We carry from the Pleistocene domesticating the avocado. It took 8,000 years to adopt the way we wanted

When we talk about domestication, we automatically think about that of the animals around us. The dogthe cat –Something more complicated– Or the farm animals and work. But humanity carries thousands of years domesticating fruits and vegetables. An example is that of avocado, a fruit that has become Obsession for half the world and that it would not exist if we had not saved it 7,500 years ago.

And the avocado then has little to do with the one now.

Megafauna. The avocado appeared about 400,000 years ago in what we now know as Mexico. Like many other fruits and vegetables, It was very different As we know it today. The avocado was more rounded, with fine skin and a seed smaller than the current one. It was like a small apple and dispersed throughout the territory thanks to the megafauna of the Pleistocene.

These animals devoured the complete fruit and chew the seed. Thanks to their feces, the seed were spreading and giving rise to at least three different species of avocado: the Mexican, the Guatemalan and the Antillean. However, the Great extinction of Pleistocene that ended that megafauna.

The Avocado Meteorite. As we read in The New York Timeswithout animals large enough to reach the fruit, eat it whole and spread its seeds, the prehistoric avocado distribution area was greatly reduced. It is something that happened about 13,000 years ago, but fortunately humans intervened.

In a study About avocado domestication published By researchers from the University of California, they detail that this avocado domestication arose due to the need. “Without megafauna, humans needed new food sources. They began to cultivate the fruit, saving avocados,” says Doug Kennet, one of the authors of the study.

‘The giant’. That is, the fruit, which was practically on the verge of extinction, was recovered by necessity by humans. In the investigation, the authors focused on a place to the west of Honduras called ‘El Gigante’. It is a high cave that was inhabited 11,000 years ago and where lots of pumpkin seeds, corn grains, agave leaves and other plant waste that have been studied in these last 20 years have been found. Among those seeds, there were avocado remains.

Playing with genetics. As if they were Mendel with the peas, the settlers began to keep seeds and plant their own trees. Harvest after harvesting, the branches were rotting to foster the growth of trees, but also selecting the largest and fleshy avocados.

Thus, 7,500 years ago, humans had already made the seeds larger and the most resistant shells. Some 3,000 years later, the seeds reached the size of an apricot and the peel became even thicker, which suggests an intentional manipulation of the fruit. “It is an indicator that people began to save seeds to plant their own trees,” says Amber Vanderwarker, another of the authors.

Transport. It may be that the weight of the seeds and the size of the fruit was what led to that way of ‘pear’, but beyond speculation, from the study they point out that humans favored thick pests for a mere practical issue: the thicker, more resistant and, therefore, the easier to transport the fruit from one side to another without danger for the indoor plating.

The dispersion of it, in fact, is amazing, with evidence that thousands of years ago was consumed in Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Panama. In addition, they point to another possible reason why they favored that thick and resistant shell that does not differ much from how we consume avocado today. Vanderwarker points out that a possible reason to grow fruits with a thick shell is the facilitation of meat extraction with a spoon.

In addition, molecular research suggests that the complete change to obtain a fruit similar to the current one was not so much: about 2,200 years ago.

Essential. In the end, it would be given by what was given, the avocado was vital for Mesoamerican civilizations. Maya and Aztecs made it a star food, developing some of the avocado varieties to adapt them to the height and climate conditions of different areas, such as lowlands and highlands. In addition, they contributed to the expansion of avocado thanks to their cultural influence and commercial lines.

World fever and wars. Currently, we live an authentic avocado fever. It has become a fashion fruit thanks to its nutritional properties, but also its importance in dishes such as the guacamole that the United States consumes big, especially during the American football super bowl. Such is the importance of fruit that is a thrown weapon between Mexico and the United States.

But well, researchers at the University of California say that, although discoveries on avocado are interesting, as research progresses, more evidence on them will be discovered, but also more types of food plants manipulated by humans.

Images | Thomas Harper and Ken Hirth (University of California Santa Barbara), EDURAFI2, Hariadhi

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