Although avocado has been cultivated and consumed for more than 9000 years near its centre of origin in Latin America, world production and trade has increased dramatically over the past few decades. This second edition provides a comprehensive review of avocado production, science and technology.

Contributions by: Victor A Albert, Martín Aluja, Mary Lu Arpaia, Carlos F Balerdi, Araceli Barceló-Muñoz, Alejandro F Barrientos Priego, Gary S Bender, Jay Bost, John Bower, Andre S Chanderbali, Lindy M Coates, Jonathan H Crane, Elizabeth K Dann, Derek Donkin, Greg W Douhan, André A Ernst, Edward A Evans, Ben Faber, Lauren Garner, Pilar M Gil, Mark S Hoddle, Peter J Hofmann, Emanuel Lahav, Uri Lavi, Richard E Litz, Rodrigo López-Gómez, Carol J Lovatt