How to preserve feijoas

There is a very specific moment every autumn here in San Diego when I know the harvest has truly peaked. It isn’t when the leaves change color, because let’s be honest, our coastal live oaks don’t do the New England thing. It is when I walk into my packing shed and get hit by a scent so powerful it feels like I’ve been slapped by a perfumed fruit salad.

Alexander Mitchell

That is the smell of the Feijoa, also known as the Pineapple Guava or by its scientific handle, Acca sellowiana. When these green gems start dropping from the trees, they don't ask for permission; they demand attention immediately.

If you are growing these beauties or have a neighbor who dumps a grocery bag of them on your porch, you already know the problem. They ripen all at once, and their shelf life is notoriously short. I remember my first major harvest years ago; I had about 200 pounds of fruit hit the ground in a three-day span. I thought I could just leave them in crates in the garage like apples.

Leaving fresh feijoas at room temperature is a gamble you will lose. At 70°F, a perfectly ripe feijoa will turn from a delicious treat into a brown, mushy, fermented mess in less than 4 days.

That year, I lost nearly 40 pounds of premium fruit because I didn’t have a preservation plan in place. I learned the hard way that you have to act fast. Through our work with Exotic Fruits and Vegetables farm, we have developed a streamlined protocol to ensure that not a single ounce of that unique strawberry-pineapple-mint flavor goes to waste. Whether you call them Guavasteens or just “those green egg things,” preserving them correctly allows you to enjoy that tropical burst even when it is chilly February morning.

Understanding the Fruit Physiology

Before we start chopping and freezing, you need to understand what you are working with. Feijoas are climacteric fruits, meaning they continue to ripen—and rot—after they fall from the tree. They release ethylene gas rapidly. Think of a feijoa like a biological time bomb; once it hits the ground, the countdown to spoilage accelerates.

The flesh oxidizes (turns brown) the moment it hits oxygen, similar to an avocado or a pear, but faster. This browning doesn’t always affect the taste immediately, but it ruins the aesthetic appeal, turning that creamy white center into a dirty beige.

Ever wonder why store-bought feijoa products are often mixed with apple or pear? It isn’t just for filler; it is often to stabilize the color and acidity levels during processing.

To stop this clock, we rely on two main enemies of spoilage: extreme temperature (freezing/cooking) and acidity (lemon juice/citric acid).

The Freezing Method: Maximum Retention

Freezing is my absolute favorite method because it preserves the raw, tangy integrity of the fruit. I use frozen feijoa pulp throughout the year for smoothies, baking, and even making vinaigrettes. However, you cannot just toss the whole fruit in the freezer, or you will end up with a rock-hard grenade that is impossible to peel later.

Here is the exact process I use to process about 50 pounds in an afternoon:

1. Wash and Sort: Rinse the fruit in cold water to remove garden dust. Discard any fruit that feels squishy or has compromised skin.
2. The Acid Bath: Prepare a large bowl with 1 gallon of water and 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice. This acid water is non-negotiable for keeping the flesh white.
3. Slice and Scoop: Cut the fruit in half width-wise. Using a spoon, scoop the flesh directly into the acid water. Don’t worry if you get a little bit of the grainy skin, but try to keep it clean.
4. Drain and Pack: Pour the pulp into a colander to drain the excess water. Pack the pulp into vacuum-seal bags or freezer-safe masonry jars.
5. The Flat Freeze: If using bags, lay them flat on a baking sheet until frozen solid. This makes them stackable like books on a shelf.

I once tried freezing them whole, thinking I would just thaw and scoop them later. Big mistake. As they thawed, the skins turned slimy and the pulp became a watery mush that was impossible to separate cleanly.

For the best smoothie packs, pre-measure 1 cup of scooped pulp into ziplock bags. Flatten the bag to remove air, seal it, and you have a perfect single-serving portion ready to dump into the blender without measuring.

If you plan to use the fruit for baking muffins or breads later, you can add sugar to the pulp before freezing. A ratio of 1 part sugar to 4 parts fruit pulp helps protect the texture and color even further, essentially creating a raw freezer jam base.

Dehydrating: Creating “Nature’s Sour Patch Kids”

If you have limited freezer space, dehydration is your best friend. Dried feijoa slices are an intense flavor experience. The water removal concentrates the natural sugars and acids, resulting in a snack that is chewy, tart, and incredibly aromatic.

