glycerid of lauric acid, together 

 with a little myristin and other homologues and some olein. Olive oil is quite 

 different in chemical character, consisting of about 25 per cent, glycerids of solid 

 saturated fatty acids (palmitic, etc.) and 75 per cent, liquid glycerids, mostly 

 olein. Olive oil is known to be a valuable food product and quite thoroughly 

 digested. It is presumable that the avocado fat is also quite thoroughly 

 assimilated, although little can be said definitely concerning its nutritive value) 

 as apparently few, if any, investigations have been reported which bear upon 

 this question. Prinsen-Geerligs studied the carbohydrate constituents of the avo- 

 cado and reports 1*72 per cent, total sugar, which is made up of 0'4 per cent, 

 glucose, 46 per cent, fructose, and 0'86 per cent, saccharose. These figures, 

 taken in connection with the data reported by the Florida experiment station for 

 the total nitrogen-free extract (sugar and starch), would indicate that the starch 

 content is not far from 3 per cent. Considering all the available data, it seems 

 fair to conclude that the avocado has a fairly high food value as compared with 

 other succulent fruits, especially when its fat content and consequently rather 

 high energy value is considered, closely resembling pickled olives in this respect. 



COST OF PRODUCTION. 



In calculating the cost of production, the following are the chief factors to be 

 considered. Cost of land, cost of preparing the land, seed and planting, cost of 

 culture, age at which trees bear, life of trees, yield, cost of gathering and 

 marketing the fruit, price and extent of the market. The cost of land in tropical 

 countries is governed very largely by its position with reference to transport- 

 ation facilities. In Porto Rico, for example, land located along the main roads 

 and valued at $100 an acre could apparently be duplicated in localities 5 or 10 

 miles distant for $2 to $4 an acre. Thus, the bulk of a crop and its adapt* 

 ability to transportation over country roads are very important factors. With 

 avocados at anything like the present prices they would constitute a very 

 concentrated product, probably exceeding coffee in pound for pound value. 

 On the other hand the fruit must be delayed as little as possible after picking, 

 which, of course, militates against the selection of land too remote from a 

 shipping point. The cost of preparing the land varies in different localities, 

 but in most countries this item can be estimated with considerable accuracy, as 

 land is usually cleared by measure. 



