Botanically, what type of fruit is an avocado?

Botanically, an avocado is a berry. More precisely, it is a large, single-seeded berry produced from one flower’s ovary.

The classification can seem surprising because avocados have a large central pit and thick skin. In botanical terms, however, a drupe has a hard, stony inner layer around its seed, as in a peach, cherry, or plum. An avocado’s inner layer is relatively soft and inconspicuous, so it is generally classified as a berry.

This is a different use of “berry” from everyday food language. Botanists also classify tomatoes, bananas, grapes, cucumbers, and eggplants as berries, while strawberries are accessory fruits rather than true botanical berries. Avocado varieties differ greatly in shape, skin texture, and size, but the common cultivated species is Persea americana.

The avocado is also called an alligator pear or avocado pear. Its unusually rich, buttery flesh comes from a high concentration of mostly monounsaturated fat, making it especially useful in guacamole, salads, spreads, and vegetarian dishes.