A large number of exotic fruits we can find in stores and markets.
Among them are instances that need special attention.
These include, of course, feijoa. What is feijoa, where does it come from, what does it look like?
What kind of fruit?
Feijoa is a fruit of a tropical shrub or low tree. The homeland of the fruit is South America, where Europeans discovered it at the end of the 19th century during a scientific expedition. Soon feijoa appeared in France. Then this tropical plant began to be bred on the coasts of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, as well as in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
Did you know? Feijoa is named after Portuguese João da Silva Feijo, who first described this tropical plant and its edible fruits.The feijoa fruit is a greenish, sometimes with a blush, oval shaped berry, about the size of a chicken egg. Under the dense skin is translucent flesh with a few seeds. The rind is quite dense and tart to taste, and the flesh is juicy and tastes like a mixture of strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, papaya. Edible is the whole fruit, without exception.
Nutritional value and calorie
Since feijoa has a pleasant taste, you can lose control over the amount of fruit eaten. Therefore, for people who are watching their figure, information about the nutritional value and caloric content of this berry is very important. 
100 g of an exotic product contains 1.24 g of protein, 0.78 g of fat, 10.63 g of carbohydrates and 49 kCal (205 kJ). You also need to know that per 100 g of fruit accounts for 86 g of water and 0.74 g of ash. It should be borne in mind that these are average indicators. Depending on the place of growth and variety, these figures may vary.
Chemical composition
The fruit of feijoa is a real storehouse of useful substances. It contains their record number - 93. 
The most significant:
- vitamin C;
- B vitamins - B1, B2, niacin, B5, B6, folic acid;
- trace elements - iodine, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, etc .;
- kakhetin, leukoantotsin - biologically active substances;
- Apple acid;
- essential oils;
- sucrose;
- cellulose.
Did you know? The amount of iodine in 100 g of feijoa berries can be up to 35 mg. Such indicators are only seafood.
What is the use?
There is no doubt that a large amount of vitamins, minerals and other substances that are present in the fruit, will bring us great benefits. Consider how feijoa is useful for the human body.
First of all, due to the record iodine content, this fruit is able to saturate us with this essential element in a short time. After all, a lack of iodine leads to a deterioration of memory and attention, a person will be sluggish, as if deprived of energy.
Important! Since the fruits are saturated with iodine due to its content in the sea air, fruits grown in close proximity to the sea bring the maximum benefit.The content of a large amount of vitamin C, biologically active compounds and essential oils makes this exotic fruit a powerful antioxidant and prophylactic against colds and ARVI.
In addition, sucrose and fiber, which is present in this berry, saturates the stomach well. Therefore, it is considered a dietary product.Dietary products also include eggplant, carrot, chives, spinach, asparagus, lettuce, dill, pumpkin.
Feijoa application
In order for our amazing fruit to bring maximum benefit, you need to know where and how it is applied. And the scope of the fetus is quite wide and diverse.
Treatment
Feijoa is the exotic fruit that is recommended by doctors in the complex therapy for a number of diseases, because they know well how it is useful.
In its raw form, the fruit is used to treat and prevent the following diseases:
- thyroid diseases (with a lack of iodine in the body);
- gastritis;
- pyelonephritis;
- atherosclerosis;
- avitaminosis;
- rheumatism;
- high cholesterol;
- high blood pressure.
In the form of jam, the fruit is used with warm tea for colds and flu, as a means of strengthening the immune system.In dermatology use the essential oils contained in the fruit. They are an excellent anti-inflammatory agent, effective against fungus and a wide range of microbes.
Cosmetology
Such a useful product could not evaluate cosmetologists. They include it in the face masks. Such masks rejuvenate, nourish, relieve various inflammations, are especially good during the cold season.
Feijoa fruits can be successfully applied in home cosmetology, so their numerous healing properties will bring you benefit and pleasure, and not harm. 
Here are a few recipes for masks.
