Can You Eat the Skin of Feijoas? Is it Good?

So, do you want to eat the skin of feijoa?

Can you do it? Is it toxic? Does it taste good? Keep on reading to find out!

Can You Eat the Skin of Feijoas?

Feijoa skin is edible, however because of its bitter taste, most people stay away from eating it.

While eating a feijoa fruit, you can eat it along with the skin. The skin isn’t toxic, and contains lots of vitamins.

However, eating feijoa skin with fruit will probably kill the sweet taste of feijoa fruit. The skin tastes bitter, and tart.

So, if you want to eat feijoa, peel the skin first, and enjoy the taste of the fruit, and then, if you like the bitter taste, or you want to provide some vitamins, eat the skin.

Is the Skin of Feijoas Healthy?

The skin of feijoas is actually healthier than the fruit itself. The skin contains more vitamin C, antioxidants, and has antibacterial properties.

Getting rid of the skin of a feijoa isn’t worth it. The skin contains 28% more vitamin C than the flesh.

Feijoa skin is also rich in vitamin A, which is good for immunity, sight, and cell division.

Feijoa skin also lowers the risk of cancer, has a low glycemic index, and regulates blood pressure.

Thanks to feijoa’s antibacterial properties, it can be used as a fantastic home remedy for toothache. Antioxidants like carotene and lycopene help protect the skin from wrinkles.

Can You Get Diarrhea From Eating the Skin of Feijoas?

In theory, you can get diarrhea from eating the skin of feijoas, but you would have to overdose the cosumption.

Eating a couple of skins of feijoas won’t cause any side effects.

However, if you eat more than let’s say 20 feijoa skins, it might cause some gastric problems, because of eating too much vitamin C.

As a rule of thumb, eating feijoa skins won’t cause diarrhea if you eat them in normal amounts.

What Can You Do With the Skin of Feijoas if You Don’t Like it?

If you don’t like feijoa skins, but you don’t want to give up on their health benefits, you can consume them in a different form.

For example, you can make a tasty cider.

In order to make a feijoa skin cider, you need about 750 mg of feijoa skins, sugar, water, and optionally vine.

  1. Put feijoa skins in a large jar.
  2. Sprinkle over the sugar and top up with water until all the feijoa skins are submerged.
  3. Cover the container loosely with cling film or a tea towel and leave it in a cool, dry place for three to five days.
  4. Once the skins have done their first fermentation, strain the liquid into a large bowl or container and discard the skins
  5. Mix in the extra sugar and the wine yeast if using.
  6. Pour into pressure-proof bottles.
  7. Put the lid own firmly and put the bottles into a cool, dry place for another two to three days.
  8. Remove the lid, pour into glasses, trying to avoid the last bit of sediment at the bottom, and drink immediately for maximum fix.

You can find other recipes online, like pickled feijoa skins, feijoa cordial, or feijoa skin and pistachio muffins.

Sources

sbs.com.au, scielo.br, aussiehomecook.com