Feijoa
Deep in the highlands of South America grows a fruit with a secret: the Feijoa, often known as the pineapple guava. This enchanting plant, belonging to the myrtle family, offers an aromatic treasure that captivates palates around the globe. While it might seem like a niche delicacy, its unique flavor profile and surprising resilience make it a fascinating study in botanical adaptation and global cultivation. The feijoa boasts a complex, aromatic flavor profile reminiscent of several tropical fruits, setting it apart from its namesake, the true guava. Despite its South American origins, New Zealand has become a global hub for feijoa cultivation, thanks to successful adaptation and unique pollinator partnerships. Genetic research recently clarified the feijoa's taxonomic identity, separating it into its own genus and highlighting the dynamic nature of botanical classification.
AI Summary
Deep in the highlands of South America grows a fruit with a secret: the Feijoa, often known as the pineapple guava. This enchanting plant, belonging to the myrtle family, offers an aromatic treasure that captivates palates around the globe. While it might seem like a niche delicacy, its unique flavor profile and surprising resilience make it a fascinating study in botanical adaptation and global cultivation.
- The feijoa boasts a complex, aromatic flavor profile reminiscent of several tropical fruits, setting it apart from its namesake, the true guava.
- Despite its South American origins, New Zealand has become a global hub for feijoa cultivation, thanks to successful adaptation and unique pollinator partnerships.
- Genetic research recently clarified the feijoa's taxonomic identity, separating it into its own genus and highlighting the dynamic nature of botanical classification.
Meet the Feijoa
Hailing from the cool highlands of Colombia, southern Brazil, and Uruguay, the feijoa, or Acca sellowiana as it was once known, is a remarkable flowering plant in the Myrtaceae family—the same family as eucalyptus and true myrtle. Indigenous communities in Brazil knew it as 'quirina', but today, it's globally recognized by its more common name: Feijoa.
This evergreen shrub or small tree typically reaches heights of 1 to 7 meters, adorned with oblong leaves that are a deep green on top and a striking silvery-white underneath. But perhaps its most charming feature is its unusual flower: five puffy, whitish petals encircling about 25 vibrant dark red stamens that burst from the center like a miniature fireworks display.
A Shifting Identity
For years, the feijoa was classified under the genus Acca. However, modern genetic research revealed a fascinating twist: the type species of Acca wasn't as closely related to our beloved feijoa as once thought. This led botanists to conclude that keeping them together made the Acca genus 'polyphyletic'—meaning it didn't include all descendants of a common ancestor.
To resolve this, the feijoa was reclassified, establishing its own distinct genus, Feijoa. This taxonomic journey underscores how our understanding of the natural world constantly evolves, refining our scientific classifications based on deeper insights into genetic relationships.
What's in a Name?
The genus 'Feijoa' honors João da Silva Feijó, a Portuguese naturalist. Meanwhile, the specific epithet 'sellowiana' pays tribute to Friedrich Sellow, a German botanist who first collected specimens of this plant in southern Brazil. These names root the plant deeply in the history of botanical exploration.
Beyond its scientific moniker, you might encounter the feijoa by several charming aliases, including 'pineapple guava,' 'fig guava,' or 'guavasteen.' While these common names hint at its flavor, it's important to remember that it's not a true guava, despite the similarities in taste and texture.
The Alluring Fruit
Come autumn, the feijoa graces us with its fruit. Roughly the size and shape of a chicken egg, it sports a distinct green skin that often remains even when ripe. But don't let the unassuming exterior fool you—inside lies a treasure trove of flavor.
The flesh is sweet, subtly tart, and bursts with an aromatic bouquet that evokes passion fruit, cherry guava, and pineapple all at once. It's a complex taste experience, with a clear, gelatinous seed pulp giving way to a firmer, slightly granular opaque flesh closer to the skin. For peak flavor, it's often best to let the fruit fall naturally to the ground when ripe, though picking it beforehand can prevent bruising.
