A representative sample of the 1968-1969 California avocado crop was analyzed, using standard techniques, at approximately 8, 12, 16, and 20% fat for the Fuerte variety and at 16 and 20% fat for the Hass variety. In addition to the fat measurement, the content of water, fiber, protein, 7 fatty acids, 11 vitamins, and 17 minerals was determined at each fat level. A serving of Fuerte avocado (80.8 g) was found to have 132 calories. Correlation among the fat, water, protein, and ash in the Fuerte resulted in the following: 7'0 water = 89.49 -'70 fat; % fiber = 3.45 -0.0735% fat; 70 protein = 1.483 + 0.052% fat; and 70 protein = 5.807 -0.048% water, in the rang? from 8 to 22% fat. The percent of the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) (1974) for children, provided by one-half of a Fuerte avocado (80.8 g), was found to vary from 170 for calcium to 19% for vitamin E; however, most nutrients were supplied at 6-1170 of the RDA for all major age and sex groups.In 1967 the Nutritional Research Committee of the California Avocado Advisory Board recommended that a representative sample of the whole California avocado crop be analyzed to provide nutritionists with accurate data upon which to base evaluations on the use of avocados. Since about 90% of all California avocados found in the market are the Fuerte and Hass varieties, analysis of these two would be representative of the whole crop. It was decided that samples should be taken from all growing areas within California in order to average variances in the soil, climate, fertilizers, and tree selection, and this was done. Furthermore, not only were the Fuerte and Hass specimens analyzed separately, but the Fuerte avocados were measured at four times during their harvesting period and the Hass twice, so that the nutrient content would be known for the different stages of maturity of the product.Although new analyses have continued to be made on avocados. recent literature still quotes values reported more than 15 years ago. Thus, the recent Life Science Book "Food and Nutrition" (Sebrell and Haggerty, 1967) used the data in Wooster (1958) which was taken from USDA Circular No. 549 in 1940 by Chatfield and Adams. Improvements in techniques, standards, and food technology indicate the need for this new analysis which attempts to quantitate all the important nutrients found in avocados, from a sample representing the average California avocado. (1958), from whom the avocados were obtained, have records from each packing house on the ratio of size to fat content, since by law avocados with less than 8% fat cannot be sold; thus, it was possible to select avocados of an approximate oil content by size. The maximum oil content of avocados as commercially marketed is about 20%; therefore, the most typical avocado, the Fuerte, was sampled at 8, 12, 16, and 20% oil while the less common variety, the Hass, was collected at 16 and 20% fat. The packing house records were used to select avocados from each of the five commercial California districts to make a sample representative of ...
