- Author: Ben Faber
MISSION VIEJO, Calif. — Tufts University has released results of a study linking eating avocados to helping improve cognitive brain function in older adults, news especially relevant to Hispanics who have been found to have the longest life expectancy rate in the U.S.1 Published in the journal Nutrients and supported by the USDA and the Hass Avocado Board, the research tracked how 40 healthy adults ages 50 and over who ate one fresh avocado a day for six months experienced a 25% increase in lutein levels in their eyes and significantly improved working memory and problem-solving skills.
Lutein is a type of carotenoid antioxidant, or pigment, commonly found in fruits and vegetables already widely accepted to have a role in preserving eye health and now increasingly thought to have a positive impact on brain health as well. As study participants incorporated one medium avocado into their daily diet, researchers monitored gradual growth in the amount of lutein in their eyes and progressive improvement in cognition skills as measured by tests designed to evaluate memory, processing speed and attention levels. In contrast, the control group which did not eat avocados experienced fewer improvements in cognitive health during the study period.
“The results of this study suggest that the monounsaturated fats, fiber, lutein and other bioactives make avocados particularly effective at enriching neural lutein levels, which may provide benefits for not only eye health, but for brain health,” said Elizabeth Johnson, Ph.D., lead investigator of the study from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, at Tufts University. “Furthermore, the results of this new research reveal that macular pigment density more than doubled in subjects that consumed fresh avocados, compared to a supplement, as evidenced by my previous published research. Thus, a balanced diet that includes fresh avocados may be an effective strategy for cognitive health.”
“Tuft's findings that eating avocados is linked to a positive impact on memory is one more reason to enjoy healthy avocados daily. It's especially good news for Hispanic households where avocados are already so popular and older generations are culturally central to the core family unit,” said Emiliano Escobedo, Executive Director of the Hass Avocado Board. “More research is needed in different populations with different amounts of avocado to better understand the connection between avocados and brain health.”
To view the abstract, visit here.
This study is part of ongoing research that is continually unlocking the unique benefits of avocados to human health. Discover delicious inspiration for different ways to prepare and enjoy healthy avocados in Spanish at SaboreaUnoHoy.com and in English at LoveOneToday.com.
1. Center for Disease Control, April 2016
–The Hass Avocado Board
For Full Article, Click on Download PDF [235 KB, uploaded 23 August 2017]
Avocado Consumption Increases Macular Pigment Density in Older Adults: A Randomized, Controlled Trial
Abstract
Lutein is selectively incorporated into the macula and brain. Lutein levels in the macula (macular pigment; MP) and the brain are related to better cognition. MP density (MPD) is a biomarker of brain lutein. Avocados are a bioavailable source of lutein. This study tests the effects of the intake of avocado on cognition. This was a six-month, randomized, controlled trial. Healthy subjects consumed one avocado (n = 20, 0.5 mg/day lutein, AV) vs. one potato or one cup of chickpeas (n = 20, 0 mg/day lutein, C). Serum lutein, MPD, and cognition were assessed at zero, three, and six months. Primary analyses were conducted according to intent-to-treat principles, with repeated-measures analysis. At six months, AV increased serum lutein levels by 25% from baseline (p = 0.001). C increased by 15% (p = 0.030). At six months, there was an increase in MPD from baseline in AV (p = 0.001) and no increase in C. For both groups, there was an improvement in memory and spatial working memory (p = 0.001; p = 0.032, respectively). For AV only there was improved sustained attention (p = 0.033), and the MPD increase was related to improved working memory and efficiency in approaching a problem (p = 0.036). Dietary recommendations including avocados may be an effective strategy for cognitive health.- Author: Ben Faber
USDA Specialty Crops, the Agricultural Marketing News Service and What's Worth Planting
The AMS Specialty Crops Program helps buyers and sellers of all sizes in the U.S. produce industry to market their perishable products in the most efficient manner. They partner with State agencies and other industry organizations for the benefit of nationwide growers, shippers, brokers, receivers, processors, retailers and restaurants, direct to consumer sales, and the foodservice industry.
The program offers a wide array of services that span from helping market the quality of products to ensuring that there is fair trade in the produce industry. The program also helps specialty crops growers and handlers to combine their resources to help their respective industries overcome marketing barriers.
This is also a great website for trolling for potential alternative crops – what is selling, where, for how much and whether it might be a good idea to plant that crop. Check it out:
Main page of AMS:
https://www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/fruits-vegetables
Choose from different fruits:
https://www.marketnews.usda.gov/mnp/fv-nav-byCom?navClass=FRUITS&navType=byComm
For avocados you can see what the various prices are in different markets and times:
If you are interested in coffee prices, it's still considered a "commodity" and a California grown coffee will not be listed:
https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/search?f[0]=field_commodities:609
The USDA Specialty Crops Program also has a food safety certification program that might be of help to growers. In April 2016, the Specialty Crops Program's Specialty Crops Inspection Division (SCI) launched GroupGAP, a new food safety certification program that is part of our USDA Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) suite of services. Our voluntary USDA GAP programs help verify that produce growers and handlers have taken measures to reduce the risk of contamination. Commercial buyers look for USDA GAP-certified suppliers to source safe specialty products. While larger operations can devote the resources needed to become GAP certified, some smaller entities cannot. Until now. GroupGAP allows farmers, food hubs, and marketing organizations of all sizes to band together and pool resources to achieve USDA GAP certification.