Here at Exotic Fruits and Vegetables, we’ve found that dehydrated feijoa chips are the number one requested item by our CSA members during the winter months. The key is consistency in slicing. If your slices vary in thickness, some will burn while others remain soggy.

The Dehydration Protocol

• Selection: Use firm fruits. If they are too ripe, they will fall apart on the mandoline slicer.
• Slicing: Keep the skin on! The skin holds the most aromatic oils and adds a nice bitterness to counter the sweet center. Slice them 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.
• Temperature: Set your dehydrator to 135°F. Any hotter and you cook the flavor out; any cooler and they might mold before they dry.
• Time: Expect this to take between 10 to 14 hours depending on the ambient humidity. In San Diego’s dry Santa Ana winds, it takes me about 10 hours. During “May Gray,” it takes 14.

The texture of the skin changes dramatically during dehydration. While fresh skin can be bitter and tough, dried skin becomes brittle and crunchy, adding a necessary texture contrast to the chewy center.

You must dry the slices until they snap when bent; if they are still pliable or leathery, they retain too much moisture and will grow mold in storage. Store these chips in airtight glass jars with a desiccant packet, and they will easily last 6 to 8 months.

Canning and Preserves: The Long Game

Canning is where you can get creative. Feijoas are naturally high in pectin, which makes them excellent candidates for jams, jellies, and chutneys. However, the flavor profile changes when cooked. The bright, minty notes recede slightly, and the pineapple-guava tones deepen.

When I make chutney, I lean into the savory side. I combine 4 cups of chopped feijoa (skin included for texture) with 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, 2 cups of brown sugar, fresh ginger, and yellow mustard seeds. Simmer this mixture until it thickens—usually about 45 minutes.

Including the skin in chutneys and jams adds a complex floral bitterness that balances the intense sweetness of the sugar. It transforms a simple spread into a gourmet accompaniment for roasted pork or brie cheese.

Our team at Exotic Fruits and Vegetables loves pairing feijoa jam with goat cheese on sourdough crackers. It is a flavor combination that sells itself at the farmer’s market.

Infusing Alcohol: The “Drunken” Feijoa

What’s the real secret to success when you have just too much fruit to process manually? Alcohol infusion. This is the “lazy farmer’s” method, but it yields one of the most luxurious products. Feijoa vodka is a staple in my household for holiday gifts.

Emily Rodriguez

The process is embarrassingly simple. Fill a clean quart jar to the top with washed, sliced feijoas (skins on). Pour a mid-range vodka or gin over the fruit until the fruit is completely submerged. Seal the jar and put it in a dark cupboard for 4 to 6 weeks. Shake it gently every time you walk past it.

After a month, strain the liquid through a cheesecloth. The resulting liquor is pale green and smells like pure tropical heaven. You can add simple syrup to turn it into a liqueur, or keep it straight for a feijoa martini.

Growing food is about capturing sunlight in a bottle, and nothing proves that metaphor quite like opening a jar of feijoa-infused vodka in the middle of winter.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Even with experience, things go wrong. The most common issue I see is fermentation. If your dried chips smell like yeast or beer, they weren’t dried enough. If your frozen pulp tastes metallic, it likely oxidized before it froze.

Never attempt to preserve fruit that has been on the ground for more than 24 hours in hot weather. If you see small holes in the skin, that is likely a larvae entry point. Discard these immediately to avoid contaminating your batch.

I once ruined a batch of jam because I tried to reduce the sugar content too much. Feijoas are acidic, but they need that sugar for preservation safety unless you are pressure canning. If you are water-bath canning, stick to tested recipes with safe pH levels.

Final Thoughts on Storage

Preserving feijoas is an act of love. It takes time to scoop those tiny fruits, and your kitchen will be sticky for days. But the reward is having access to a flavor that you simply cannot buy in a standard supermarket. Always label your jars and bags with the date and the specific variety if you know it, because frozen pulp all looks the same six months later.

Whether you choose to freeze the pulp for morning smoothies, dry chips for hiking snacks, or infuse a bottle of vodka for the holidays, you are extending the life of one of the most unique fruits we can grow here in the US. So, grab a spoon, sharpen your knife, and get to work before those green time bombs turn brown.