Cryopreserved avocado shoots could mean guacamole on Mars

cnet ^ | 09/10/2020 | Amanda Kooser

[BenLurkin]

Thanks to the work of researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia, there could be a side of guacamole to go with all the Mars potatoes.

Ph.D. student Chris O'Brien successfully developed a liquid nitrogen cryopreservation technique for avocado shoot tips. It's the same kind of method used to deep-freeze human sperm and eggs.

"The aim is to preserve important avocado cultivars and key genetic traits from possible destruction by threats like bushfires, pests and disease such as laurel wilt -- a fungus which has the capacity to wipe out all the avocado germplasm in Florida," O'Brien said in a UQ release on Thursday. Germplasm is living tissue, like avocado shoots, that can create new plants.

It takes about 20 minutes for the shoot tips to revive after freezing and about two months to grow new leaves and be ready for rooting

[KarlInOhio]

So I have to chose to live like an Irishman or a Mexican?

[Carriage Hill]

“The guacamole is best served on salty pork rinds.....”

Brilliant! Never tried that, but I’m getting both, tomorrow.

[ptsal]

The pork rinds are a redneck secret.

[Carriage Hill]

I used to eat them all the time; haven’t had them in years. That changes today.

[ptsal]

Crunch the pork rinds and use the crumbles as “breading” for your next fried food project.

[Carriage Hill]

Good idea.

[Yardstick]

I had avocado toast for the first time today — delicious. I may give this pork rind idea try.

[ptsal]

Humus works well too as a snack spread

[Organic Panic]

Nah. The first things they will have for colonists will be pot and porno.