Feijoa

Get to know it

Feijoa is a small green fruit with a pineapple-like perfume and a sweet-tart center. Under the skin, grainy white flesh surrounds a soft, translucent pocket of tiny seeds. Also called pineapple guava, it is a fruit to open and eat with a spoon.

What it is

An oval or slightly pear-shaped feijoa is often 4–6 cm (1½–2½ in) long. It stays green as it matures, sometimes turning a lighter shade, so ripeness brings a small change in color rather than a bright new skin. The fruit softens and bruises easily.

The white flesh has a grainy bite, while the center is translucent and softer. The seeds are so small that they barely interrupt a spoonful. Its strong scent carries pineapple notes, with sweetness and tang together in the flesh.

Where it comes from

Feijoa comes from southern Brazil, northern Argentina, western Paraguay and Uruguay. Around 1908, three named varieties reached Auckland from Australia: Coolidge, Choiceana and Superba. New Zealand now grows most of the commercial crop.

The fruit also grows in Uruguay, Japan and Italy, and near the Black Sea in western Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the United States, commercial growing is limited to a few small operations in California.

How it's eaten where it grows

In New Zealand, feijoa loaf puts chopped, peeled fruit into a cake for morning tea. The fruit simmers with butter, sugar and water before the egg and flour go in. The loaf can also include chopped crystallised ginger.

Near Omaha, Quinta Feijoas makes chutney with feijoas, dried fruit, onions, spices and vinegar. Its feijoa jam pairs the fruit with lemon and ginger. Fresh fruit takes less preparation: the flesh is scooped straight from the skin.

How it's grown

Feijoa grows on an evergreen shrub in the myrtle family. It can form a hedge as well as a fruiting garden plant. Sun, regular water and soil that drains well help it bear good fruit. In Florida, the first crop comes about 2–4 years after planting.

Mature fruit comes away from the branch with little force. Growers can also shake it onto tarps, catching the easily bruised fruit as it falls.

When and where you'll find it

In New Zealand shops, the usual fresh-fruit season runs from mid-March to early June. Farm shops, roadside kiosks and farmers markets are other routes: Quinta Feijoas has an orchard near Omaha and a stall at Matakana Village Farmers Market. It also makes frozen fruit and preserves.

In California, San Francisco’s farmers markets usually have their feijoa season in November and December. Pineapple guava is another name for the same fruit.

Sources · 8

Get it near Detroit

What it tastes like

Softer than a pear, sweeter than a grapefruit≈

Not sweetlemonbananaSweet

MildbananalemonSour

SoftbananaappleCrisp

More about the taste

Feijoa has a strong pineapple-like aroma with other fruity, sweet-sour notes. The center becomes jelly-like as it ripens.

Feijoa has a strong pineapple-like aroma with other sweet-sour notes. Varieties differ in grit, astringency and juiciness: Apollo lacks the fruit's characteristic grit, while Robert is juicy with a mild flavor.

A tasting invitation

Pineapple, floral and sweet-sour notes come through in the aroma, before and after cutting. The soft center contrasts with the surrounding flesh.

Choose, ripen, store, eat

1ChooseGives slightly when squeezed
Look for
Gives slightly when squeezed
Soft, translucent center
A ready-to-eat feijoa gives slightly when gently squeezed. A cut fruit should have a soft, translucent center; firmness means it needs more ripening.
2RipenRipens after picking
Ripens after picking
Allow firm fruit time to soften before eating. On the tree, easy detachment or the first fruit falling naturally are good harvest cues.
3StoreFridge, ripe
1. FridgeRipeLoose
Store ripe fruit loose in the refrigerator. Handle it gently, since feijoas bruise easily.
4EatFlesh, Seeds
Eat
FleshSeeds
Cut in half and scoop out the interior, including the small seeds, as you would a kiwifruit. The selected recipes use peeled flesh.

More tips

A useful detail The edible fruit is only one reason growers plant feijoa — its flowers are flavorful and its foliage striking. Named varieties differ in size, flavor and texture, and a seedling grown from seed won't necessarily match its parent.

Worth knowing

Don't hold feijoas warm for weeks to sweeten them; flavor, condition and safety matter more than a higher sugar reading.

Detroit, Michigan

When it’s good here

Grown here

Ships from other statesNov–Dec

8 growing areas, 5 countries

Bay of Plenty
California
Cundinamarca
South Australia
Valparaíso
You

Grows hereOther monthsYou

0 of 4 areas · October

Growing areas by country

New Zealand4
Australia1
Chile1
Colombia1
United States1

In Brazil, feijoa is eaten fresh as a dessert fruit and used in canned or jellied preparations. New Zealand is now a major commercial producer of this South American fruit.
Brazil and New Zealand

18 varieties

See all 18 varieties

39 names in 12 languages

凤梨番石榴root

Cook it

How to serve it first

Halve a washed, ripe fruit and explore the interior with a spoon. Start with plain pulp, then try a little in yogurt or a dessert that welcomes an aromatic fruit. Keep the first preparation simple enough to learn what this batch contributes.

Recipes 3

1 Feijoa festival

Festival de la FeijoaJunTibasosa, Boyacá, ColombiaJun

Festivals this month →

Strange but true

If you like Feijoa

Tastes alike

Used the same way

Nutrition, sources

Nutrition

Feijoa, raw · per 100 g

Energy61kcal · 254 kJ

Carbohydrate: 15 g
Fiber: 6.4 g
Sugars: 8.2 g
Protein: 0.7 g
Fat: 0.4 g
Vitamin C: 33 mg
Potassium: 172 mg

Sources

Feijoa · Fruitopia · checked Sep 21, 2026