My potted feijoas have about 8 fruits on them. I’ve never eaten a feijoa before. One fell off (or maybe got knocked off) today. It’s pretty firm still but has some give, maybe about as firm as the least ripe nectarine one might find in a grocery store. That’s not a very good description, but I can’t think of a better one. Should I let it ripen further on the counter? How will I know when it’s ripe?
i try to pick them before the fruits fall, but typically ready-to-eat when have fallen off.
that should approximate that stage when it is ready to eat. You could eat it like you would a tropical guava(psidium) but feijoa skin/rind is not as good eating as the inner pulp.
Just like thin-skinned tropical guavas, feijoa fruits start getting mushy pretty quickly once they are ripe and ready.
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So do you mostly just eat the inside out of the feijoas? Do you cut them in half and scoop the insides out?
I can’t remember ever eating a tropical guava. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t even recognize one if I saw it.
Do you think it’s best to eat feijoas before they start getting mushy? Or are they best mushy like an astringent persimmon or a really ripe hardy kiwi?
Thank you!
The Kiwi description is a good one.When they are cut in half,the flesh is best when it is sort of translucent in the segments. Brady
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If my feijoa were a hardy kiwi it would still be very sour and unappetizing. If it’s like a hardy kiwi, I think I’ll definitely give it more time before I cut it. Since I only have 8 I want to make the most of every one.
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I usually wait until they fall and then cut them in half and eat with a spoon.Brady
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When fruits fall from the bush, they’re ready to be eaten. They shouldn’t be really soft. Just cut it in half along the long axis and scoop the flesh with a spoon.
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you can do that too. The skin has an off-taste to most folks, but it is edible. Crazy as it sounds, but i like feijoa petals more than the fruits.
yeah, right before the pulp darkens/browns
the best ones(to my taste) are the big, thick-rinded ones with white pulp. Baseball-sized or even bigger. Really like them when the rind is still firm but no longer acrid. They are seldom available here in usa. They have the fruit configuration and anatomy of feijoas but roundish and have a bright apple-green skin.
Some smaller tropical guavas also have the same shape/size, and appearance as feijoas. They are also good to eat, but the smell may be cloying when ripe.
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Here is a video about it.The actual testing starts about 2 minutes in. Brady
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It is a new fruit to me too. My neighbor brought me some the other day. I was told that for the best taste collect fruits on the ground every couple of days and eat them as they are collected. I was also told to trim off the blossom end first, then cut lengthwise. If the inside is brown it’s overripe. The photo shows a contrast. Some people eat the peel, i don’t.
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here’s what our fave tropical guava looks like. It is quite refreshing to eat, hopefully would be available in a hispanic/asian grocery store near you.
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I guess it varies by location. Here in California we almost always wait until they drop and pick them up. Not all of them are soft enough yet. They should be as soft as an avocado. At the very end of the year, literally, I pick the last few from the bushes.
I eat the whole thing except the little thing on the end. Improved varieties have decent tasting skin.
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When the squeezed feijoa feels similar to a squeezed pencil eraser, it is nearly ready. In 3 or 4 days at room temperature, it will become over-ripe. They can be stored in the refrigerator when eraser-firm for a month.
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Eric, I am eating mine now. I have found that in my area they are ripe when they fall but don’t keep long. I would think your area is similar to mine and that the fruit should be eaten right away or within a day or two.
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