- For dry, normal skin: mix into a homogeneous mass a third of a glass of fruit pulp, a little curd, egg yolk and a spoonful of olive oil. Apply to the prepared skin of the face and neck, wait 20 minutes, rinse. You can repeat this mask up to three times a week.
- For skin prone to fat: take half a cup of fruit pulp, a spoonful of camphor alcohol and lemon juice, mix well. Apply for 15 minutes, rinse. The effect of the application will be visible when using this mixture twice a week.
Learn about the use in cosmetology of strawberry, dogwood, pineapple, apricot, ginger.
Cooking
Fruit with such a pleasant taste and unmatched aroma was appreciated by chefs. Feijoa can be eaten raw, and can be used in the preparation of various dishes. 
Chopped fresh feijoa fruit will be good in fruit salads. As an addition, it can be served with fish and even meat. You can make jam from raw fruit.
To do this, per kilogram of whole berries twisted in a meat grinder, add 700 g of granulated sugar and mix well. Arrange the fruit mass in small jars and refrigerate.
Important! If the jam is made from raw fruits without the use of heat treatment, then it will retain all the beneficial substances, and hence the properties.With success, culinary enthusiasts use this exotic fruit when cooking compotes, jams, desserts. Also recommend the use as a filling for baking.
Harm and contraindications
Like any food product, feijoa has beneficial properties and contraindications. 
You can not use this fruit to people who have health problems associated with a high content of iodine in the body. Such diseases include hyperthyroidism and Basedovan disease, and the thyroid gland is under attack.
Due to its high sugar content, fruit is contraindicated for people who are overweight. If a person has diabetes, then his use is likely to be prohibited, although it depends on the extent of the disease and requires consultation with a specialist.
The combination of feijoa and fresh milk is not recommended, an upset stomach is possible.
There may also be a banal intolerance to this product. And if its use causes discomfort in the stomach, intestines or an allergic reaction, then this sweet miracle will have to be abandoned. 
It is necessary to cautiously eat feijoa children and lactating mothers.
How to choose, eat, store
In order for the food product to bring maximum benefit to the body, it is first necessary to select it correctly. And feijoa is no exception. Recommendations are as follows.
First look at the fruit externally. The peel should be dense, without dark spots and wrinkles. It is better to choose larger specimens, they are more ripe. You can ask to cut one fruit along in half.
The flesh should be translucent. If it is brown, then the fruit has ripened, if it is white and opaque, it is not ripe. In such cases, it is not necessary to buy it, it is not suitable for use. 
The ripe feijoa fruit gives off a delicate aroma. Fruits, ripened on a tree, you can try only at the sea, and for transportation fruits are removed unripe, so the flavor may not be.
Important! On our shelves, feijoa appears at the end of September and makes us happy until January. But the peak is November. It is at this time that it is the most delicious and healthy.Another important point is how to use. We must not forget that feijoa is a rather expensive exotic fruit, so everyone decides how it is.
If you eat fresh fruit, you can eat it completely, without peeling. This type of use is most useful because it is in the skin of this valuable product that it contains nutrients.
But some do not like the rather dense skin, and even with a tart taste. Then it is recommended to cut the fruit into two parts and take out the flesh with a small spoon. The seeds that are in the middle are very small, so they are also eaten, they will not cause any discomfort. 
To prepare a healthy fruit for the future, you can use these tips:
- Grind the feijoa, mix with a small amount of sugar, decompose into containers and put in the freezer.
- If you add more sugar (700 g per 1 kg of berries), you get a raw jam, which is placed in small glass jars and stored just in the refrigerator
But keep fresh feijoa will not work for a long time. You can put fresh fruit of good quality in the fridge. During storage, it will partially lose moisture, it will become sweeter. But more than a week to keep it is not necessary, it just perezreet. And over-ripe fruit is not worth it because of the danger of allergic reactions and poisoning.
So we met an exotic guest from the south and made sure that our nature can feed us, heal and give pleasure. So look in the fall on the fruit stalls, choose feijoa and eat on health.
