Strange, but the feijoa fruit was discovered only at the end of the 19th century by the European João da Silva Feijo in the mountains of Brazil, although the plant was widespread in Uruguay, Colombia, and Argentina. Locals did not consider
its edible. The name in Latin, quite unusual by ear, the plant received in honor of its discoverer (Feijoa). After laboratory research, the feijoa tropical fruit began its victorious procession around the world, as it turned out that it not only has an original taste (a combination of pineapple, strawberry and kiwi), but also is extremely useful. On the territory of our state, this plant began to grow after the Great Patriotic War. Seedlings were brought to the Caucasus and the republics of Transcaucasia. Since then, there have been large plantations, from which (mostly) feijoa fruit falls on the shelves of Russian shops and markets.
In the Northern Hemisphere, this plant actively bears fruit from November to December, and in its homeland in South America from April to May. Depending on when you buy the feijoa fruit, you can determine where it came from.
The fruit is dark green in color, up to 5 centimeters long, up to 4 in diameter, with a characteristic smell of strawberries. Russian consumers are accustomed to mango, passion fruit, papaya, lychee, but fruit
feijoa still remains exotic on the tables of Russians. And completely in vain. Since it has a lot of useful properties, of which first of all it is worth mentioning the high content of iodine. Depending on the remoteness of feijoa growth from the sea, per 100 grams of the product accounts for 8 to 35 mg of this element. For comparison, it is worth mentioning that the daily norm of iodine in a person of average complexion is 0.15 mg. Therefore, people with thyroid diseases should definitely include it in their diet, since water-soluble iodine compounds of natural origin are better and more naturally absorbed by the body. Patients with atherosclerosis also feijoa will be extremely useful. Fruits contain a large amount of folic acid, antioxidants, vitamin C. These components will be useful to everyone.
Feijoa tree can be grown at home from a cloned process or from seeds. Both methods are productive with a difference in the time of the beginning of fruiting. In the first case, the plant will treat its hosts with a fragrant fruit after 4 years, in the second -
through 7. The tree is unpretentious. Loves moisture, responsive to top dressing. But, throughout the growth, it is necessary to constantly trim the elongated shoots. When your tree blooms, you will realize that the valuable in this plant is not only feijoa fruit. The photo shows how beautiful the flowers are, but cannot convey the fragrance that will fill your home.
Feijoa fruits are widely used in cooking for the preparation of sauces, compotes, fruit salads, fillings and soft drinks. But more often the fruit, having peeled, is ground through a meat grinder, mixed with sugar and consumed in raw form - the so-called “live jam”. It maximally preserves all the useful properties of feijoa.
