Uses for feijoa skins

If you live anywhere near the coastal foothills of San Diego, you know that specific time in late autumn when the air suddenly smells like a tropical perfume factory exploded. That’s the Acca sellowiana harvest kicking in.

While most folks call them Pineapple Guavas or Guavasteens, we just call them Feijoas (fay-YOH-ahs). For years, I watched neighbors scoop out the creamy, jelly-like center of these egg-sized fruits and toss the bright green skins straight into the green waste bin. That tragic waste stops today.

Alexander Mitchell

I admit, I used to be one of those wasteful gardeners. I once ruined an entire batch of potentially amazing preserves because I assumed the skins were inedible trash. It wasn't until I visited a grower in New Zealand—where this South American native is practically a religion—that I realized the skin holds the most complex aromatic compounds of the entire fruit.

Think of the feijoa skin like the zest of a lemon; the juice gives the acid, but the skin brings the floral, terpene-rich punch that defines the fruit’s soul.

The skin of the feijoa contains high concentrations of methyl benzoate and ethyl benzoate, which are the volatile compounds responsible for that intense “feijoa” aroma that wafts through our orchards in October and November.

Here in San Diego, where our microclimates range from the cool marine layer of La Jolla to the baking heat of El Cajon, the thickness and flavor of the skin can vary wildly. My trees in the slightly cooler valley pockets produce a thinner, more tender skin compared to the ones baking on the south-facing slopes. Regardless of your specific microclimate, those skins are packed with antioxidants and flavor, provided you know how to tame their natural tartness.

The Great Dehydration Experiment

One of the easiest entry points into using feijoa skins is dehydration. Dried skins transform from a bitter, tough casing into a crunchy, tangy snack or a tea ingredient. I run my Excalibur dehydrator at exactly 135°F. You don’t want to go higher than that, or you risk cooking the oils off rather than preserving them. Have you ever tasted a dried fruit that just tasted like burnt sugar? That’s usually the result of excessive heat.

Wash your fruit in a solution of 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts water before peeling to remove any surface grime or pests, ensuring a clean flavor profile for your dried goods.

I use a simple vegetable peeler to remove the skins in long strips before I eat the fruit pulp. If you leave about 1 millimeter of the white flesh on the skin, you get a nice textural contrast after drying—crispy on the outside, slightly chewy on the inside.

It usually takes about 8 to 10 hours at 135°F for them to reach a “chip-like” snap. Through our work with Exotic Fruits and Vegetables farm, we’ve found that grinding these dried skins into a fine powder creates a “sour dust” that rivals any citric acid candy coating.

I mix this powder with organic cane sugar at a 1:4 ratio and rim cocktail glasses with it. It’s a flavor bomb that hits you with notes of pineapple, mint, and wintergreen all at once. It turns a standard margarita into something that tastes distinctly Californian.

Fermentation: The Feijoa Fizz

Have you ever wondered why some sodas taste flat while fermented drinks feel alive? It’s the wild yeast. Feijoa skins are covered in natural yeast populations, especially here in Southern California where our humidity levels in late fall are perfect for microbial activity. I make a “Feijoa Skin Fizz” that is essentially a tepache made with pineapple guava skins instead of pineapple rinds.

Wild fermentation is unpredictable; always use airlocks on your fermentation jars to prevent carbon dioxide buildup from turning your glass vessels into kitchen grenades.

My breakthrough came when I discovered that the skins contain enough tannins to give the brew body, unlike the pulp which just turns to mush. Here is the ratio I use for a 1-gallon batch:

Skins from approximately 20-25 feijoas (washed only with water, no soap/sanitizer to preserve yeast).

1 cup of piloncillo or dark brown sugar (dissolved).

1 gallon of dechlorinated water.

1 cinnamon stick.

I let this sit in a dark corner of my pantry where the temperature stays between 68°F and 72°F. Usually, by day three, it’s bubbling vigorously. Bottling this liquid before it turns to vinegar gives you a probiotic soda that costs pennies to make.

Infusions: The Boozy Route

If fermentation sounds too scientifically daunting, extraction is your best friend. Alcohol acts as a solvent, pulling those essential oils out of the skins with zero effort on your part. I use a decent mid-shelf vodka—Tito’s works well because it’s clean and doesn’t fight the fruit flavor.

I fill a quart mason jar loosely with clean feijoa skins and top it off with 80-proof vodka. The magic happens between day 4 and day 7. If you leave it longer than two weeks, the pith (the white part) starts releasing bitter alkaloids that can make the infusion taste medicinal.

