ABSTRACT
Avocados The avocado, Persea americana Miller, originated in South America, where it has been an important part of the diet for thousands of years. There are three main types, namely Mexican, Guatemalan and 'West Indian', regarded as subtropical, semitropical and tropical, respectively. The crop is now grown in many parts of the world, including the Mediterranean basin. Western hemisphere countries predominate, however, the ten leading producers being Mexico, the USA, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Haiti, Peru, Israel, Venezuela and Colombia. World production is nearly 2 million tonnes, of which a small proportion is grown for export, mainly in California (6), Florida (9), Israel (5) and South Africa (4,7).
