Green gold, Israeli innovation to solve world avocado needs

Frustrated sushi fans and other avocado lovers will be thrilled that the long summer dry spell of avocado scarcity, and accompanying exorbitant prices, are drawing to a close, reports Trend referring to Jerusalem Post.

Israel's avocado season officially began on Tuesday with the arrival of Galil avocados to stores. The Galil, an Israeli innovation, begins to produce flowers before other strains and therefore is the first to bear fruit in the new season.
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Israeli farmers currently cultivate six different types of avocados, in addition to the Galil, including the Ettinger, another Israeli innovation which is picked at the end of September, and Hass – the most common avocado type in the world.

Spain grows the Cocktail, which is a pitless avocado, which would no doubt delight the Aztecs who introduced the fruit to the world.

Scholars suggest that the word avocado is derived from the Aztec word for testicle, likely due to the shape of the fruit.

Israelis eat between six to 8 kg. of avocado per year, which is roughly the same per capita consumption as that of Mexicans.

CEO of Galil Local Market from Mioluot group Yiftah Ortal told The Jerusalem Post that some European countries only consume half a kilogram of avocado per person per year. "If the rest of the world catches up to Israel,” he said,"the demand will go sky high.”

In a press release, Ortal suggested consumers ensure that the fruit they purchase bears a sticker of a scarecrow, showing that it was marketed by his firm, and adds that if the avocado is still a little hard to the touch one can hasten the ripening process by placing the fruit with an apple or a banana in a paper bag. The other fruit will emit Ethylene causing the avocado to ripen for consumption in no time.

If you start eating an avocado and have been sated, the remaining fruit will last longer by covering the unused portion with lemon juice, since citric acid is an antioxidant.

The monks from the Monastery of the Silent Monks at Latrun are credited with introducing the avocado to current Israel in the 1920s, and local legend asserts that the Christian site has the oldest avocado tree in the country.

Israel had been producing the fruit on a large scale since the 1960s.