Unrefined avocado oil is considered one of the healthiest vegetable oils that can be consumed. It is a versatile oil that can be used for culinary purposes (exceptionally high in vitamin E and monounsaturated fats), suitable for dressings and sauces as well as for frying, due to its high smoke point of more than 490 degrees. Organic Avocado Oil is also a great “carrier” oil for other flavors; Avocado carrier oil is ideal for infusion with various herbs. In addition to its suitability as an edible, unrefined avocado oil is also excellent for use as a cosmetic and for repairing damaged skin.

Historical background

Bulk avocado oil comes from the fruit of the same name. The scientific name of the tree from which we obtain organic avocado oil is Persea Americana. It is native to the Caribbean coast of Mexico, and was apparently known to the pre-Inca peoples of present-day Peru. The word avocado itself is derived from a Nahuatl word, ahuacatl, which literally means “testicle.” This is most likely a reference to the shape of the fruit; Among the Aztecs, avocados were believed to confer fertility and have aphrodisiac properties.

Europeans could not have known about the benefits of organic avocado oil much earlier than 1500; the first written descriptions of the fruit date from a Spanish geography text written around 1520, and the first English accounts were not published until more than 180 years later.

Although not initially cultivated for bulk avocado oil, the plant itself was first exported abroad in 1750, when the first avocado trees were planted in Indonesia. He arrived in Brazil some fifty years later; by the 1890s, avocado plantations had been established in Rhodesia (present-day Kenya) and Australia. It was introduced to Lebanon and Palestine (present-day Israel) in 1908.

Today, the plants that are the source of healthy organic avocado oil are grown primarily in Mexico, California, Australia, New Zealand, and Kenya.

What is an avocado?

Although it grows on a tree and has a hole in it, it is actually considered a berry; that is, the source of bulk avocado oil is a fruit produced from a single ovary that matures into a fleshy, edible pulp surrounded by a skin. The seeds are embedded within this pulp.

Botanically, the avocado is a member of the bay family, along with bay leaves and cinnamon. More than a dozen types of avocados are currently grown; however, the most common varieties are the Hass avocado, which is a black fruit with a grainy-textured skin and a bulk avocado oil content of approximately 19%, and the Pinkerton, which has a smooth green skin.

Unlike most types of vegetable oils that are derived from the seeds, organic avocado oil is extracted from the fleshy pulp of the fruit.

More about avocado oil

As mentioned above, avocado carrier oil is fine for creating different flavored oils. Although fine for humans and other primates, organic avocado oil contains a fatty acid known as persin, which can be highly toxic to pets, particularly dogs, cats, and horses.

Although avocados are a perennial crop in the regions where they are grown (they can survive temperatures as high as 26 degrees Fahrenheit), organic avocado oil can be expensive, since relatively little of the crop is pressed for oil. However, it compares quite well to olive oil in terms of flavor and body; True foodies find organic avocado oil worth the extra cost.

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