# Avocado pit question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 11, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330 "2017-05-11T04:22:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/1 "2017-05-11T04:22:41Z")
A while back, I ate an avocado that, when I cut it up, had a seed that, instead of being large and round, was shaped like an almond and not much bigger. šŸ˜• More yummy avocado flesh for me! šŸ†’ Anyway, why would that be? My guess was that the embryonic avocado wasnā€™t fertilized but a fruit developed anyway; anyone here who knows more about botany than me have an answer? Donā€™t need one right away. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/2 "2017-05-11T09:32:08Z")
I find it more likely itā€™s just a freak developmental error. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/3 "2017-05-11T12:52:20Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I find it more likely itā€™s just a freak developmental error. If one could grow a strain of small pit avocados, one could make a lot of money. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/4 "2017-05-11T17:12:11Z")
From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avocado#Breeding): ā€œIn addition, due to environmental circumstances during some years, seedless avocados may appear on the trees. Known in the avocado industry as ā€œcukesā€, they are usually discarded commercially due to their small size.ā€ It seems that the big seed is considered an advantage in the market. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/5 "2017-05-11T17:32:28Z")
Here is a picture of an [avocado ā€œcukeā€](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seedless_Avocado_in_Mexico.jpg). Clearly does not look at all like a normal avocado, and wouldnā€™t make it to market. Seems unlikely that this is what the OP had. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/6 "2017-05-11T22:02:11Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > It seems that the big seed is considered an advantage in the market. Youā€™re kinda buying a pig in a poke, so it makes sense that a big seed isnā€™t necessarily something to select against. Iā€™m always surprised that small avocados are so much cheaper than big ones (per amount of flesh). I think small avos are superior because the ideal amount of avocado to prepare is a whole number of avocados, given how quickly they go bad once cut. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/7 "2017-05-12T03:53:30Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Here is a picture of an [avocado ā€œcukeā€](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seedless_Avocado_in_Mexico.jpg). Clearly does not look at all like a normal avocado, and wouldnā€™t make it to market. Seems unlikely that this is what the OP had. Mine did look like the bigger ones. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/8 "2017-05-12T07:12:11Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Here is a picture of an [avocado ā€œcukeā€](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seedless_Avocado_in_Mexico.jpg). Clearly does not look at all like a normal avocado, and wouldnā€™t make it to market. Seems unlikely that this is what the OP had. Presumably, ā€œcukeā€ is short for cucumber, as thatā€™s what the seedless one looks like. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/9 "2017-05-12T07:38:42Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > If one could grow a strain of small pit avocados, one could make a lot of money. Which is why I didnā€™t suggest it was a freak genetic variant. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/10 "2017-05-12T12:32:36Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Iā€™m always surprised that small avocados are so much cheaper than big ones (per amount of flesh). I think small avos are superior because the ideal amount of avocado to prepare is a whole number of avocados, given how quickly they go bad once cut. The small avocados (typically the Hass variety from California) have a higher fat content by weight than the larger Florida avocados, and thus more calories per ounce. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/11 "2017-05-12T17:53:06Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The small avocados (typically the Hass variety from California) have a higher fat content by weight than the larger Florida avocados, and thus more calories per ounce. I donā€™t mean buying a smaller variety, I mean buying smaller fruits of the same variety I live in California, and when I buy avocados (usually Hass) from farmers markets or roadside stands, I can get twice as much avocado flesh per dollar by buying small avocados. Thereā€™s a price premium for larger ones that doesnā€™t make sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avocado-pit-question/786330/12 "2017-05-12T18:00:57Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I donā€™t mean buying a smaller variety, I mean buying smaller fruits of the same variety > > I live in California, and when I buy avocados (usually Hass) from farmers markets or roadside stands, I can get twice as much avocado flesh per dollar by buying small avocados. Thereā€™s a price premium for larger ones that doesnā€™t make sense to me. If the uneaten skin thickness remains the same, it increases as the square of linear dimensions, wherease the amount of flesh increases as the cube. So the proportion by mass of edible flesh to uneaten skin is probably lower for smaller avocados. > **[Squareā€“cube law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square-cube_law)** > > The squareā€“cube law (or cubeā€“square law) is a mathematical principle, applied in a variety of scientific fields, which describes the relationship between the volume and the surface area as a shape's size increases or decreases. It was first\[dubious ā€“ discuss\] described in 1638 by Galileo Galilei in his Two New Sciences as the "...ratio of two volumes is greater than the ratio of their surfaces". > This principle states that, as a shape grows in size, its volume grows faster than its surface area. ...