What Are Breba Figs?

A breba (from the Spanish word Breva) is a fig that develops on common type and san pedro type fig trees in the spring on the previous year’s growth. In contrast, the abundant main crop of figs develops on the current year’s shoot growth and ripens in summer and fall. Breba figs, though often larger and can look very different than the main crop, don’t always develop the rich flavor compared to the main crop. Growers of fig varieties that produce brebas sometimes pick off the brebas before they ripen to encourage growth of the main crop because the main crop is considered superior in quality to the breba crop. Others prize the early breba crops in order to have figs earlier in the year and may be the only option for producing figs in climates with shorter growing seasons.

The San Pedro type fig varieties will produce a large crop of brebas, but the main crop requires pollination by the fig wasp for the figs to ripen. A very popular san pedro variety is Desert King. It is prized in the cool regions of the Pacific Northwest region of the US, where the summer heat is insufficient for the main crop of most fig varieties to ripen, so a breba crop is the only crop that can produce edible figs.