Feijoa

Feijoa

taxobox
name = Feijoa



image_caption = Pineapple Guava "Feijoa sellowiana" fruit
regnum = Plantae
unranked_divisio = Angiosperms
unranked_classis = Eudicots
unranked_ordo = Rosids
ordo = Myrtales
familia = Myrtaceae
genus = "Feijoa"
species = "F. sellowiana"
binomial = "Feijoa sellowiana"
binomial_authority = O. Berg|

The Feijoa ("Feijoa sellowiana", synonym "Acca sellowiana"), also known as Pineapple Guava or Guavasteen, is an evergreen shrub or small tree, convert|1|-|7|m|0 in height, originating from the highlands of southern Brazil, parts of Colombia, Uruguay and northern Argentina. It has been spotted in Georgia and both flowering and fruiting in Lafayette, Louisiana and in Charleston, South Carolina, and California. It is widely cultivated as a garden plant and fruiting tree in New Zealand, and can be found as a garden plant in Australia.

Description of fruit and plant

The fruit matures in autumn and is green, ellipsoid-shaped and the size of a chicken egg. It has a sweet, aromatic flavor. The flesh is juicy and is divided into a clear jelly-like seed pulp and a firmer, slightly gritty opaque flesh nearer the skin. The fruit drops when ripe, but can be picked from the tree prior to the drop to prevent bruising. This plant is monotypic in its genus. Like the closely-related guava, the fruit pulp has a gritty texture which is utilized in some natural cosmetic products as an exfoliant.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.

German botanist Otto Karl Berg named "Feijoa" after João da Silva Feijó, a Brazilian botanist. Fact|date=April 2007

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 convert|-9|°C|0 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. An alternative is to bite the end off and then tear the fruit in half length ways, exposing a larger surface with less curvature. The teeth can then scrape the pulp out closer to the skin, with less wastage. They can even be eaten whole, with only the junction to the plant cut off. The skin is sour and can be bitter, but provides a nice balance to the sweet pulp. Still, this is a less common method in some countries, but in Latin America, the fruit's homeland, it is often eaten this way. A feijoa can also be used as an interesting addition to a fruit smoothie, and can be used to make feijoa wine and feijoa infused vodka. It is also possible to buy Feijoa yogurt, fruit drinks, jam, ice-cream, etc. in New Zealand. The Feijoa can also be cooked and used in dishes where one would use stewed fruit. It is a popular ingredient in chutney.

Fruit maturity is not always apparent from the outside as the fruits remain green until they are over-mature or rotting. Generally the fruit is at its optimum ripeness the day it drops from the tree. While still hanging it may well prove bitter. Once fallen fruit very quickly become over-ripe, so a daily collection of fallen fruit is advisable during the season. 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 shouldn't be eaten. However large proups of these over mature but not rotten fruits can be used to make a delicious juice very popular in places like the Colombian Highlands.

The pink to white flowers petals have a delightful flavor, are crisp, moist, and fleshy.

hipping and sale

Ripe fruit is very prone to bruising; maintaining the fruit in good condition for any length of time is not easy. This, along with the short period of optimum ripeness, probably explains why Feijoas, although delicious, are not widely exported, and where grown commercially are often only sold close to the source of the crop. Feijoas can be cool-stored for approximately a month and still have a few days of shelf life at optimum eating maturity. They're also able to be put in the freezer up to one year without a loss in quality. Because of the relatively short shelf life store keepers need to be careful to replace older feijoas regularly to ensure high quality. In some countries, feijoas can also be purchased at roadside stalls, often at a lower price.

Cultivation

Some grafted cultivars are self fertile. Most are not, and require a pollenizer. Seedlings may or may not be of usable quality, and may or may not be self fertile. In New Zealand, the pollinators are medium sized birds such as the Silvereye in the cooler parts of the South Island, the blackbird or the Indian myna further North, which feed on the sweet, fleshy petals of the feijoa flower. In some areas where the species has been introduced, it has been unproductive due to lack of pollinators.

In northern California, robins, mockingbirds, starlings, scrub jays, towhees and grey squirrels feast on the petals and can be assumed to be assisting with pollination. Honey bees also visit the flowers.

External links

* [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/feijoa.html Fruits of Warm Climates: Feijoa]
* [http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/feijoa.html California Rare Fruit Growers: Feijoa Fruit Facts]
* [http://www.feijoa.org.nz/ New Zealand Feijoa Growers Association Inc.]
* [http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/550121701nXIkak Photo Gallery of Feijoa - the Pineapple Guava]
* [http://208.109.95.8/LinkedLabel.aspx?FoodId=29374 Nutritional Analysis] at FoodsDatabase


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Feijoa — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Feijoa puede estar haciendo referencia a: La planta Acca sellowiana. El género botánico Acca. Obtenido de Feijoa Categorías: Wikipedia:Desambiguación | Frutas | Vegetales originarios de América …   Wikipedia Español

  • feijoa — |ô| s. f. [Viticultura] Casta de uva tinta …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • Feijoa — Goyavier de Montevideo Goyavier de Montevideo …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Feijoa — Brasilianische Guave Brasilianische Guave (Acca sellowiana), Blätter und Blüten mit vielen Staubblättern. Systematik Unterklasse …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • feijoa — /fay yoh euh, hoh euh/, n. 1. a shrub, Feijoa sellowiana, of the myrtle family, native to South America, bearing edible, greenish, plumlike fruit. 2. the fruit of this shrub. Also called pineapple guava. [ < NL (1858), after João da Silva Feijó… …   Universalium

  • feijoa — fei·jò·a s.f. TS bot. pianta del genere Feijoa | con iniz. maiusc., genere della famiglia delle Mirtacee, cui appartiene la specie Feijoa sellowiana, arbusto sempreverde con frutti commestibili a bacca ovoidale, il cui profumo è simile a quello… …   Dizionario italiano

  • feijoa — {{#}}{{LM F45173}}{{〓}} {{[}}feijoa{{]}} ‹fei·jo·a› {{《}}▍ s.f.{{》}} Árbol con hojas de color verde oscuro por el haz y blanco por el envés, flores blancas y rosadas con estambres rojos que salen fuera de los pétalos, y fruto carnoso de color… …   Diccionario de uso del español actual con sinónimos y antónimos

  • Feijoa — ID 34672 Symbol Key FEIJO Common Name feijoa Family Myrtaceae Category Dicot Division Magnoliophyta US Nativity N/A US/NA Plant Yes State Distribution N/A Growth Habit N/A …   USDA Plant Characteristics

  • feijoa — amerikinė aka statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Mirtinių šeimos dekoratyvinis, vaistinis augalas (Acca sellowiana), paplitęs Pietų Amerikoje, kitur – auginamas. atitikmenys: lot. Acca sellowiana; Feijoa sellowiana; Orthostemon sellowianus… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • feijoa — noun Etymology: New Latin, genus name, from João da Silva Feijó died 1824 Brazilian naturalist Date: 1898 the green round or oval juicy fruit of a shrub or small tree (Feijoa sellowiana) of the myrtle family that is native to South America and is …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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