Guavas are generally the size of a fist and may be round or pear shaped, with rough or smooth greenish white, yellow, or red skin. The seed-filled flesh is yellow, bright pink, or red. The best varieties are soft when ripe and have a rind that softens to be fully edible. Large, pear-shaped white fruits are considered the best. Varieties differ widely in flavour and seediness (some have edible seeds). Their aroma is sweet and flowery, yet musky. The taste is sweet to sour with an unusual taste partly due to eugenol, the essential oil found also in cloves.
Guavas are common tropical fruits cultivated and enjoyed in many tropical and subtropical regions. The most frequently eaten species, and the one often simply referred to as "the guava", is the apple guava.
- Other Names
- Guyava, kuawa
- Purchase
- Choose tender fruits with some yellow colour that have not yet begun to show spots. They should give to gentle pressure.
- Avoid
- Avoid spotted, mushy, or very green guavas.
- Storage
- Store at room temperature till soft. Refrigerate ripe fruit in a plastic or paper bag for up to 2 days.
Preparation
Cut in half crosswise
Scoop out the flesh with a spoon
Serving Suggestions
In many countries, guava is eaten raw, typically cut into quarters or eaten like an apple
In other countries it is eaten with a pinch of salt and pepper or with cayenne pepper or a mix of spices (masala).
Purée guava with lime juice, orange juice, and a little honey to make a marinade or glaze for poultry
Combine guava purée, pineapple juice, passion fruit purée, dark rum, sugar, lime juice, and a little grenadine (for colour) and run in an ice-cream maker till frozen to make a mai tai sorbet
Add diced guava to fruit salads
Flavour Affinities
Bananas
coconut
cream cheese
honey
lemon
lime
orange
passion fruit
pineapple
rum
strawberries
sugar
Health Benefits
Guavas are rich in dietary fiber and vitamin C, with moderate levels of folic acid. Having a generally broad, low-calorie profile of essential nutrients, a single common guava fruit contains about four times the amount of vitamin C as an orange.
Garden Use
Guavas are of interest to home growers in subtropical areas as one of the few tropical fruits that can grow to fruiting size in pots indoors. When grown from seed, guavas bear fruit as soon as two years and as long as 40 years.
Category: Fruit
Sub-Category: Subtropical Fruit
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