General Information
Feijoas fruits are ellipsoid shaped, similar to an egg. The color and texture of the skin both resemble that of a lime. The fruit has distinctive aromatics both sweet and tart and suggestive of its tropical flavors. The flesh is dense, grainy and creamy, similar to the flesh of a ripe pear. The flesh contains a jelly-like seed cavity. Its flavors are a melange of quince, pineapple, banana, and sweet grapes. The entire fruit is edible.
History
The feijoa is native to extreme southern Brazil, northern Argentina, western Paraguay and Uruguay where it is common wild in the mountains. It is believed that the plant was first grown in Europe by M. de Wette in Switzerland and, a little later, about 1887, it was known to be in the Botanic Garden at Basle. In 1890, the renowned French botanist and horticulturist, Dr. Edouard Andre, brought an air-layered plant from La Plata, Brazil and planted it in his garden on the Riviera. It fruited in 1897. Dr. Andre published a description with color plates of the leaves, flowers, and fruit, in the Revue Horticole in 1898, praising the fruit and recommending cultivation in southern France and all around the Mediterranean area.
The feijoa is sometimes cultivated in the highlands of Chile and other South American countries and in the Caribbean area. Jamaica received a few plants from California in 1912 and planted them at various altitudes. I have seen occasional plants on roadsides and in private gardens in the Bahamas, but they do not fruit and often fail to flower. In southern India, the feijoa is grown for its fruit in home gardens at temperate elevations about 3,500 ft (1,067 m).
