Hass Avocado
Selection Information
Usage: Salads, guacamole, dressings.
Selection: The Hass avocado is dark-colored with a rough and bumpy skin. Most other varieties are more green and have smoother skin. Signs of ripeness differ by variety. Hass varieties will turn black when ripe while other varieties remain green. All varieties yield to gentle pressure when ripe. (Softer for guacamole, more firm for slicing).
Avoid: Avoid avocados with very dark skin combined with dented areas. This indicates bruised or old avocados.
Seasonal Information
Haas Avocados are available year-round from California with the peak in June. (The Hass variety comprises 90% of the California crop).
Peak season for Florida varieties is January while peak for imports (mostly from Chile) is October and November.
Haas Avocado Nutritional Information
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Avocados are very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. They're also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and Folate.
Avocado Tips & Trivia
- To ripen an avocado, place it in a sealed plastic bag with a ripe banana at room temperature. Another method is to bury the avocado completely in a jar of flour. Do not refrigerate avocados until they are ripe.
- Avocados date back to 8,000 B.C., and are native to Mexico and Central America.
- Until recent years, the avocado had a well-entrenched reputation for inducing sexual prowess and wasn't purchased or consumed by any person wishing to protect their image from slanderous assault. Growers had to sponsor a public relations campaign to dispel the ill-founded reputation before avocados became popular.
- Avocados must reach full maturity before they are picked, but they will not soften on the tree. The tree is actually used as a warehouse; the fruit can be kept on the tree for many months after reaching maturity.
