The Feijoa, Feijoa sellowiana, also known as Pineapple Guava or Guavasteen, is an evergreen shrub or small sub-tropical fruit bearing tree, reaching heights from 1-7 meters. Feijoa is indigenous to the highlands of tropical Southern Brazil and parts of Colombia and Uruguay.

Feijoa sellowiana leaves are opposite, thick, leathery, smooth, range from 2.5 to 7cm in length and about 2.5cm wide, soft green on top and silvery underneath. Flowers are bisexual, pink-white in color, borne singly or in bundles, flashy, with long, bright red stamens topped with large grains of yellow pollen.

Flower production is low in areas with fewer than 50 hours of chilling. Each flower contains four to six fleshy flower petals that are white tinted with purple on the inside. These petals are mildly sweet and edible and can make a novel addition to spring salads.

The Feijoa fruit ranges from 2 to 8 cm in length and vary in shape from round to elongated pear shape, with the persistent calyx segments sticking to the apex. The color of the waxy skin of the fruit is flat blue-green to blue or grayish green, sometimes with a red or orange blush.

The texture of the skin can also vary from smooth to rough and pebbly and up to 1.5cm in thickness. The fruit gives off a strong lasting fragrance, even before it is fully ripe. The thick, white, granular, watery flesh and the semitransparent central pulp are sweet or sub acid, indicating of pineapple and guava or pineapple and strawberry, often with overtones of or spearmint combination.

There are commonly 20 – 40, very small, oblong seeds integrated in the flesh but hardly noticeable when the fruit is consumed. The fruit is commonly eaten fresh by cutting it in half, then scooping out the pulp with a spoon. It can also be used in fruit smoothies, feijoa wine, feijoa cider, and feijoa infused vodka and to flavor ice-cream and yogurt. Fruit is a popular element in chutneys and jams. Feijoas can be cool-stored for roughly a month.

Feijoas will grow in a wide variety of soils. The best harvests, however, come from plants growing in well-drained soil with a pH between 5.5 and 7.0. They are reasonably salt tolerant, but salinity slows growth and reduces yields. The fruit drops when mature, but could be picked in advance from the tree to prevent bruising. However, fruit is at its best ripeness the day it drops from the tree.

Tree Propagation is by seed. Feijoa sellowiana grows easily from seed, but the seedlings are not all of the time true to type. The plant is outstandingly pest and disease-resistant. It is sometimes attacked by fruit flies where that is a problem. Feijoa sellowiana is a member of the family: Myrtaceae the genous Feijoa. It is widely cultivated as a garden plant and fruiting tree.

Feijoa, Feijoa sellowiana

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The key to successful fruit and nut production is the provision of a beneficial environment for the trees that bear them.