Composition and removal of nutrients by the harvested fruit of avocado cv. Hass in Antioquia

In three Antioquia producing areas (El Retiro, El Penol, and Amaga), three orchards of cv. Hass avocado were selected, in order to quantify the amount of nutrients removed by the fruit. A completely randomized design with 12 replications (trees) was used, for which 25 fruits/tree were collected, from which the fresh and dry weight of the epidermis, pulp, testa, and seed were obtained. In each fruit structure, the concentration of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, and B was determined and the removal of each was calculated. The tissue with the highest concentration of nutrients was the testa. The nutrient with the highest concentration in the four tissues was K followed by N. The total removal by the fresh fruit, in kg t-1, for K was 4; N, 3.3; S 0.56; Mg 0.51; Ca 0.31; 0.48 P and in g t-1 for Fe was 0.45; B 0.2; Zn 0.11; Mn 0.01 and Cu 0.03.