Feijoa Sellowiana
Feijoa sellowiana Berg is from the genus which the German botanist, Ernst Berger, named after João da Silva Feijó, a Portuguese naturalist, and the specific name honors Friedrich Sellow, a German who first collected specimens of feijoa in southern Brazil.[9] It has been nicknamed "pineapple guava", "Brazilian guava", "fig guava" or "guavasteen" among different countries.[9]
feijoa sellowiana
The fruit, known as feijoa, matures in autumn and is green, ellipsoid, and about the size of a chicken egg. It has a sweet, aromatic flavour, which tastes like pineapple, apple, and mint. The flesh is juicy and is divided into a clear, gelatinous seed pulp and a firmer, slightly granular, opaque flesh nearer the skin.[9] The fruit falls to the ground when ripe and at its fullest flavour, but it may be picked from the tree prior to falling to prevent bruising.
The fruit pulp resembles the closely related guava, having a gritty texture. The feijoa pulp is used in some natural cosmetic products as an exfoliant. Feijoa fruit has a distinctive, potent smell that resembles that of a fine perfume. The aroma is due to the ester methyl benzoate and related compounds that exist in the fruit.[11]
The plant is a warm-temperate, subtropical plant that also will grow in the tropics, but requires at least 50 hours of winter chilling to fruit, and is frost-tolerant. When grown from seed, feijoas are noted for slow growth during their first year or two, and young plants, though cold tolerant, can be sensitive to high wind.
Some grafted cultivars of feijoa are self-fertile. Most are not and require a pollinator. Seedlings may or may not be of usable quality; and may or may not be self-fertile. Feijoas will mature into a sprawly shrub but can be kept successfully as a large container plant, though accommodations will need to be made for the width of the plants, and the need to encourage new growth for fruit production.
In the South Caucasus, feijoa has been cultivated in the southern coastal region of Azerbaijan since 1928; cultivation in neighboring Georgia has gradually increased to about 988 hectares (2,440 acres) in 1986.[17]
Ripe fruit is prone to bruising; difficulty maintaining the fruit in good condition for any length of time, along with the short period of optimum ripeness and full flavor, probably explains why feijoas are not exported frequently, and are typically sold close to where they are grown. However, intercontinental shipping of feijoa by sea or air has been successful.[9]
100 grams (3.5 oz) of raw feijoa provides 55 calories and is 13% carbohydrates, 8% sugars, and 1% each of fat and protein. The raw fruit is a rich source of vitamin C, providing 40% of the Daily Value, but supplies no other micronutrients in significant amount.
There are several cultivars of Acca sellowiana which have been selected primarily for fruit production. 'Coolidge', 'Nazemata' and 'Pineapple Gem' are all good self-pollinating selections, while 'Superba' is a round-fruited form that needs to be planted with another cultivar for good fruit set, and 'Variegata' has white variegated foliage. Propagation of Guava is most reliable from seed which has been separated from the ripe fruit, but cuttings taken in summer are rooted for the propagation of named cultivars.
Acca sellowiana is an amazingly dramatic shrub in bloom that carries unique character into the garden through twelve months of the year with its silvered, evergreen foliage. This spectacular landscape plant is the parent of a familiar tropical fruit, the Guava - a unique landscape ornamental and tropical fruit that deserves much wider use in southeastern gardens.
Prized for its foliage, flowers and fruit, Acca sellowiana (Pineapple Guava) is an evergreen shrub of rounded habit or small tree with handsome gray-green leaves, 1-3 in. long (2-7 cm), densely white-felted on the underside. Blooming in late spring to early summer, ravishing bicolor flowers, 1 in. across (2.5 cm), bloom singly or in clusters in the leaf axils. Each blossom sports four reflexed sepals, four red petals with white tips and a showy bouquet of rich crimson stamens tipped with yellow pollen. Shining against the foliage, the flamboyant flowers are edible and may be added to salads. They are followed by edible, egg-shaped, red-flushed green fruit, up to 3 in. long (7 cm). They may take 4-7 months to ripen, depending upon climate. They can be eaten fresh and have a pineapple-spearmint flavor. A handsome shrub worthy of inclusion in the border, as a screen or hedge. Tolerant of drought and salt winds, Pineapple Guava is well-suited to coastal gardens.
Plant polyphenols, with broadly known antioxidant properties, represent very effective agents against environmental oxidative stressors, including mercury. This heavy metal irreversibly binds thiol groups, sequestering endogenous antioxidants, such as glutathione. Increased incidence of food-derived mercury is cause for concern, given the many severe downstream effects, ranging from kidney to cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, the possible beneficial properties of Feijoa sellowiana against mercury toxicity were tested using intact human red blood cells (RBC) incubated in the presence of HgCl2. Here, we show that phenol-rich (10-200 µg/mL) extracts from the Feijoa sellowiana fruit potently protect against mercury-induced toxicity and oxidative stress. Peel and pulp extracts are both able to counteract the oxidative stress and thiol decrease induced in RBC by mercury treatment. Nonetheless, the peel extract had a greater protective effect compared to the pulp, although to a different extent for the different markers analyzed, which is at least partially due to the greater proportion and diversity of polyphenols in the peel. Furthermore, Fejioa sellowiana extracts also prevent mercury-induced morphological changes, which are known to enhance the pro-coagulant activity of these cells. These novel findings provide biochemical bases for the pharmacological use of Fejioa sellowiana-based functional foods in preventing and combating mercury-related illnesses.
