History of Avocados

History of avocados is still pretty mysterious, and is largely based on little factual proof and lots of deductions.

Avocados and the Aztecs

It is widely accepted that avocados have been cultivated for almost 7000-10000 years in Central and South America, due to several drawings and artifacts dating back to the Aztecs' first ages.

In the pre-incan city of Chan Chan, archaeologists found a water jar shaped like an avocado, dating back to A.D. 900.

Avocados in Europe

Martín Fernández de Enciso

The first literary accounts of avocados by European writers can be found in a book by Martín Fernández de Enciso (c. 1470–c. 1528), titled "Suma de Geografía que Trata de Todas las Partidas y Provincias del Mundo", published in 1518-19.

The first English record, instead, dates back to 1696, in a book by Hans Sloane (the Index of Jamaican Plants).

We have sparse data confirming that avocados were introduced to Indonesia by 1750, Brazil in 1809, the Levant in 1908, and South Africa and Australia in the late 19th century.

Modern Production

Beginning in the early 20th century, the first cultivation were formed in the United States, specifically in Florida and California. Avocados are now grown in most tropical and subtropical countries, and largest commercial producers include the United States (Florida and California), Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Colombia.

Ancient uses of Avocado and Etymology

Etymology tells us that the name avocado comes from a Nahuatl word "ahuacatl" (literally meaning "testicle", probably due to the shape of the fruit).

For this and other reasons, avocados were used as a sexual stimulant and were also known by the Aztecs as "fertility fruit". Most people who wanted to preserve an image of chastity did not purchase and consume avocados.

Avocados are called palta (a word of Quechua origin) in some countries of South America such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay. In some Spanish-speaking countries it is called aguacate, and in Portuguese it is abacate.

Its original Aztec name can be combined with other words or altered slightly, for example the word ahuacamolli means "avocado sauce", and it's probably the origin of the Mexican word guacamole.