牛油果的歷史

牛油果的歷史

From California to Manila, avocados are a common ingredient on restaurant menus around the world.

從加利福尼亞到馬尼拉，牛油果是世界各地餐館菜單上的常見配料。

They can be found not only spread on toast and tacos but in ice cream, smoothies, hummus and even pasta sauce.

它們不僅可以涂在吐司和玉米餅上，還可以涂在冰淇淋、奶昔、鷹嘴豆泥甚至意大利面醬中。

The consumption of avocados in the United States, has been climbing since 1989, when only about 1.1 pounds were consumed per capita, according to the Agriculture Marketing Resource Center, a research group that receives grants from the US Department of Agriculture.

接受美國農(nóng)業(yè)部(US Department of Agriculture)資助的研究機(jī)構(gòu)農(nóng)業(yè)營銷資源中心(Agriculture Marketing Resource Center)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，自1989年以來，美國牛油果的消費量一直在攀升，當(dāng)時人均鱷梨消費量只有1.1磅左右。

By 2014, about 7 pounds were consumed per capita, and now avocados are a popular food item -- especially due to their health benefits. But what exactly makes them good for you?

到2014年，人均消耗約7磅，而現(xiàn)在牛油果是一種受歡迎的食品——尤其是因為它們對健康有益。但究竟它們對你有什么好處呢?

"Avocados are a fruit and one of the few fruits that are high in fat and low in sugar," said Dr. Donald Hensrud, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program in Rochester, Minnesota, and a specialist in nutrition and preventive medicine.

“鱷梨是一種水果，是少數(shù)幾種高脂肪、低糖的水果之一，”明尼蘇達(dá)州羅切斯特市梅奧診所健康生活項目(Mayo Clinic health Living Program)的醫(yī)學(xué)主任、營養(yǎng)和預(yù)防醫(yī)學(xué)專家唐納德·亨斯魯?shù)?Donald Hensrud)博士說。

"Along with nuts, olive oil and canola oil, the fat content in avocados are predominantly monounsaturated fat, which is responsible for many ... health benefits," he said. "Avocados also contain other nutrients including B vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin C, copper and fiber, which add to their health benefits. They have a higher potassium content than bananas."

“除了堅果、橄欖油和菜籽油，牛油果中的脂肪含量主要是單不飽和脂肪，這是導(dǎo)致許多……健康福利，”他說。鱷梨還含有其他營養(yǎng)成分，包括維生素B、維生素E、維生素C、銅和纖維，這些都對健康有益。它們的鉀含量比香蕉高。”

Yet long before the green-hued fruit became a modern-day health food staple, the history of the avocado was preserved in the Americas some 10,000 years ago.
然而，早在這種綠色水果成為現(xiàn)代健康食品的主食之前，牛油果的歷史就在一萬年前的美洲被保存了下來。

The avocado's name is thought to come from the Aztec word ahuacatl, which means testicle, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary. The name presumably is tied to the shape of avocados.

根據(jù)韋氏詞典，牛油果的名字被認(rèn)為來自阿茲特克語單詞ahuacatl，意思是睪丸。這個名字大概和牛油果的形狀有關(guān)。

When Spanish conquistadores arrived in the Americas, avocados attracted their attention, leading to the earliest-known written description of the fruit published in Sevilla in the early 1500s by explorer Martín Fernández de Enciso.

當(dāng)西班牙征服者抵達(dá)美洲時，牛油果引起了他們的注意，導(dǎo)致了探險家馬廷·費爾南德斯·德·恩西索(Martín Fernández de Enciso)于15世紀(jì)初在塞維利亞發(fā)表的關(guān)于這種水果的已知最早的書面描述。

Yet before the avocado was distributed throughout Spanish colonies, Europe and the United States, the fruit was consumed for taste as well as for health, according to a 2007 article in the Harvard Papers in Botany.

然而，根據(jù)《植物學(xué)》(Botany)雜志2007年發(fā)表在《哈佛論文》(Harvard Papers)上的一篇文章，在牛油果遍布西班牙殖民地、歐洲和美國之前，人們食用牛油果既是為了口感，也是為了健康。

In 1605, Spanish soldier and poet Garcilazo de la Vega described the avocado as "delicious and very healthy for sick people," according to the article. De la Vega could have been on to something, as avocados are now seen as a source of the healthy dietary monounsaturated fat.

1605年，西班牙士兵兼詩人加爾西拉索·德拉維加(Garcilazo de la Vega)稱牛油果“美味可口，對病人非常健康”。De la Vega的觀點可能有些道理，因為牛油果現(xiàn)在被視為健康飲食中單一不飽和脂肪的來源。

Monounsaturated fats are good for your health in many ways, such as helping lower your "bad" LDL cholesterol levels and being high in vitamin E, which promotes healthy vision, a healthy immune system and other benefits, according to the US National Library of Medicine.

根據(jù)美國國家醫(yī)學(xué)圖書館的研究，單不飽和脂肪在很多方面都對你的健康有好處，比如幫助你降低“壞”的LDL膽固醇水平，以及富含維生素E。維生素E可以促進(jìn)健康的視力、健康的免疫系統(tǒng)和其他好處。