Acca sellowiana — Feijoa | Tropical Fruit Sensation. Grow Your Own.

Description

Acca sellowiana (pineapple guava) is an attractive evergreen shrub or small tree valued for its ornamental appeal, edible fruit, and adaptability. Native to South America, it is widely cultivated for its sweet, aromatic fruit and showy, edible flowers.

Pineapple guava originates from the highlands of southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northern Argentina. It is one of the most cold-hardy types of guavas you can grow – surviving regular temperatures down to 15°F. German botanist Otto Karl Berg described this plant as Feijoa sellowiana in 1859. In 1941, the genus Feijoa was combined with the genus Acca. Despite its humble origins, feijoa has become treasured worldwide—especially in New Zealand where it’s grown with almost obsessive devotion.

Here’s where feijoa becomes irresistible: the fruit. The fruit has a unique tropical flavor that combines notes of pineapple, guava, and strawberry with a hint of spearmint. The sweet, aromatic fruit can be eaten fresh by cutting it in half and scooping out the pulp. The slightly tart skin is also edible. But the magic doesn’t stop with raw consumption. The fruit is best eaten raw but it can also be made into pies, cakes, puddings, jams, jellies etc. Try adding Feijoas into custards, puddings, and panna cotta for a distinct flavor addition or blending and freezing into sorbets, ice cream, or gelatos. The fruit also self-harvests! As feijoa grow ripe in the fall, they naturally fall from the shrub on to the ground below. And here’s a secret weapon: The flowers can be eaten raw. The petals are sweet, crisp and delicious. They taste very fruity and are more pleasant than many fruits. The white petals around the outside of the flower are edible and delicious! They melt in your mouth much like cotton candy and marshmallows combined.

Visually, feijoa is a stunner year-round. Its silver-green foliage adds year-round visual interest. Eye-catching, inch-wide, white flowers add to the décor with their center tuft of large, white-tipped red stamens. The tree produces unique and sugar-sweet edible flowers, followed by kiwi-sized fruits with a tropical fragrance. The exotic 1 to 1.5-inch flowers of the Pineapple Guava are a sight to behold, with curled petals in fuchsia-pink topsides and white undersides. Clusters of attractive bluish green leaves with grayish white undersides cover cinnamon-colored bark on rather thin, upright stems that can be trained into tree form. Bonus: Feijoa is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree and makes a good hedge.

Growing feijoa is achievable and rewarding. Best flowering and fruiting occurs in full sun but tolerates light shade. It’s adaptable to a wide range of soils, including acidic soil, but prefers a humus rich soil that is well drained. Adding compost and not manure works for this plant. This is considered a drought tolerant plant, meaning it survives with relatively little water, but needs adequate water for good fruit production. It does well with minimal pruning and care and typically won’t require much irrigation beyond normal rainfall. No serious insect or disease problems. Pineapple guava are remarkably disease and pest-resistant, with little-to-no known issues. Despite dealing with our fair share of powdery mildew, aphids, cabbage worms, and other pesky critters in our garden, the feijoa goes unscathed. It is even deer-resistant!