A silver-green egg-shaped fruit that smells like a combination of pineapple, guava, and spearmint. Scoop the inside with a spoon. It has iodine — actual iodine, the thyroid mineral — which almost no fruit contains. For Black women with thyroid dysfunction driving weight gain and fatigue, this is specific medicine.
California and Florida Black communities with access to specialty produce stores or farmers markets can find feijoa in fall months. This fruit often grows in suburban backyards — particularly in the Bay Area, Sacramento, and Los Angeles — where the plants are often considered ornamental and the fruit goes unpicked. Urban foraging communities are increasingly documenting feijoa trees in public spaces.
Feijoa is one of the very few fruits with meaningful iodine content — unusual for a fruit, and important in populations where iodine deficiency contributes to hypothyroidism. Black American women experience subclinical hypothyroidism at rates that may be underdiagnosed, with thyroid dysfunction contributing to weight gain, fatigue, and depression. Ellagic acid in feijoa shows documented antimutagenic and antiproliferative activity against cancer cell lines. Rutin shows capillary-strengthening anti-inflammatory activity and inhibits platelet aggregation, supporting cardiovascular health. Folate at 23mcg per 100g contributes to MTHFR pathway support — critical for cardiovascular health and pregnancy. High fiber (6.4g per 100g) feeds beneficial gut flora.
Cut in half lengthwise and scoop the interior with a spoon — the skin is edible but slightly astringent and often left. The interior jelly portion is sweet and perfumed; the flesh closer to the skin is slightly grainy. Best eaten fresh and chilled. Can be added to smoothies, yogurt, or fruit salads. Feijoa jam is excellent.
Free, no account needed to ask.