Quality of Hawaii’s Avocados Moving towards import replacement
Marisa WallUSDA, ARS, PBARC
Ted Radovich, Marc Meisner, Glen Fukumoto – UH-CTAHRKen Love – HTFGFrancis Zee – USDA, ARS, PBARC
• Avocados are nutrient-dense fruits: high in unsaturated fats, fiber, niacin, folate, lutein, potassium, iron, vitamins B6, C, E, K.
• Hawaii avocado cultivars are considered by many as gourmet fruit because of their nutty flavor and creamy texture.
SharwilKahaluuMalamaLinda
Local Hass
A survey and taste test by Hawaii chefs identified five avocado cultivars with potential gourmet quality.
Avocado imports into Hawaii are increasing.
• Local avocados contribute ~30% of total demand.
• Supply of imported avocados into Hawaii has tripled.
• Imported avocados cost 3-4 times more than local avocados.
Goals: Determine quality standards for Hawaii’s avocados. Replace imported avocados with Hawaii-grown fruit.
• Determine quality using objective analyses.
• Develop database of objective quality criteria that correlates with sensory quality and market appeal.
• Use quality criteria to evaluate and identify avocado germplasm with market potential.
Avocado Oil Content
• HDOA specifies minimum 12% oil content for "Hawaii Fancy" and "Hawaii No. l" grades.
• Avocado cultivars vary widely: 10% to >30% oil.• Avocados harvested at 12% oil could be immature, with
a watery taste and rubbery texture.• Higher oil content generally correlated with higher
edible quality.• Measuring oil content requires laboratory analysis.
• Predominant maturity index for avocado harvesting.
• Highly correlated to oil content.
• Cultivar-specific: CA – Hass (20.8%), MX – Hass (21.5%), CA- Fuerte (19%), NZ – (24%)
Avocado Dry Matter Content
% Dry matter
20 25 30 35 40 45 50
% O
il c
on
ten
t10
15
20
25
30
35
r2 = 0.93 ***
y = -6.18 + 0.83x
Percent dry matter is highly correlated to oil content.
Mean dry matter = 34.2%
Mean oil content = 22.3%
Sharwil
Avocado fruit weight, dry matter, and oil content - 2010
Cultivar N Av. Fruit Wt (g) % Dry matter % Oil Content
Sharwil 36 350.84 d 42.48 a 27.92 a
Kahaluu 18 681.46 a 39.22 b 22.09 bc
Shattauer 19 423.57 c 39.15 b 23.75 b
MNL 18 348.97 d 38.22 b 23.97 b
Hass - local 30 206.25 f 38.18 b 21.55 cd
Hass - import 46 219.53 f 34.38 c 21.03 cd
Green Gold 19 291.06 f 31.57 d 19.80 d
Penata 17 539.32 b 28.84 e 16.80 e
Malama 26 507.34 b 28.16 e 13.55 f
MalamaKahaluu MNL
Sharwil Schatt GrnGld Hass-Impt
Tas
te
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
8.5
9.0
Sharwil Schatt GrnGld Hass-Impt
Ap
pea
ran
ce
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
8.5
9.0
c
b
aab
cbc
aba
Sharwil Schatt GrnGld Hass-Impt
Tex
ture
3.54.04.55.05.56.06.57.07.58.08.59.0
a
b
b b
Sensory analysis: Hawaii’s avocados and imported Hass fruit - 2010
Sensory descriptors for avocado cultivars
Cultivar Green Watery Bland Nutty Creamy
Sharwil 20% 3% 23% 66% 77%
Shattauer 8% 0% 23% 69% 77%
Green Gold 45% 20% 25% 50% 60%
Hass- import 59% 52% 26% 48% 67%
Shattauer
Hass Sharwil
Avocado tasting by 35 culinary professionals - 2010
Cultivar Texture rating % Dry matter % Oil Content
Sharwil 9.02 a 35.40 a 25.42 a
Green Gold 8.64 ab 36.53 a 27.07 a
Serpa 7.09 cd 35.76 a 23.01 b
Hass-local 8.34 ab 32.33 bc 22.43 b
Linda 6.19 d 27.01 d 18.83 c
Nishikawa 7.65 cd 29.59 cd 18.65 c
Egami 6.29 d 27.70 d 18.36 c
Ohata 4.44 e 23.55 e 13.97 d
Hass- import ------ 21.76 e 12.49 d
Conclusions
• Opportunity exists to replace imported avocados with locally grown fruit.
• Consistent supply of high quality avocados is key to capturing market and consumer acceptance.
• Sharwil, Kahaluu, Shattauer, MNL, GreenGold cultivars had better quality than imported Hass fruit.
• Analysis will be expanded to more cultivars and greater fruit numbers in 2011.
• SEND FRUIT – GRADE A ONLY!!
MahaloSandra SilvaSuzy SanxterAndrea LysyKate NishijimaJulia ScholderJenni Ueno
Ted RadovichKen LoveMarc MeisnerGlenn FukumotoFrancis Zee
Hawaii’s Tropical Fruit Growers!
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