That potent, perfume-like aroma isn't just a pleasant surprise—it's primarily due to compounds like methyl benzoate. This unique scent, combined with its gritty texture, has even found a place in natural cosmetic products as an exfoliant, proving the feijoa's versatility extends beyond the kitchen.
A Plant of Specific Tastes
In its native Brazil, the feijoa thrives at altitudes over 900 meters, nestled among Araucaria angustifolia forests. It's a warm-temperate, subtropical plant, surprisingly frost-tolerant, but it needs at least 50 hours of winter chilling to produce fruit. Young plants, especially those grown from seed, are slow growers in their first couple of years and can be sensitive to high winds.
Feijoas are quite adaptable, showing some tolerance to drought and salty soils, though these conditions can reduce fruit production. While they can handle partial shade, consistent watering is crucial as the fruit develops, ensuring a juicy and flavorful harvest.
From South America to the World
The feijoa's journey from its South American home to global popularity is a fascinating tale. In 1890, Professor Edouard André introduced specimens from Uruguay to France, which eventually led to their spread to California and later, New Zealand. Today, these adopted homes, rather than its native lands, are the main cultivation areas.
Many feijoa cultivars require a pollinator, meaning you often need two different varieties planted nearby for fruit production. However, some grafted cultivars are self-fertile, offering a convenient option for smaller gardens. These adaptable plants can be grown as sprawling shrubs or even successfully kept as large container plants, given enough space and care to encourage new growth.
New Zealand, in particular, has wholeheartedly embraced the feijoa since the 1920s, where it's now a popular garden tree and a seasonal favorite. Here, a diverse team of pollinators, including bees, bumblebees, and even birds like the silvereye, blackbird, and Indian myna, feast on the sweet flower petals, inadvertently aiding in fruit set.
Across the globe, the feijoa has found homes in varied climates. In the South Caucasus, cultivation began in Azerbaijan in 1928, with Georgia steadily increasing its feijoa orchards. In the United States, it's found as a landscape plant from California to Florida, and even in coastal Georgia and South Carolina, showcasing its surprising climatic flexibility.
From Orchard to Your Home
Despite its delightful taste, the feijoa faces challenges in reaching distant markets. Ripe fruit is notoriously prone to bruising, and its optimal ripeness window is quite short. These factors explain why you'll often find feijoas sold close to where they're grown, often at roadside stalls.
However, with careful handling, intercontinental shipping has proven successful. For home storage, feijoas can be cool-stored for about a month, retaining several days of shelf life at peak maturity. They can even be frozen for up to a year without losing their distinctive quality, extending the enjoyment of this unique fruit.
Nutritional Bounty
Beyond its flavor, the feijoa offers a healthy snack. Raw, it's about 83% water, 13% carbohydrates, and a modest 1% each of fat and protein. A 100-gram serving provides just 55 calories and is an excellent source of vitamin C, covering 40% of your daily recommended intake. It's a flavorful way to boost your immunity.
Eating and Enjoying
While the skin is edible, most people prefer to simply cut the fruit in half and scoop out the juicy pulp with a spoon. Its versatility shines in the kitchen: enjoy it raw, blend it into smoothies, or bake it into desserts like sorbets, pies, and crumbles. Don't forget, even the crisp, spicy-sweet flower petals are edible, adding a delightful garnish or snack!
A Family of Flavors
Over the years, numerous feijoa cultivars have been developed, each with slightly different characteristics in fruit size, flavor, and plant growth habits. From early-ripening varieties to those known for their massive fruit, there's a feijoa for every preference and climate.