Plants grow best in cooler climates, so protect from hot sun or temperatures well over 100F. Keep watered, although plants are mildly drought tolerant. Fruits ripen in 5-7 months. The feijoa is an excellent plant for foggy coastal climates.
Acca sellowiana is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the Myrtaceae family. It is native to Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and Colombia. Common names include feijoa, fig guava, pineapple guava, and guavasteen, but it is not a true guava. It can grow to 20 feet tall but is usually seen around 8-10 feet tall. The leaves are blueish-green 1" egg leaves. They are grey on the bottom and dark green on top. The flowers are 1-2 inches long with fragrance and deliciously edible petals. They are in bloom from late spring until early summer. The petals are delicious in a salad with a slightly sweet taste. The fruits are also delicious with the same somewhat sweet pulp. The birds, bees, and butterflies love it too. You can't go wrong with this beautiful tree as it gives so many benefits for you and nature. It likes to grow in full to partial sun with regular waterings. Zones 8-11
Abstract:Gastric cancer (GC) still represents a relevant health problem in the world for both incidence and mortality rates. Many studies underlined that natural products consumption could reduce GC risk, indicating flavonoids as responsible for the beneficial effects through the modulation of several biological processes, such as the inhibition of cancer antioxidant defense and induction of apoptosis. Since Feijoa sellowiana fruit is known to contain high amounts of flavonoids, among which is flavone, we evaluated the antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects of F. sellowiana acetonic extract on GC cell lines through MTS and Annexin-V FITC assays. Among three GC cell lines tested, SNU-1 results being sensitive to both the F. sellowiana acetonic extract and synthetic flavone, which was used as the reference treatment. Moreover, we evaluated their antioxidant effects, assessing the activity of the antioxidant enzymes supeoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in polymorphonuclear cells. We found a significant increase of their activity after exposure to both F. sellowiana acetonic extract and flavone, supporting the idea that a diet that includes flavone-rich fruits could be of benefit for health. In addition to this antioxidant effect on normal cells, this study indicates, for the first time, an anticancer effect of F. sellowiana acetonic extract in GC cells.Keywords: gastric cancer; feijoa sellowiana; antioxidant activity; anticancer activity
The effect of processing on potential changes of antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS), total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoids (FLAV) of feijoa pulp during storage was investigated. In addition, possible modifications in the phenolic composition of the pulp. The pulp was subjected to refrigeration (control, 5 C), pasteurization (85 C/5 min) and irradiation (2.0 kGy). TPC, FLAV, DPPH and ABTS were measured during 28 days, whereas the identification and quantification of phenolic compounds were conducted after processing. The results were submitted to principal component analysis (SAS 9.4). Pasteurization preserved TPC, DPPH and ABTS for 21 days, while in the irradiated samples and control, the values were decreased and FLAV were maintained at high levels. The profile of phenolic compounds was different for each sample with six compounds being identified.
Acca sellowiana, known as feijoa or pineapple guava, is a diploid, (2n = 2x = 22) outcrossing fruit tree species native to Uruguay and Brazil. The species stands out for its highly aromatic fruits, with nutraceutical and therapeutic value. Despite its promising agronomical value, genetic studies on this species are limited. Linkage genetic maps are valuable tools for genetic and genomic studies, and constitute essential tools in breeding programs to support the development of molecular breeding strategies. A high-density composite genetic linkage map of A. sellowiana was constructed using two genetically connected populations: H5 (TCO BR, N = 160) and H6 (TCO DP, N = 184). Genotyping by sequencing (GBS) approach was successfully applied for developing single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. A total of 4,921 SNP markers were identified using the reference genome of the closely related species Eucalyptus grandis, whereas other 4,656 SNPs were discovered using a de novo pipeline. The individual H5 and H6 maps comprised 1,236 and 1,302 markers distributed over the expected 11 linkage groups, respectively. These two maps spanned a map length of 1,593 and 1,572 cM, with an average inter-marker distance of 1.29 and 1.21 cM, respectively. A large proportion of markers were common to both maps and showed a high degree of collinearity. The composite map consisted of 1,897 SNPs markers with a total map length of 1,314 cM and an average inter-marker distance of 0.69. A novel approach for the construction of composite maps where the meiosis information of individuals of two connected populations is captured in a single estimator is described. A high-density, accurate composite map based on a consensus ordering of markers provides a valuable contribution for future genetic research and breeding efforts in A. sellowiana. A novel mapping approach based on an estimation of multipopulation recombination fraction described here may be applied in the construction of dense composite genetic maps for any other outcrossing diploid species. 041b061a72