Why settle for generic citrus vodka when you can create a spirit that tastes like a tropical vacation in a glass?

I strain the skins out after 10 days and add a simple syrup made from 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. The resulting liqueur is neon green and smells incredible. Our team at Exotic Fruits and Vegetables loves mixing this liqueur with ginger beer for a “San Diego Mule” that utilizes the entire harvest.

Cooking with Skins: Chutneys and Pastes

Cooking feijoa skins is like braising a tough cut of brisket; you need time, heat, and acidity to break down the cellular structure. The skins are high in pectin, which makes them a natural thickener for jams and chutneys.

Here is a comparison of how the skins behave under different processing methods:

The variety of feijoa you are growing matters here. “Mammoth” varieties tend to have thick, somewhat pebbly skins that take longer to cook down. “Nazemetz” or “Coolidge”—common varieties in San Diego nurseries—have smoother, thinner skins that break down in about 45 minutes of simmering.

My Go-To Feijoa Skin Chutney Recipe

This recipe is my absolute favorite way to process pounds of skins at once. It pairs beautifully with sharp cheddar or roasted pork.

1. Prep the Skins: Take 4 cups of chopped feijoa skins (about 1/2 inch pieces). Place them in a heavy-bottomed pot.
2. Add Moisture and Acid: Pour in 1 cup of apple cider vinegar and 1/2 cup of water. The acid helps soften the fibers.
3. The Sweetener: Add 1.5 cups of brown sugar. You need this much sugar to counteract the intense tannins in the green skin.
4. Spices: Add 1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
5. The Simmer: Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 60 to 90 minutes. You want the liquid to become syrupy and the skins to look translucent.
6. Jarring: Ladle into sterilized jars. This keeps in the fridge for 3 months easily.

This chutney converts even the most skeptical eaters who claim they don’t like “floral” food; the vinegar and ginger ground the floral notes into something savory and complex.

In the Garden: Vermiculture and Composting

Let’s say you simply have too many skins. I harvested 47 pounds from just three trees last year—there is only so much chutney one family can eat. This is where your worms come in. Red Wiggler worms (Eisenia fetida) absolutely devour feijoa skins, but you have to be careful about acidity.

Never dump a 5-gallon bucket of fresh feijoa skins directly into a small worm bin; the rapid fermentation will heat up the bin and the acidity can burn the worms’ delicate skin.

I age the skins in a separate “bokashi” style bucket for two weeks before feeding them to the worms, or I mix them 50/50 with carbon-heavy material like dried leaves or shredded cardboard. This balances the pH. The resulting worm castings are gold. I use these castings to top-dress my citrus trees in February.

What’s the real secret to success with exotic fruit waste? Viewing it as a resource rather than refuse. As fruit enthusiasts at Exotic Fruits and Vegetables, we always recommend returning what you don’t eat back to the soil system that created it.

Skin Care Applications

It sounds strange, but the acidity in feijoa skins makes for a potent exfoliant. The fruit contains alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs). I grind fresh skins in a food processor with a little oatmeal and yogurt to make a face mask. It stings a little—that means it’s working.

“Nature provides the best chemistry lab, you just have to know how to read the ingredients.”

Always do a patch test on your inner arm before smearing raw fruit acids on your face, as the enzyme activity in fresh feijoas is quite high. You don’t want to find out you have a sensitivity five minutes before a dinner party.

Growing Tips to Improve Skin Quality

If you want better skins, you need to water consistently. In San Diego’s dry autumns, erratic watering leads to split fruit and corky, bitter skins. I give my trees 1.5 inches of water per week during fruit set (August-September). I also mulch heavily with wood chips—about 4 inches deep—to keep the shallow feeder roots cool. This prevents stress, which is the primary cause of overly bitter skins.

• Mulch: Apply 3-4 inches of arborist wood chips to retain soil moisture.
• Water: Consistent deep watering prevents “stone cells” (gritty texture) in the skins.
• Harvest: Pick fruit immediately when it drops; ground contact for more than 24 hours encourages rot and toughens the skin.

Leaving fruit on the ground attracts rats and ants, which damage the skins instantly, rendering them useless for culinary projects.

Using feijoa skins isn’t just about being thrifty; it’s about experiencing the full spectrum of flavor that the Acca sellowiana has to offer. Next time you scoop out that jelly center, look at that green shell in your hand and see the potential for fizz, crunch, or spice. You might just find you like the skin better than the fruit itself.