Common Types Of Guava: Learn About Common Guava Tree Varieties

by johnah on November 5, 2020

Common Types Of Guava: Learn About Common Guava Tree Varieties

Guavas are members of the family of palms (Lepidoptera). They belong to the genus Psidium. There are several species of guavas, but most commonly known as ‘Psidium grandiflorum’ or simply ‘guava’. The fruit is a small greenish-yellow berry with fleshy pulp. The tree is native to Central America and the Caribbean Islands.

It grows up to 30 feet tall, though it may reach 40 feet in some areas. Its woody stems grow from the ground along with its leaves which are short and needlelike. The plant’s flowers bloom only once every two years, but they have been known to last for decades!

The leaves of the guava are edible, but not particularly tasty. They contain no vitamin C, so eating them is generally discouraged except for medicinal purposes. However, the leaf juice contains a substance called pectin which helps make jams and jellies. The fruit itself is considered a delicacy in parts of Latin America where it is eaten raw or cooked into desserts such as maguey pie.

Guava fruit flesh is considerably more acidic than the common grape. It can be eaten fresh or preserved in jars. Guavas are known to contain a relatively large amount of Vitamin C, but this is easily destroyed by heat during cooking. Guavas have a very short shelf life, so they are rarely found canned or cooked. They are most often eaten fresh as a ready-to-eat snack, or used in mixed drinks and wine.

Among the most common types of guava fruit are apple (or apriums), strawberry, and common types.

The Apple Guava is a hybrid fruit, which is a cross between a pear guava and a common guava. It is oval-shaped and yellow-green in color with slightly more texture and less flavor than the common guava. It contains many small black seeds. It can be identified by its combination of green flesh and soft pink seeds.

The Strawberry Guava gets its name from its bright red, strawberry-shaped fruit. It has a similar flavor to the apple guava and contains many small black seeds. Like the apple guava, it is much closer to the common guava in both looks and taste.

The Common Guava is the smallest of the three fruits, more pear-shaped than oval. It is green-brown in color with a very soft texture and very little flavor.

Sources & references used in this article:

Exotic guavas are foci of forest regeneration in Kenyan farmland by DG Berens, N Farwig, G Schaab… – Biotropica, 2008 – Wiley Online Library

Genetic diversity of the root‐knot nematode Meloidogyne enterolobii and development of a SCAR marker for this guava‐damaging species by M Tigano, K De Siqueira… – Plant …, 2010 – Wiley Online Library

Knowledge Based System for Diagnosing Guava Problems by I Dheir, SS Abu-Naser – International Journal of Academic …, 2019 – papers.ssrn.com

QuickBird and Hyperion data analysis of an invasive plant species in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador: Implications for control and land use management by SJ Walsh, AL McCleary, CF Mena, Y Shao… – Remote Sensing of …, 2008 – Elsevier

A summary of information on the rust Puccinia psidii Winter (guava rust) with emphasis on means to prevent introduction of additional strains to Hawaii by L Loope – 2010 – pubs.er.usgs.gov

Variation in antioxidant attributes at three ripening stages of guava (Psidium guajava L.) fruit from different geographical regions of Pakistan by J Gull, B Sultana, F Anwar, R Naseer, M Ashraf… – Molecules, 2012 – mdpi.com

Seasonality and host utilization of the invasive fruit fly, Bactrocera invadens (Dipt., Tephritidae) in central Tanzania by MW Mwatawala, M De Meyer… – Journal of Applied …, 2006 – Wiley Online Library

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