34 



BULLETIN 77, HAWAII EXPERIMENT STATION 



COMMON GUAVA 



(Psidium guajava) 



Description: The guava is a medium-sized, round or oblong yellow 

 fruit 1^2 to 3 inches in diameter, with a thick, coarse, edible rind sur- 

 rounding a mass of seeds imbedded in a firm, soft pulp. The flesh 

 varies from white to yellow to red. Though the fruit may be either 

 sweet or sour, it always has a distinctive, characteristic flavor. 



History: Although Thrum's "Hawaiian Annual" (65, p. 129) 

 states that the common lemon guava was brought to the Hawaiian 

 Islands from Australia by G. Montgomery in 1851, some variety was 

 undoubtedly growing in the Islands before that ; for Reverend Sereno 

 L. Bishop, who was born at Kailua, Hawaii, in 1824, states (5) that 

 guavas were a choice fruit in the later 30's and did not become wild 

 until 20 years later. At present the guava is the most common wild 

 fruit in the Territory and is thoroughly naturalized. It grows well 

 under conditions unfavorable for many plants and in some places has 

 become a pest. The word "guava" comes from the Haitian name for 

 the fruit, guayaba (50, p. 274). 



Nutritive value: Greater use than at present should be made of the 

 guavas which grow wild in great abundance at the lower altitudes on all 

 the Islands. 



Compared with other fruits in this series whole guavas are a very 

 good source of iron, a moderately good source of calcium and a fair 

 source of phosphorus. The iron content of the seeded guavas (i.e., 

 those with the seeds removed) is only about one-fifth that of the whole, 

 showing that most of the iron is in the seeds. 



Data in Tables 9 and 10 show that guavas are a poor source of 

 vitamin G, a good source of vitamins A and B, and an excellent source 

 of vitamin C. A watery extract of guavas, here called guava juice 

 (page 36), was also found to be an excellent source of vitamin C. 

 Guava juice loses little if any of its vitamin C when made into jelly. 



Guava juice keeps well, as some of the guava juice fed to guinea 

 pigs was preserved under sterile conditions in jars and bottles and 

 showed no signs of deterioration after 3 or 4 months. Guava juice 

 bottled in this way has been used successfully for artificially fed infants 

 for a period of 6 months (35). The experiment was carried out with 

 the aid of the physicians and nurses at two of the baby health confer- 

 ences in Honolulu, who cooperated with a University student in Home 

 Economics. Ten babies from 4 to 6 weeks of age were first fed daily 

 half a teaspoon of guava juice diluted with an equal quantity of water. 

 The guava juice ration was increased to one teaspoon the second week 

 of feeding. Then it was gradually increased until, at the age of 2 

 months, each baby received 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of guava juice 

 diluted with an equal quantity of water. From then on it was gradually 

 increased until the fifth or sixth month, when each baby was fed 2 

 tablespoons of guava juice every day. All the babies thrived and were 

 in fine condition at the end of the 6 months' period. 



