Guava vs Feijoa: What's the Difference?
Short answer: Guava and feijoa are both in the myrtle family and share a heady tropical perfume, but they're different fruits. Guava (Psidium guajava) is round, with edible skin and soft, seedy pink or white flesh you can eat whole. Feijoa (Acca sellowiana), sometimes called pineapple guava, is a green egg-shaped fruit with a gritty, jelly-and-pulp interior that you halve and scoop; its skin is bitter and usually discarded.
| 🍏 Guava | 🥝 Feijoa | |
|---|---|---|
| Taste | Ripe guava is musky, floral, and sweet-tart — somewhere between pear, strawberry, and quince, with gritty-crisp seeds. Underripe it's crunchy and tannic, which half the world prefers: sliced, salted, chili-dipped. | Perfumed and zingy — pineapple and strawberry-guava over a faint minty, slightly gritty jelly center. The aroma is loud, almost soapy-floral to newcomers, addictive to converts. |
| Type | Tropical & subtropical | Tropical & subtropical |
| Peak season | Year-round, Autumn | Autumn |
| Origin | Tropical Americas (Mexico through Peru); carried worldwide by Spanish and Portuguese trade | Southern Brazil, Uruguay, and northern Argentina highlands |
| Calories (per 100 g) | 68 | 55 |
| Sugar (per 100 g) | 8.9 g | 8.2 g |
| Vitamin C (per 100 g) | 228.3 mg | 32.9 mg |
| Typical price | Budget | Mid |
The nickname “pineapple guava” causes endless confusion, so let’s be clear: feijoa is a guava relative, not a guava.
Guava (Psidium guajava) is the true guava - a round to oval tropical fruit with a thin, edible green-to-yellow skin and soft flesh that’s white, pink, or deep red depending on variety, studded with small, hard, edible seeds. You can eat the whole thing out of hand, skin and all, and it’s sweet, musky, and floral, with a scent that fills a kitchen.
Feijoa (Acca sellowiana), native to South America and beloved in New Zealand, is a smaller green egg-shaped fruit with a waxy, bitter skin that you don’t eat. Instead you slice it in half and scoop out the interior, which has a translucent, jelly-like centre surrounded by slightly gritty, cream-coloured pulp. The flavour is tangy and wildly aromatic - pineapple, guava, and a cool minty edge all at once.
They belong to the same myrtle family and both perfume the air, but the eating experience is opposite: guava you bite whole; feijoa you halve and spoon. If it’s a hard green egg you scoop, it’s feijoa; if it’s a soft round fruit with pink seedy flesh, it’s guava.
Frequently asked questions
Is feijoa a type of guava?
No, despite the nickname 'pineapple guava.' Feijoa (Acca sellowiana) and true guava (Psidium guajava) are separate genera in the myrtle family. They're relatives, not the same fruit, and they look, taste, and eat differently.
Do you eat the skin?
On a guava, yes - the whole fruit, skin and seeds included, is edible and often eaten out of hand. On a feijoa, no - the skin is thick and bitter, so you cut it in half and scoop the fragrant flesh with a spoon.
How do the flavours differ?
Guava is sweet, musky, and floral, sometimes with a slightly grainy bite near the skin. Feijoa is more aromatic and tangy, with distinctive notes of pineapple, guava, and mint that are intense enough to perfume a whole room.