Overview
About Feijoa
Feijoa, the pineapple guava, is the perfumed green fruit New Zealanders scoop out with a teaspoon every autumn.
Its gut grades are the story: high FODMAP (E) driven by excess fructose (E), moderate fructans (C), and a poor grade for SIBO (E). What it is not is a salicylate problem. Despite the name and the shared Myrtaceae family, feijoa grades B for salicylates where true guava grades D, so a guava reaction does not transfer. Portion is everything here, because feijoa is a fruit people eat by the bagful when the tree drops.
Sensitivities
How Feijoa scores
Watch for
What trips people up
- High FODMAP (E) with excess fructose also at E. Fructose in excess of glucose is absorbed slowly, draws water into the bowel and ferments, which is the bloating and looseness people report an hour or two after a feijoa binge
- Portion decides the outcome more than with most fruit. A couple of spoonfuls sits far below the level that causes trouble, while the autumn glut habit of eating six or eight in a sitting sails past it
- Graded E for low fermentation and SIBO, so it is a fruit to avoid outright during a SIBO protocol
- Moderate fructans (C) on top of the fructose, which is why feijoa can bother people who tolerate other fructose-heavy fruit
- Feijoa juice, cordial, chutney and cider concentrate the sugars further and often add more, so they are a bigger exposure than the fresh fruit they came from
- The gritty flesh and the peel are astringent rather than triggering. Nothing in the grades flags histamine (A), nickel (A) or glutamates (A)
Diet fit
Where it fits
Swap ideas
More alternatives
FAQ
Common questions about Feijoa
Is feijoa low FODMAP?
Not at a normal serving. Feijoa grades E for FODMAPs and E for excess fructose, the high band on both. Published FODMAP testing does put a small serving of around 60 g, roughly one fruit, inside the safe range, so this is a portion food rather than a banned one. The trouble starts at the bowlful, which is exactly how feijoa gets eaten in season.
Is feijoa the same as guava, and does it trigger the same things?
They are cousins, not twins. Feijoa is Acca sellowiana and guava is Psidium guajava, both in the myrtle family, which is where the name pineapple guava comes from. Their trigger grades diverge: guava grades D for salicylates and low on FODMAPs, while feijoa grades only B for salicylates but E for FODMAPs and excess fructose. If guava gives you salicylate-type symptoms, feijoa is a reasonable substitute. If guava sits fine and feijoa bloats you, that is the FODMAP gap, not an allergy.
Why does feijoa cause bloating?
Excess fructose, graded E. When a fruit carries more fructose than glucose, the surplus is absorbed slowly by the small intestine, and what remains pulls in water and gets fermented by gut bacteria. Moderate fructans (C) add a second fermentable load. Together they produce gas and distension without any allergy or histamine involvement.
Is feijoa high in histamine or salicylates?
No on both counts. Feijoa grades A for histamine content and B for histamine liberation, and B for salicylates and oxalate, all mild bands. Its intense perfume suggests something chemically loud, but the aroma compounds behind it are not the ones tracked on histamine or salicylate lists. Feijoa is a gut fruit problem, not a chemistry one.
References
Read the background
Ratings reflect the Triggerbites ingredient database and may vary with portion size and preparation.