Know all about the tropical fruit: Guava

Guava has more fibre than a pineapple and contains more vitamin C than an orange.

Guava is a well-known tropic fruit and is cultivated in various tropical regions around the world. It is believed that Guava originated from somewhere between south of Mexico and Central America. However the same reached Asia along with the Portuguese.

India is the largest producer of Guava in the entire world and produces more than 40% of the total production of the world. In India, guava holds the fourth place in terms of total fruit production in the country. The top 3 candidates include mango, banana and citrus.

Production States:

Uttar Pradesh holds the top most position with the maximum production in the country followed by Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. Uttar Pradesh produces more than 900 thousand tonnes of Guava in a year and holds a total of more than 20% share of the market. Some of the other major producing states include Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu etc.

Varieties of Guava:

The famous Indian varieties of guava include Sardar, Lalit, Dhareedar, Allahabad safeda, Chittidar, Dharwar etc. among many others.

Few of the hybrid varieties include Arka Amulya, Safed Jam and Kohir Safeda.

Planting Techniques:

Common plating technique followed in India is Marcottage or Layering. However in recent times, the wedge grafting technique is also getting more and more popular among the farmers. Familiar practice amongst the farmers include plantation of 275 plants in one hectare, however HDP or planting at a high density has been found very effective for Guava plantation. HDP accommodates more than 550 plants per hectare.

Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow has evolved a new way of planting Guava called “Meadow Orchard system”. The new system introduces plantation of dwarf or small sized plants which in return increases the number of planted trees to around 5000 per hectare of land. 

Health Benefits:

Guava contains several vitamins and minerals such as Thiamine, Niacin, Vitamin E, Vitamin K etc. It is one of the ancient medicines used by several tribes of this world. Egyptians used guava and its leaves for curing cough and cold. Also other tribes from Amazon used Guava leaves and its stem for curing irritation of the throat and inflamed lungs.

Traditional uses in the near past show use of guava to cure toothaches, diarrhea, ulcers and wounds.

Modern science shows that consumption of Guava can decrease the chances of developing type II diabetes due to the presence of flavonol glycosides in it. Also recent tests confirm that guava is also beneficial in terms of its anti-inflammatory properties and anti-cancer effects.

Guava recipes:

Guavas can be eaten raw or as a juice and also can be consumed in the form of desserts, sauce, jelly etc.

Couple of recipes is as follows:

- Add a minimal amount of guava flesh along with freshly cut slices of bananas, mangoes and pineapple and prepare a freshly made tropical smoothie.

- Make a guava jelly by mixing water with guava flesh and sugar. The formed jelly can be applied into bread, cake and also can be used to fill up pastries. 

- Guava juice can be used as a dressing for salads. The fruit salad can contain mangoes, orange, cashews and sesame seeds etc.

- Guava can be cooked as a soup as well, Just add freshly made guava juice along with mint leaves, a bit of hot sauce, mint leaves, sugar according to taste and pepper.

Bottom Line:

Guava is a “pink fleshed gem” in the form of a fruit.