Feijoa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Feijoa |
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| Pineapple guava or feijoa fruit | |
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Acca
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| Acca sellowiana |
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The feijoa is a yummy fruit that grows on an evergreen shrub or small tree. These trees can be from 1 to 7 meters tall. Feijoas originally come from the mountains of southern Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay, and northern Argentina. Today, you can also find them growing in places like Azerbaijan, Iran, Georgia, Russia, New Zealand, and Tasmania, Australia.
This fruit is also known by other names, like 'pineapple guava' or 'guavasteen'.
Contents
What a Feijoa Looks Like
The feijoa fruit usually ripens in autumn. It is green and shaped like an egg. The fruit has a sweet, strong smell and a juicy inside. When feijoas are ripe, they often fall off the tree. You can pick them a little early to stop them from getting bruised.
Feijoas have a special smell. This smell comes from natural chemicals, mainly one called methyl benzoate.
Where Feijoas Grow Best
Feijoa plants like warm weather, from mild temperate areas to subtropical regions. They can even grow in tropical places, but they need a bit of cold weather in winter to make fruit.
In the northern part of the world, feijoas have been grown as far north as western Scotland. However, they might not produce fruit every year there. This is because very cold winter temperatures (below about -11 °C) can harm the flower buds.
Lots of feijoas are grown in New Zealand. There, the feijoa tree is a popular plant for gardens, and the fruit is easy to find when it's in season.
How to Eat a Feijoa
Most people eat feijoas by cutting the fruit in half. Then, they scoop out the soft inside, called the pulp, with a spoon. In New Zealand, it's popular to cook feijoas with sugar. People often serve them warm with vanilla ice cream in winter.
The inside of the fruit has a sweet, juicy part with tiny seeds. The flesh closer to the skin can feel a bit grainy. The skin itself is a bit sour, but you can eat it too! If you don't have a spoon, you can tear or bite the feijoa in half. Then, you can squeeze out the pulp and eat it.
It can be tricky to tell if a feijoa is ripe just by looking at the outside, because it stays green. When the fruit is young, the seed pulp is white and not see-through. As it ripens, this pulp becomes clear and jelly-like. The best time to eat a feijoa is when the seed pulp is a clear jelly and has no brown spots. If the pulp or the flesh around it starts to turn brown, the fruit is too old and shouldn't be eaten.
Images for kids
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A young feijoa plant growing.
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A feijoa orchard with ripe fruit that has fallen to the ground in Dax, Landes, France.
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The petals of feijoa flowers are tasty and can be eaten.
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A yummy spread made from mashed raw feijoa fruit.
See also
In Spanish: Feijoa para niños