- Author: Ben Faber
Keeping your eyes open in the field can result in some unusual finds. A recent observation that was sent in concerned an avocado fruit which didn't really have the shape of an avocado and certainly not the texture. It is a "woody avocado" as described by Professor Robert Hodgson of UCLA in 1935:
Hodgson, R. W. 1935. Avocado Fruit Abnormalities. California Avocado Association 1935 Yearbook 19: 108-109.
http://www.avocadosource.com/cas_yearbooks/cas_20_1935/cas_1935_pg_108-109.pdf
Dr. Art Schroeder at the same institution pursued it further, still with no clear cause for the condition:
Schroeder, C. A. 1953. Abnormal Fruit Types in the Avocado. California Avocado Society 1953-54 Yearbook. 38:121-124.
http://avocadosource.com/cas_yearbooks/cas_38_1953-54/cas_1953-54_pg_121-124.pdf
Mary Lu Arpaia and Reuben Hofshi revisited the issue of avocado fruit abnormalities in 2002:
Avocado Fruit Abnormalities and Defects Revisited
http://www.avocadosource.com/cas_yearbooks/cas_86_2002/cas_2002_pg_147-162.pdf
It is still not clear what causes this condition, other than it is not transmissible and does not occur very often.
- Author: Ben Faber
The avocado is an amazing fruit. It grows on a tree and comes to maturity, reaches certain oil content and a stage at which it will ripen, but it does not ripen on the tree. It needs to be removed from the tree before it will soften. If the fruit is removed before it has reached maturity it will not soften, and will remain rubbery and inedible. One of the problems is that the fruit will hang on the tree for an extended period of time and it is hard to know when they are mature. Avocados are not like apricots where you have about 2 weeks to get the fruit off before it falls off. As the fruit stays on the tree in gradually develops more and more oil content and has a richer flavor.
If the fruit stays on the tree too long, the oil can develop and almost rancid flavor, however. So it is good to know when the best, acceptable flavor is. Avocado varieties fall into general seasonal periods when they are mature, such as Fuerte' and ‘Bacon” in winter, ‘Hass' in spring/summer, ‘Lamb-Hass' in summer/fall.
To assess maturity, take an unripe stage cut the fruit in half. Look at the seed coat. If the seed coat (the covering of the seed that separates it from the flesh) is white and thick, it is definitely not ready to pick. If it is whitish brown and getting thinner, then if you are desperate, you can try ripening the fruit and taste. If the seed coat is thin and brown, then usually this will mean that the fruit is ready to pick. If the seed has germinated already in the fruit then normally the fruit is over the hill. Some green skin varieties skin will begin to crack when the fruit are very mature on the tree. This will tell you when you have reached the end of the useful tree life of the fruit.
For ripening, pick the fruit and without any help, the fruit will typically be ripe in 7 to 10 days. If you want to speed things along a bit you can take 3 or 4 avocados and place them in a loosely closed paper bag with 2 – 3 Red or Golden Delicious apples or ripe kiwifruit. The purpose of the apples or kiwifruit is that these fruit produce a natural plant hormone, ethylene that will help stimulate the avocado to produce its own ethylene. Apples and kiwifruit are known to produce lots of ethylene. The Delicious apples are varieties that produce more ethylene than other apple varieties. You can keep them even after they are shriveled and they will be producing ethylene. Don't use a plastic bag unless you keep it opened since the fruit need to breathe during this process. Just keep the fruit on your kitchen counter or in a warm place. 68F is the ideal temperature. Lower and higher temperatures both actually slow the process.
- Author: Ben Faber
Years of drought, and a stressed tree are a perfect set up for navel oranges and fruit splitting.
The days have turned cooler and suddenly out of nowhere there is rain. That wonderful stuff comes down and all seems right with the world, but then you notice the navel fruit are splitting. Rats! No, a dehydrated fruit that has taken on more water than its skin can take in and the fruit splits. This is called an abiotic disease. Not really a disease but a problem brought on by environmental conditions.
Fruit splitting is a long-standing problem in most areas where navel oranges are grown. In some years, the number of split fruit is high; in other years it is low. Splitting in navel oranges usually occurs on green fruit between September and November. In some years, splitting may also occur in Valencia oranges but it is less of a problem than in navel oranges.
Several factors contribute to fruit splitting. Studies indicate that changes in weather including temperature, relative humidity and wind may have more effect on fruit splitting than anything else. The amount of water in a citrus tree changes due to weather conditions and this causes the fruit to shrink and swell as water is lost or gained. If the water content changes too much or too rapidly the rind may split. In navel oranges the split usually occurs near the navel, which is a weak point in the rind.
Proper irrigation and other cultural practices can help reduce fruit splitting. Maintaining adequate but not excessive soil moisture is very important. A large area of soil around a tree should be watered since roots normally grow somewhat beyond the edge of the canopy. Wet the soil to a depth of at least 2 feet then allow it to become somewhat dry in the top few inches before irrigating again. Applying a layer of coarse organic mulch under a tree beginning at least a foot from the trunk can help conserve soil moisture and encourage feeder roots to grow closer to the surface.
If trees are fertilized, apply the correct amount of plant food and water thoroughly after it is applied. If the soil is dry, first irrigate, then apply fertilizer and irrigate again.