Cultivar Key Feature Apollo Large, rich flavor Coolidge Self-fertile, reliable Kakariki Large, flavor-filled fruit (Māori for green) Mammoth Known for its exceptionally large fruit Unique Self-pollinating, tolerant of clay soils Vista Long Distinctively long fruit shape
Article
Feijoa
Feijoa sellowiana (or pineapple guava), also known as Acca sellowiana (O.Berg) Burret, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. It is the only species in the genus Feijoa. It is native mainly to the highlands of Colombia, southern Brazil and the hills of northeast Uruguay, but it can also be found in eastern Paraguay, northern Argentina and New Zealand . It is known as quirina (lusified from kanê kriyne by the indigenous Kaingang of southern Brazil) or as feijoa (fay-ho-uh in Spanish-speaking countries of South America or fee-jo-uh in the United States and New Zealand).
It is an evergreen shrub or small tree, 1–7 metres (3.3–23.0 ft) in height. The oblong leaves are about 5 cm (2.0 in) long, dark green on the upper side and white underneath. The flowers have five whitish petals which are puffy, possibly filled with some gas. There are about 25 dark red stamens projecting from the centre.
Taxonomy
Feijoa
Feijoa sellowiana was formerly widely treated in the genus Acca, as Acca sellowiana (O.Berg) Burret, but genetic research showed that the type species of Acca (Acca lanuginosa) is more closely related to the genus Myrrhinium than it is to "A. sellowiana", thus leaving Acca polyphyletic with respect to Myrrhinium if "A. sellowiana" is included. Separated into Feijoa, it is the only species in this genus.
Etymology
Feijoa sellowiana is from the genus which the German botanist, Ernst Berger, named after João da Silva Feijó, a Portuguese naturalist, and the specific name honours Friedrich Sellow, a German who first collected specimens of Feijoa in southern Brazil.
Other common English names in various countries include pineapple guava, fig guava and guavasteen, although it is not a true guava.
Fruit
Feijoa
The fruit matures in autumn and the skin is green. Its shape is roughly that of a prolate spheroid, and it is about the size of a chicken egg. It is sweet, slightly tart, with an aromatic bouquet reminiscent of other tropical fruit such as passion fruit, cherry guava, or pineapple. The flesh is juicy and is divided into a clear, gelatinous seed pulp and a firmer, slightly granular, opaque flesh nearer the skin. The fruit falls to the ground when ripe and at its fullest flavour, but it may be picked from the tree prior to falling to prevent bruising.
The fruit pulp resembles the closely related guava, having a gritty texture. The feijoa pulp is used in some natural cosmetic products as an exfoliant. Feijoa fruit has a distinctive, potent smell that resembles that of a fine perfume. The aroma is due to methyl benzoate and related compounds in the fruit.
Growing conditions
Feijoa
In Brazil, it is naturally found around Araucaria angustifolia forests at altitudes more than 900 metres. The plant is a warm-temperate, subtropical plant that also will grow in the tropics, but requires at least 50 hours of winter chilling to fruit, and is frost-tolerant. When grown from seed, feijoas are noted for slow growth during their first year or two, and young plants, though cold tolerant, can be sensitive to high wind.
It is commonly grown in gardens of New Zealand. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree and for its fruit.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the species has been cultivated in the United Kingdom and as far north as western Scotland, but under such conditions it does not fruit every year, as winter temperatures below approximately −9 °C (16 °F) kill the flower buds. Summer temperatures above 32 °C (90 °F) may also have an adverse effect upon fruit set. Feijoas are somewhat tolerant of drought and salt in soils, though fruit production can be adversely affected. Tolerant to partial shade, regular watering is essential while the fruit is maturing.
Cultivation
Feijoa
Young feijoa seedling
The main cultivation areas are not located in the original region of the feijoa; they are found in New Zealand, the United States (California), and Colombia, among other countries. Some cultivars of F. sellowiana, widely distributed internationally, derive from a small number of introductions of "Uruguayan type" plants. In 1890, Professor Edouard André introduced a specimen or a few specimens of the species from Uruguay to France, which were the origin of the seedlings introduced in California, and later reached New Zealand. Subsequently, Colombia introduced materials from various parts of the world.
