牛油果的历史

牛油果的历史

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

从加利福尼亚到马尼拉，牛油果是世界各地餐馆菜单上的常见配料。

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

它们不仅可以涂在吐司和玉米饼上，还可以涂在冰淇淋、奶昔、鹰嘴豆泥甚至意大利面酱中。

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.

接受美国农业部(US Department of Agriculture)资助的研究机构农业营销资源中心(Agriculture Marketing Resource Center)的数据显示，自1989年以来，美国牛油果的消费量一直在攀升，当时人均鳄梨消费量只有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，人均消耗约7磅，而现在牛油果是一种受欢迎的食品——尤其是因为它们对健康有益。但究竟它们对你有什么好处呢?

"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.

“鳄梨是一种水果，是少数几种高脂肪、低糖的水果之一，”明尼苏达州罗切斯特市梅奥诊所健康生活项目(Mayo Clinic health Living Program)的医学主任、营养和预防医学专家唐纳德·亨斯鲁德(Donald Hensrud)博士说。

"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."

“除了坚果、橄榄油和菜籽油，牛油果中的脂肪含量主要是单不饱和脂肪，这是导致许多……健康福利，”他说。鳄梨还含有其他营养成分，包括维生素B、维生素E、维生素C、铜和纤维，这些都对健康有益。它们的钾含量比香蕉高。”

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，早在这种绿色水果成为现代健康食品的主食之前，牛油果的历史就在一万年前的美洲被保存了下来。

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.

根据韦氏词典，牛油果的名字被认为来自阿兹特克语单词ahuacatl，意思是睾丸。这个名字大概和牛油果的形状有关。

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.

当西班牙征服者抵达美洲时，牛油果引起了他们的注意，导致了探险家马廷·费尔南德斯·德·恩西索(Martín Fernández de Enciso)于15世纪初在塞维利亚发表的关于这种水果的已知最早的书面描述。

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，根据《植物学》(Botany)杂志2007年发表在《哈佛论文》(Harvard Papers)上的一篇文章，在牛油果遍布西班牙殖民地、欧洲和美国之前，人们食用牛油果既是为了口感，也是为了健康。

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，西班牙士兵兼诗人加尔西拉索·德拉维加(Garcilazo de la Vega)称牛油果“美味可口，对病人非常健康”。De la Vega的观点可能有些道理，因为牛油果现在被视为健康饮食中单一不饱和脂肪的来源。

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.

根据美国国家医学图书馆的研究，单不饱和脂肪在很多方面都对你的健康有好处，比如帮助你降低“坏”的LDL胆固醇水平，以及富含维生素E。维生素E可以促进健康的视力、健康的免疫系统和其他好处。