Strange, but the feijoa fruit was discovered only at the end of the 19th century by the European Joao da Silva Feijo in mountainous Brazil, although the plant was widespread in Uruguay, Colombia, and Argentina. The locals did not count
its edible. The plant received its name in Latin, rather unusual by ear, in honor of its discoverer (Feijoa). After laboratory studies, the feijoa tropical fruit began its triumphant march around the world, as it turned out that it not only has an original taste (a combination of pineapple, strawberries and kiwi), but is also extremely he althy. On the territory of our state, this plant began to grow after the Great Patriotic War. The seedlings were brought to the Caucasus and the republics of Transcaucasia. Since then, there have been large plantations from which (mostly) feijoa fruit ends up 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 already accustomed to mango, passion fruit, papaya, lychee, but fruit
feijoa is still exotic on the tables of Russians. And absolutely 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 distance of feijoa growth from the sea, 8 to 35 mg of this element falls on 100 grams of the product. For comparison, it is worth mentioning that the daily norm of iodine in a person of average build is 0.15 mg. Therefore, people with thyroid disease should definitely include it in their diet, since naturally occurring water-soluble iodine compounds are better and more naturally absorbed by the body. Feijoa will also be extremely useful for patients with atherosclerosis. Fruits contain a large amount of folic acid, antioxidants, vitamin C. These components will be useful for everyone.
The feijoa tree can be grown at home from a cloned shoot or from seeds. Both methods are productive with a difference in the time of the onset of fruiting. In the first case, the plant will treat its owners with fragrant fruit in 4 years, in the second -
through 7. The tree is unpretentious. Loves moisture, responsive to top dressing. But, during growth, it is necessary to constantly trim the stretching shoots. When your tree blooms, you will understand what is valuable in this plant not onlyfeijoa fruit. The photo shows how beautiful the flowers are, but it cannot capture the fragrance that will fill your home.
Feijoa fruits are widely used in cooking for the preparation of sauces, compotes, fruit salads, fillings and lemonades. But more often, the fruit, having been peeled, is ground through a meat grinder, mixed with sugar and consumed raw - the so-called "live jam". It preserves all the useful properties of feijoa as much as possible.
