How to store feijoa at home

The thermophilic and unusual feijoa berry pleases us with a pleasant taste with sourness and a high content of healthy substances. Many people like to pamper themselves with fruit puree as an additive to porridge or fresh desserts, but they don’t know how to store an unusual berry. Consider a few important recommendations to enjoy the healthy sweets a little longer.

Features of Feijoa

Feijoa - a very capricious plant. For the growth and ripening of fruits, it needs a tropical climate and moderate humidity. Feijoa fruits are collected in late autumn - from mid-October. Only mature fruits that have fallen from the tree are selected. When fruits ripen, they fall off in a natural way, the same ones that still hang on the branches are green. But when collecting fruits from the soil, it is necessary to ensure that they are dense, whole and have no wrinkles.

Given these features, it can be understood that the period when the plant is suitable for food is very short. When the fruit hits the ground, its internal structure is disturbed, and due to the high content of sugars, fermentation can begin. That is why fruits must be quickly collected and sent for processing or to stores.

How long is the feijoa

If the fruits are green and taut, they need to reach. To do this, they are left at room temperature for 4-8 days. For optimum ripening, the fruit should be spread out on thick paper in a ventilated room with an air temperature of about 22 degrees. When the starch in the berries turns into sugar, the fruits will become softer. During this period, the fruit should be immediately cleaned in the refrigerator.

Do not keep fresh berries raw for long - delicate fruits quicklylose their beneficial properties and can trigger intestinal upset.

How to extend the shelf life of green berries

With such strict restrictions for each experienced owner and gardener, the question arises: how to preserve the crop and get the maximum benefit from the tropical fruits of feijoa. A convenient way - harvesting jam.

There are two options: for those who like to preserve the natural taste and vitamins - “live jam” - without heat treatment, as well as classic jam, which can be rolled up for the winter in banks. The “live” mousse will be stored in the refrigerator for about three months, and sterilized hermetically sealed jam - like other canned fruits - for up to several years.

It makes no sense to freeze the feijoa, as well as to dry the fruit. They will lose their beneficial properties and pleasant taste. Compotes from these berries also do not. For a change, you can try adding berry to marmalades or jelly with other pectin-rich ingredients for good thickening.

Feijoa jam recipe

Delicious preserves should be moderately sweet, but at the same time reliably “fixed” sugar.Therefore, one-to-one berries and granulated sugar are taken from the feijoa jam, and water is also added to make a syrup. For 1 kg of fruit (plus 1 kg of sugar) water take 0.25 l.

Washed and cleaned from defects fruits are ground into a pulp using a blender or meat grinder. Sugar syrup is brewed in advance: mix hot water with sugar, allow the crystals to dissolve, bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. In this case, the fruit mixture will have a caramel flavor. Fruit mass is poured with syrup and cooked over low heat for 10-15 minutes, after which it is poured into clean steamed jars and rolled properly.

Keep cooking in the pantry or basement - away from drafts, in the dark and cool. Opened jars should be kept in the refrigerator for no more than a month. Otherwise, the jam will cease to be fragrant.

How to make fresh feijoa jam

In order to preserve more vitamins and prolong the "life" of feijoa fruits, they are preserved with sugar without boiling. To do this, the berries should be thoroughly washed with warm water, mashed with a blender or mashed potatoes in a puree - and pour in sugar.

Choose the degree of sweetness to your taste.The peculiarity of this preparation is that sugar interrupts the characteristic sourness of fruits, therefore, for those who like sour-sweet fruit mixes, a ratio of 0.75 kg of sugar per 1 kg of fruit can be recommended. Sweet tooths may prefer a thickly sweet dessert - 1.5 kg of sugar per 1 kg of fruit. Try for the first time to make an acidic mixture with the minimum recommended amount of sugar - and add sweetness to taste before freezing.

“Feijoa” “live” jam can be used as a filling for desserts, served with tea, added to cereals and protein bars for raw foodists and vegans. Keep the mixture in the refrigerator all winter.

How to choose the good feijoa fruit

On the surface of the fruit should not be slippery or sticky plaque. Fruits must be resilient, without softened areas and darkening, that is, signs of fermentation or rotting.Choose whole fruits of bright green color, carrying brown fragments and inclusions. Do not take the fruit with the stems - the fruits fall off, breaking away from them, and the presence of the stem makes it clear that the fruit was not ripe.

Feijoa fruits, ripened on a tree, take on more vitamins than those that matured “lying down” - they will have a richer and richer aroma.

Video: how is the feijoa berry useful?