Colombian native

Feijoa

Acca sellowiana

Field guide

🗓️ Season

● peak · ○ available · — scarce

Recent visitors (last 30 days)

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🗺️ Where it grows

Native to the highlands of southern Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia.

Elsewhere in the world: Also grown in New Zealand, Azerbaijan, Italy and the United States.

Altitude: 1,800–2,800 m

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MedellínBogotáCartagenaCaliLeticia

Andes

Cool Andean highlands, such as Antioquia and Boyacá.

👀 Look

An egg-sized, dusty-green torpedo that never changes color — ripeness is invisible, which is half its mystery. Inside: translucent jelly center surrounded by grainy cream-colored flesh, like a pear crossed with a guava.

👃 Aroma

Its superpower. Perfumed, almost bubble-gum floral with pineapple and mint — a ripe feijoa announces itself from across the room.

👅 Taste

Pineapple + guava + pear with a eucalyptus whisper. Sweet-tart, gritty like a pear near the skin.

Sweetness: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🍽️ How to eat it

Halve and scoop with a spoon; the skin is edible but tart. Blended into juice and sabajón (a creamy liqueur) in the highlands.

🧃 Drinks

Jugo de feijoa (water-based, aromatic) — rarer in Medellín than in Bogotá; grab it when you see it.

🏪 Buying tips

Ignore color; use your nose and thumb — fragrant and slightly yielding = ready. Rock-hard fruit ripens on the counter in 2–4 days.

💰 Price

2.000 COP (our vendor's quote). Confirm unit when buying.

🌎 Local lore

New Zealand made the feijoa world-famous, but South America grew it first. It drops from the tree when perfectly ripe — orchard workers harvest the ground, not the branches.

⚠️ Watch out

Goes from perfect to fermented in about two days. Refrigerate.

🎉 Fun fact

Its flower petals are edible, fleshy and sweet — birds eat them and pollinate the flower — so the whole plant, flower to fruit, is a snack. The genus Feijoa honours naturalist João da Silva Feijó and the species sellowiana botanist Friedrich Sellow, so the fruit is named after two people.

⭐ Worth trying?

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Smell one even if you buy nothing else.