Avocado - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 430

Table 23.4. Proposed standards for avocado oil.

Standards Extra Virgin Virgin Pure (Refined) Blends (Refined)

Odor and taste Characteristic avocado flavor

and sensory grassy and
mushroom/butter/light
smoky

Characteristic avocado
flavor grassy and
mushroom/butter/
smoky

Blend or matches
description of
infused flavor, e.g.,
lemon, rosemary

Dependent on the
blend

Defects Minimal to no defects such

as painty and fishy notes

Low levels only of
defects such as
painty and fishy
notes

Low defects such as
painty and fishy
notes

Low defects such
as painty and
fishy notes

Color Intense and attractive green Green with potential

yellow hue

Pale yellow Dependence on

the blend

Free fatty acid
(% as oleic
acid)

≤ 0.5% 0.8-1.0% ≤ 0.1%

Acid value ≤ 1.0% ≤ 2.0% ≤ 0.2%

Peroxide value
(meq/kg oil)

≤ 4.0 < 8.0 < 0.5

Stability 2 years at ambient

temperature when stored
under nitrogen and out of
the light

18 months at ambient
temperature when
stored under
nitrogen out the light

> 2 years at ambient

temperature when
stored under
nitrogen and out of
light

250 ◦ C 200 ◦ C 250 ◦ C Smoke point ≥ ≥ ≥

Moisture ≤ 0.1% ≤ 0.1% ≤ 0.1%

Source: Adapted from AOCS (2010).

the Codex Alimentarius (CA, 1997) and with the micro-
biological and additives criteria of the particular countries
that produce, export, and import fresh and processed avo-
cados.
Specific standards have been proposed for specific prod-
ucts of avocado, such as avocado oil, including extra virgin,
virgin, pure, and blended qualities (Table 23.4). The stan-
dards are unique to avocado oil, where cold-pressed oil
is recovered by mechanical extraction at temperatures less
than 50 ◦ C without the use of solvents; only water and en-
zymes can be used (AOCS, 2010). Extra virgin avocado
oil requires careful protection from damage by oxygen and
light. Therefore, packaging is very important.

may still be some degree of risk of product contamination
or tampering at any point in the supply chain. To minimize
potential harmful effects on consumers, it is necessary to
adopt and implement product traceability best practices.
All avocados delivered by growers should be identified by
lot numbers that identify the grower and farm location from
which the fruit was picked. Growers also maintain picking
records that indicate crew and location for delivered lots
of fruit.
A food safety guidelines draft was developed for
California's avocado industry, and it is part of the Cali-
fornia Avocado Commission's Food-Borne Illness Crisis
Management Plan (CAC, 1999). It was developed in
response to the increase of food-borne illness incidents
in the United States. These guidelines are intended to
provide information based on which various industry
sectors, including growers, farm managers, handlers, and
processors, intend to minimize or eliminate the potential
for avocados to be implicated in a food-borne illness crisis.
The guidelines include (1) treatment of water along all the

Food safety of fresh and processed products
Food safety programs such as HACCP, GAP, good
manufacturing practices (GMP), and quality improvement
programs minimize food safety risks and subsequent
product recalls. Despite the best efforts at prevention, there