Feijoa

The Feijoa (Feijoa sellowiana, synonym Acca sellowiana), also known as Pineapple Guava or Guavasteen, is an evergreen shrub or small tree, 1-7 m in height. It comes from the highlands of southern Brazil, parts of Colombia, Uruguay and northern Argentina.


Description of fruit and plant

The fruit matures in autumn and is green, chicken-egg-sized, and ellipsoid-shaped. It has a sweet, aromatic flavour. The flesh is juicy. The fruit drops when ripe, but can be picked from the tree before to prevent bruising. Feijoa fruit have a distinctive smell. The ester methyl benzoate smells strongly of feijoas and the aroma of the fruit is caused mostly by this and other closely related esters.

Growing conditions

It is a warm-temperate to subtropical plant that will also grow in the tropics but requires some winter chilling to fruit. In the northern hemisphere it has been cultivated as far north as western Scotland but does not fruit every year, as winter temperatures below about -9°C will kill the flower buds. Large quantities are grown in New Zealand, where the fruit is a popular garden tree and the fruit is commonly available in season.

Consumption and uses

The fruit is usually eaten by cutting it in half, then scooping out the pulp with a spoon. The fruits have a juicy sweet seed pulp, and slightly gritty flesh nearer the skin. The flavour is aromatic and sweet. If the utensils needed to eat it this way are not available, the feijoa can be torn or bitten in half, and the contents squeezed out and consumed.
Cut overmature fruit

Fruit maturity is not always apparent from the outside as the fruits remain green until they are overmature or rotting. When the fruits are immature the seed pulp is white and opaque, becoming clear and jelly-like when ripe. Fruits are at their optimum maturity when the seed pulp has turned into a clear jelly with no hint of browning. Once the seed pulp and surrounding flesh start to brown, the fruit is over mature and should not be eaten.