Agriculture Business Week

Guava’s nutritious, medicinal and market potentials are so huge and yet, sadly, there are no existing records of big planting and production of this fruit in this country.

“It has more vitamin C than citrus; the edible rind alone has five times the vitamin C of an orange.” That is how Bill Daley describes guava in an article which appeared in Chicago Tribune.

Nutrition experts claim that vitamin C- mainly in the skin, secondly in the firm flesh, and little in the central pulp – varies from 56 to 600 milligrams. It may range from up to 350-450 milligrams in nearly ripe fruit. When it is fully ripe and soft, the vitamin C content may decrease to 50-100 milligrams.

Aside from vitamin C, guava is also rich in potassium, calcium and iron. Likewise, guava contains both carotenoids and polyphenols – the major classes of antioxidant pigments – giving them relatively high dietary antioxidant value among plant foods. As these pigments produce the fruits’ color, guavas that are red or orange in color have more potential value as antioxidants sources than yellowish green ones.

Raw guavas are eaten out-of-hand, but are preferred seeded and served sliced as dessert or in salads. There are innumerable recipes for utilizing guavas in pies, cakes, puddings, sauce, ice cream, jam, butter, marmalade, chutney, relish, catsup, and other products.

Dehydrated guavas may be reduced to a powder which can be used to flavor ice cream, confections and fruit juices, or boiled with sugar to make jelly, or utilized as pectin to make jelly of low-pectin fruits. In the Philippines, guava is used in dishes like sinigang.

A report from the Bureau of Plant Industry, a line agency of the Department of Agriculture, carries this information: “Guava has a great potential for extensive commercial production because of its ease of culture, high nutritional value and popularity of processed products. Most common areas where guavas are grown in abundance are: open areas, second-growth forests, backyard, or as a part of a mixed orchard.”

Currently, however, there are no existing records for big planting and production of guava in the country. To think that guava has an international market waiting to be tapped is already a strong reason to seriously consider planting the fruit on a massive scale.

Since 1975, Brazil has been exporting large quantities of guava paste, concentrated guava pulp, and guava shells not only to the United States but to Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Japan. Canned, frozen guava nectar is an important product in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. In South Africa, a baby-food manufacturer markets a guava-tapioca product, and a guava extract prepared from small and overripe fruits is used as ascorbic acid enrichment for soft drinks and various foods.

Like most tropical fruits, guava has a thousand uses. In fact, guava has been touted as an all-purpose medicinal plant. If it is “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” in Europe and the United States, it must be “a few guavas in the season keeps the doctor away for the whole , year” in the Philippines and other countries where guavas grow.

The roots, bark, leaves and immature fruits, because of their astringency, are commonly employed to halt gastroenteritis, diarrhea and dysentery, throughout the tropics. Crushed leaves are applied on wounds and ulcers. The leaf decoction is taken as a remedy for coughs, throat and chest ailments.

The bark and leaf extracts of guava have shown to have in vitro toxic action against numerous bacteria. The leaves of guava are rich in flavonoids, which have demonstrated anti-bacterial activity. This anti-bacterial property of guava leaves is what causes benefit to the teeth and gums.

Because of this, guava has been used for centuries to cure problems related to the teeth and gums. Leaves are chewed to relieve toothache and to cure bleeding gums and bad breath. Guava leaf decoction is gargled to relieve mouth sores and inflamed and bleeding gums.

Julia F. Morton, in Fruits of Warm Climates, writes: “Guava has been effective in halting vomiting and diarrhea in cholera patients. It is also applied on skin diseases. A decoction of the new shoots is taken as a febrifuge. The leaf infusion is prescribed in India in cerebral ailments and nephritis. An extract is given in epilepsy and chorea and a tincture is rubbed on the spine of children in convulsions. A combined decoction of leaves and bark is given to expel the placenta after childbirth.”

Guava helps reduce cholesterol in blood and prevents it from thickening, thereby maintaining fluidity of blood and reducing blood pressure. Studies have shown that foods which lack fiber (such a refined flour) add to blood pressure, due to quick conversion to sugar. Guava, being very rich in fiber and hypoglycemic in nature, helps reduce blood pressure.

Guava is also very helpful for those who want to lose weight without compromising with their intake of proteins, vitamins and fiber. Guava, being very high in roughage and very rich in vitamins, proteins and minerals, but with no cholesterol and less digestible carbohydrates, is very filling and satisfies appetite very easily. Ironically, guava helps gain weight among lean and thin people. This is probably due to its richness in nutrients, which keeps their metabolism right helping proper absorption of nutrients.

Those who want to look younger should eat guava. “Guavas can help improve your skin texture and avoid skin problems more than the best of beauty creams or skin toner gels can do,” a beauty expert said. This is chiefly due to the abundance of astringents in its fruits (more in immature ones) and in leaves.

Guava has several other uses. Morton, in her book, cited the following:

Wood: The wood is yellow to reddish, fine-grained, compact, moderately strong, weighs 650-750 kilograms per cubic meter; is durable indoors; used in carpentry and turnery. In India, it is valued for engravings. Guatemalans use guava wood to make spinning tops, and in El Salvador it is fashioned into haircombs which are perishable when wet. It is good fuelwood and also a source of charcoal.

Leaves and bark: The leaves and bark are rich in tannin (10% in the leaves on a dry weight basis, 11-30 % in the bark). The bark is used in Central America for tanning hides. In Southeast Asia, the leaves are employed to give a black color to cotton; and in Indonesia, they serve to dye matting.

Wood flowers: In Mexico, the tree may be parasitized by the mistletoe producing the rosette-like malformations called “wood flowers” which are sold as ornamental curiosities.

One of the most gregarious of fruit trees, the guava (known in the science world as Psidium guajava) is almost universally called by its common English name or its equivalent in other languages. In Spanish, the tree is guayabo, or guayavo, the fruit guayaba or guyaua. The French call it goyave or goyauier; the Dutch, guyaba, goeajaaba; the Surinamese, guaue or goejaba; and the Portuguese, goiaba or goaibeira. Hawaiians call it guava or kuawa. In the Philippines, it is known as bayabas.