Feijoa fruit
Feijoa fruit is also an egg shaped fruit with a blue to olive green skin. The flesh inside is cream colored and encases a jelly like center. The texture is rough, close to that of a pear. The flesh tastes like a mixture of several other fruits, usually describe as pineapple, guava, and strawberry. Some people report a taste similar to that of a quince or lemon. Feijoa is native to South America, but is now commercially grown in
The skin of the fruit
is blue to olive green in colour with a waxy feel to it. The shape of the fruit
varies from almost round to elongated pear shape and is about five to ten centimeters
(2 to 4") long. It has an unusual flavour, having a bitter sweet taste
that can best be described as tasting like a tropical fruit salad.
Feijoas do not dramatically change colour when they ripen. They simply turn a
slightly lighter shade of green.
The waxy skin is dull blue-green to blue or
grayish green, sometimes with a red or orange blush. Skin texture varies from
smooth to rough. The fruit emits a strong long-lasting perfume, even before it
is fully ripe. The thick, white, granular, watery flesh and the translucent
central pulp enclosing the seeds are sweet or sub-acid, suggesting a
combination of pineapple and guava or pineapple and strawberry. There are
usually 20 - 40, occasionally more, very small, oblong seeds hardly noticeable
when the fruit is eaten.
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. The tiny edible seeds are embedded in a jellylike center.
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.
The feijoa is a slow-growing
evergreen shrub that can reach 15 ft. high and 15 ft. wide. The bark
is pale gray and the spreading branches are swollen at the nodes and
white-hairy when young. In addition to the fruit it provides, the shrub also
doubles handsomely as a landscape specimen. When planted close together, the
shrubs make a nice hedge, screen, or windbreak. Feijoas can also be espaliered
or trained as a small tree (20 to 25 ft. tall) with one or more trunks.
The wood is dense, hard, and brittle.
The evergreen, thick, leathery leaves of the
feijoa are opposite, short-petioled and bluntly elliptical. In size they range
from 1 to 2-1/2 inches long and 1 inch wide. The leaves are smooth
soft green on top and silvery underneath, flashing nicely in a gentle breeze.
The 1 inch showy, bisexual flowers,
borne singly or in a cluster, have long, bright red stamens topped with large
grains of yellow pollen. Each flower contains four to six fleshy flower petals
that are white tinged with purple on the inside. These petals are mildly sweet
and edible and can make a refreshing addition to spring salads. Birds eating
the petals pollinate the flower.
Feijoa pollen is transferred by birds that
are attracted to and eat the flowers, but bees are the chief pollinators. Most
flowers pollinated with compatible pollen show 60 to 90% fruit set. Hand
pollination is nearly 100% effective. Flowers in time for Christmas and fruits
April - May onwards depending on variety and climate.
The feijoa is generally grown from seed and reproduces
fairly, but not absolutely, true to type. Seeds are separated by squeezing the
seedy pulp into a container, covering with water, and letting the liquid stand
for 4 days to ferment. Seeds are then strained out and dried before sowing. The
seeds will retain viability for a year or more if kept dry. Germination takes
place in 3 weeks. The young plants are transplanted to pots when they have
produced their second leaves and later transferred to the field without
difficulty. The plant fruits in 3 to 5 years from seed. To reproduce a special
selection, vegetative propagation is, of course, necessary. In some countries
ground-layering is practiced and rooting occurs in 6 months. Air-layering is
usually successful and the layers will fruit the second year.
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 fairly salt tolerant, but salinity slows
growth and reduces yields.
Pruning is not required to keep plants productive,
but a light pruning in the summer after fruit is harvested will encourage new
growth and increase yields the following year. Thinning the plant also permits
easier harvesting. When grown as a hedge, the feijoa responds well to heavy
pruning or shearing, but this reduces flower and fruit production.
The health benefits of feijoa include promote healthy bowel
function due to the high levels of thread. Feijoa are among the most highly
alkaline foods, making them useful in balancing the pH of the body. They are a
good source of potassium, it is very important in helping to regulate blood
pressure.
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I need more please fruits start with f
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