1. Introduction
Consumers in the United States are generally supplied with
avocados in the marketplace that have been ripened to a stage
where they could be either readily consumed or eaten after a brief
period of ripening. This is to a large degree a consequence of prior
research demonstrating greatly enhanced consumer preference for
pre-ripened fruit (Lee and Coggins, 1982) and the development of
means to commercially implement the ripening process (Tokar,
2007). Not only is the consumer able to easily buy avocados that