Feijoa - useful properties

More often on our tables you can meet exotic fruits brought from all over the world. One of these delicacies is a small, dark green color with a sweet and sour taste and the flavor of kiwi and strawberries is a tropical fruit feijoa.

His homeland is considered to be South America, and in our region he got close to 1900. This fruit grows, which, by the way, is considered to be a berry, on evergreen trees or shrubs (depending on the variety). Due to the fact that the plant is not very whimsical to the soil and adaptable enough, it was grown in the Crimea and Transcaucasia. Despite its heat-loving nature, feijoa was acclimatized and can withstand minor Crimean frosts, but mostly this culture is grown in greenhouses.

Tear off the fruits still green, and transport them to all corners of the world. In the process of transporting and ripening the fruits of feijoa. Useful properties from this are not lost. Therefore, buying an unripe berry, it is enough to place it in the refrigerator for a while, after ripening it will become soft and will acquire a more pronounced flavor.

Feijoa - useful properties

The season for collection is late autumn and early winter. It is during this period that the fruits are the most useful. What are the feijoa's useful properties? These berries are a real storehouse of iodine, this content of a microelement can be found only in seafood. Also, the fruits are rich in essential oils, B group vitamins, pectin, folic acid, potassium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, calcium and many other useful substances.

Due to this "rich" composition feijoa is recommended to be used for various diseases of the thyroid gland, which is associated with a deficiency in the body of iodine, with diseases associated with the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys. It is an excellent preventive agent for viral diseases. The anti - inflammatory properties of essential oils are widely used in dermatology.

Masks from the pulp of this berries give the skin elasticity, slows down aging, helps to cope with vascular asterisks and other common skin problems. Extract of fruits is a powerful antifungal and antibacterial agent. Also, the fruits of feijoa are recommended for depression, apathy, beriberi.

The skin of feijoa also has useful properties . Its use is that it contains natural antioxidants that slow down the aging process in the body and are an excellent preventive agent that prevents the appearance of cancer cells, and in some cases, suspend certain forms of cancer.

As for the composition of feijoa, 85% is water, 10% is carbohydrates, and a little protein, fat and ash. Therefore, people suffering from diabetes and obesity should consume the berries. Because of its exotic origin, the fruit can develop an individual intolerance, in which case it is contraindicated to eat foods that include feijoa.

Buying fruits, you will already know exactly what feijoa is useful, and apply it in cooking. From these berries you get a very tasty and fragrant jam, compotes, confiture. Pies and any other pastry, for which flesh is used as stuffing, will please with a new, unusual taste. Also this berries can be added to cupcakes, mousses, creams, salads. The rind can be dried, folded into a glass jar and used for making tea.

Very often in markets and in stores I sell underserved feijoa, useful properties of such berries on a number below. The ripe fruit should be large and soft, but do not fall apart in the hands, the core is transparent and juicy. If, after cutting the berry, you will see a brown flesh - it means that the feijoa has already deteriorated, and if the white one is not yet ripe. You can eat fruits whole (with skin) by cutting only the tail or cutting them in half and using a spoon choosing only juicy pulp.