Some grafted cultivars of feijoa are self-fertile. Most are not and require a pollinator. Seedlings may or may not be of usable quality; and may or may not be self-fertile. Feijoas will mature into a sprawly shrub but can be kept successfully as a large container plant, though accommodations will need to be made for the width of the plants, and the need to encourage new growth for fruit production.
Feijoas are occasionally found as landscape plants in Texas, Florida, California, and the maritime Pacific Northwest. They can succeed in greenhouses in temperate parts of the United States; and have been grown in-ground as fruiting trees on the United States east coast in coastal Georgia and South Carolina as well as in California. Other regions of the United States such as the southernmost Appalachian Mountains, and the immediate coastal region from North Carolina to Delaware would warrant further investigation.
Feijoa orchard with fallen ripe fruit. Dax, Landes, southwestern France
Feijoa sellowiana (O.Berg) O.Berg, Azores
The fruit has been widely grown in New Zealand since the 1920s, and it has become a popular garden tree. It is commonly available in season from March to June. In New Zealand, the pollinators of this plant are bees, bumblebees, and medium-sized birds. The silvereye is a pollinator in the cooler parts of the South Island; the blackbird and the Indian myna, which feeds on the sweet, fleshy flower petals, are pollinators further north. In some areas where the species has been introduced, however, the trees have been unproductive due to lack of pollinators. The shrub has very few insect pests, although guava moth is a problem in Northland, New Zealand.
In the South Caucasus, feijoa has been cultivated in the southern coastal region of Azerbaijan since 1928; cultivation in neighboring Georgia has gradually increased to about 988 hectares (2,440 acres) in 1986.
Sale and shipping
Feijoa
Ripe fruit is prone to bruising; difficulty maintaining the fruit in good condition for any length of time, along with the short period of optimum ripeness and full flavour, probably explains why feijoas are not exported frequently, and are typically sold close to where they are grown. However, intercontinental shipping of feijoa by sea or air has been successful.
Because of the relatively short shelf life, storekeepers need to be careful to replace older fruit regularly to ensure high quality. In some countries, they also may be purchased at roadside stalls, often at a lower price.
Feijoas may be cool-stored for approximately a month and still have a few days of shelf life at optimum eating maturity. They also may be frozen for up to one year without a loss in quality.
Consumption
Nutrition
Raw feijoa is 83% water, 13% carbohydrates, and 1% each of fat and protein (table). In a reference amount of 100 grams (3.5 oz), raw feijoa provides 55 calories and is a rich source of vitamin C, providing 40% of the Daily Value, but supplies no other micronutrients in significant amount.
Food uses
Although the skin is edible, the fruit usually is eaten by cutting it in half, then scooping out the pulp with a spoon. The fruit has a juicy, sweet seed pulp and slightly gritty flesh nearer the skin. The flower petals are edible. The most common uses are eating raw, desserts such as sorbet, sweet pies, crumbles, or in salads. They are regularly consumed by birds.
• The crisp, spicy-sweet tasting petals of feijoa flowers are edible. • Spread made of mashed raw feijoa • A display of feijoas for sale in Auckland, New Zealand
Varieties
Feijoa
Numerous cultivars of feijoa have been developed. These include:
• Anatoki • Apollo • Bambina • Barton • Den's Choice • Choiceana • Tibasosa (grown in the "Feijoa capital of Colombia", Tibasosa) • Coolidge • Edenvale Improved Coolidge • Edenvale Late • Edenvale Supreme • Gemini • Kaiteri • Kakariki (a cultivar developed by Waimea Nurseries, New Zealand, large flavour-filled fruit, named from the Māori word for green) • Mammoth – named for its relatively massive fruit • Moore • Nazemetz • Opal Star • Pineapple Gem • Smilax – mid-sized, spherical fruit with smooth texture • Trask • Triumph • Unique (NZ cultivar, particularly tolerant of clay soils, and self pollinating) • Vista Long – noted for the long shape of its fruit, developed in Vista, CA • Wiki Tu