Guava

Also known asPsidium guajava · Jambu Batu · 番石榴

Name: Guava (Psidium guajava), also called common guava, with white, pink or red flesh depending on the variety. The related strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum) is smaller and a separate species. The feijoa, known as pineapple guava, is a different plant.

Description

Guava is native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America, where it has been eaten for thousands of years. Spanish and Portuguese explorers carried it across the tropics, and it is now grown throughout Asia, Africa and the Pacific. India, Pakistan, Mexico and Brazil are among the largest producers.

The fruit is round to pear-shaped, with a thin green to yellow skin and a fragrant, musky, sweet-tart flavour. The flesh surrounds a core packed with small hard seeds, which are edible but gritty. Guava is eaten fresh, and is also used to make juice, jam, paste (goiabada) and pastries.

Main nutrition value

Guava is one of the richest fruit sources of vitamin C, with several times more per serving than an orange, and also provides fibre, folate, potassium and (in pink types) lycopene.

How best to be consumed

Guava can be eaten whole, including the skin and the seeds, when ripe.

1. Eat ripe fruit fresh, with the skin on, after rinsing.
2. Slice and sprinkle with chilli, salt and lime, a popular street snack in Mexico and Asia.
3. Blend into juices and smoothies, straining out the seeds if preferred.
4. Cook into jam, paste or sauce, or serve guava paste with cheese.
5. Choose fruit that smells fragrant and gives slightly, as unripe guava is hard and astringent.

Overconsumption could cause…

Guava is safe in ordinary amounts, and most issues involve fibre.

1. Constipation or bloating from many of the hard seeds and the high fibre, if a lot is eaten, especially with the seeds.
2. Digestive discomfort from unripe guava, which is astringent.
3. Blood sugar effects if a lot of guava juice or paste with added sugar is consumed.
4. Tooth damage from biting hard seeds.

GroupsTropical FruitsMyrtle family (Myrtaceae)Low fatLow sodiumRich in vitamin CFresh

Related foodsFeijoaRose AppleJava Plum / JamunWax Apple / JambuLycheeSoursop

Wikipedia — Guava, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guava