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Botanical name: Psidiumguajava L.
Family: Myrtaceae
Common name: Guava, lemon guava, sand fruit,
Local names: Gova, guaba
Description
A small tree about 8 m high. Often thrives and cultivated throughout the tropics. Rich in many calories, guava has many qualities of apples and is a lot cheaper too, hence often referred to as the “poor man’s apple.” Guavas are sold in varying degrees of ripeness. However, it is best to eat them within two days of getting ripe. The fruit is about 5-10 cm long, oval in shape, and green to yellow in color. The flesh inside can be white, yellow, pink, or red and contains numerous yellowish seeds.
Phytochemical properties: tannins, resins, carotenoids, flavonoids, eugenol, and essential oil. It has digestive, anti-inflammatory, carminative, aphrodisiac, alterative, anti-aging, antiseptic, blood, and immune boosting properties.
Uses: Guava fruit is used in a variety of ways. The ripe fresh fruits are eaten throughout the tropics for breakfast and dessert and in fruit salads. They are extensively used for making wines, soft drinks, jams, marmalades, jellies, candies, and ice- cream flavoring. They are also canned in syrup. Unripe and ripe fruits are generally taken as vegetables and medicine.
Health value: Guava fruit is regarded as a wholesome fruit. The daily requirements of some of the essential nutrients like proteins, minerals, and vitamins can be met from this fruit. The vitamin C contents in guava, 228 mg per 100 g fresh fruit, provide more than three times the daily recommended intake. The outer thick rind contains exceptionally higher levels of vitamin C than central pulp. The fruit is also a very good source of vitamin A, flavonoids like beta carotene, lycopene, lutein, and cryptoxanthin. These compounds are known to have antioxidant properties and are essential for optimal health.
It is not only one of the most easily digested fruits, but it also aids the digestion of other foods. Ripe guava is an excellent tonic for growing children, for the seniors, nursing mothers, and everyone who wants to age without growing feeble. It is energy giving food. Guava gives vigor and strength to the heart, lungs, and the whole body. Eating 200 grams of ripe guava with powdered black pepper and little lemon juice regularly twice a day gives strength to mind and body. The pulp of guava is very useful for the human system and greatly improves its overall resistance.
The guava fruit is recommended in a balanced diet and especially for those people who want to increase antioxidants in their diet, such as athletes, people with nervous conditions, for toxic overload, smokers, for cholesterol or anti-aging diets.
Most of us know so much about the guava fruit but are unaware of the fact that even the leaves, stem, and roots are packed with a lot of medicinal properties. These medicinal values are remarkable and have been fully recognized even in ancient times:
Pains: being packed with antioxidants, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, fresh guava leaves are considered as natural analgesic.
Obesity: guava leaves are now being included in many weight loss teas. They are said to prevent the complex starches from being converted into sugars. Its nutritional composition, balanced in sugar and low in calories, makes it a suitable food for overweight or obese people who want to benefit from its high content of antioxidants.
Cholesterol: drinking guava leaf tea for a while can help in the reduction of LDL, bad cholesterol without any adverse effect on good cholesterol.
Libido: decoction of the roots taken one tea cup 3 X daily is very helpful. The juice of the guava fruit is also known to be a good sperm booster. The leaves, when taken as tea for three months or less, are effective in increasing sperm production.
Prostate problems: guava leaves are beneficial for prostate enlargement.
Allergies: leaves are decocted for 45 minutes and taken to prevent the release of histamines in the body. This also relieves itching.
Fever: guava leaves are an effective remedy to combat fever. Infusions of guava leaves are recommended as antipyretic to help reduce fever, improve the body’s immunity, and help fight infections.
Diabetes: Studies have shown that guava leaves and extracts thereof possess quercetin, a flavonoid with hypoglycemic effect that helps to treat diabetes. When administered for a while, guava juice may reduce blood sugar in diabetic patients. Equal quantities of guava leaves and bitter leaves macerated or decocted and then filtered are also beneficial. Traditionally, the roots are used to treat diabetes.
Stomach problems: The fresh leaf is juiced with water and consumed to alleviate stomach ache. Boil 8-15 leaves of guava in 1liter of water and take three times a day. Do this for five days. The ripe fruit, if eaten regularly, corrects habitual constipation, bleeding piles, and even chronic diarrhea. “Take a guava a day, and you will be sure of good digestion and a regular bowel evacuation.” I have once heard someone say “Take it straight with its skin on; chew thoroughly without spitting out the seeds for its maximum benefit to digestion and you will become so strong that you can digest pebbles.”!
