Last week we attended the wedding of a close friend, and, as many know, the wedding reception is synonymous with great but hearty food. After varied and tasty food – and after a few hours at the table – we came to desserts and fruit. To our amazement, among pieces of pineapple, melon, grapes, oranges and various common fruits, spotting a fruit that we could not give a name. So, out of curiosity, we asked one of the waiters in the result of which room it was (not before it snapped and tasted as it should).
The next day we moved our contacts and asked for some information about this interesting fruit exotic name (and beyond), discovering the many useful things about it. We are talking of guava, tropical fruit rich in high-profile nutrients.
Let’s know better…
Characteristics and properties of guava
With its unique flavor, the particular taste and its characteristics, the guava is a quality product for people wishing to maintain their health without sacrificing goodness.
It has a round shape, oval, similar to pear. It is about 5-10 cm long and weighs from 50 to 200 grams. There are different types of guava cultivation, which can vary the flavor and color of flesh (red, white, yellow or pink). It is produced by a tropical evergreen shrub, below average height, which originated in Central America but which thrives in both wet and dry climates, being able to tolerate short periods of cold spells (but not excessive).
Botanically, this wonderful tree belongs to the Myrtaceae family and its scientific name is Psidium guajava. Its ability to adapt to non-tropical environments make it an easily marketable product.
Health Benefits
Antitumor and antioxidant
The guava fruit is low in calories and fat, but rich in essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants poly-phenolic compounds and flavonoids, which play a key role in cancer prevention, in the physiological slowdown, in the treatment of infections. It is rich in soluble dietary fiber, which makes it a good laxative. Moreover, thanks to the fibers contained in it, the guava helps to protect the mucosa of the colon, decreasing the time of exposure to toxic substances of this important digestive tract.
You may also like to read another article on Srewang: What is healthy eating?
Rich in vitamin C and A
The guava is an excellent source of antioxidant vitamin-C : 100 grams of fresh guava well provide 228 mg of the vitamin, more than 3 times the recommended daily dose. The flesh just below the skin is the richest part of vitamin C, with exceptionally high levels compared to the inner creamy flesh. Think it might be important to the consumption of a fruit such as guava: is well established (say it also several scientific studies) that regularly eating fruits rich in vitamin C helps the human body develop resistance against infectious agents, free radicals and other substances that cause cancer. Moreover, the consumption of fruit such as guava is necessary for the synthesis of collagen within the body: the collagen is a major structural protein present in the human body and is necessary to the integrity of blood vessels, skin, organs and bones.
The guava is also an important source of vitamin A and flavonoids like beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein and crypto xanthine, known to have antioxidant properties and therefore essential for the optimal health of the organism. In addition, vitamin A is necessary to maintain healthy mucous membrane and skin. Many of you know that the carotene-rich fruit consumption is useful to protect against cancers of the lung and the oral cavity and guava seems the ideal solution for the necessary intake of substances like those mentioned a moment ago: 100 grams of pink guava, for example, provide 5204 milligrams of lycopene, nearly double the amount present in tomatoes.
For the heart and the pressure
The Guava is also a rich source of potassium, contained in greater quantity than other fruits such as bananas, famous precisely for potassium. If it, in fact, is an important component of cellular fluids and helps control heart rate and blood pressure.
The guava, also, is a moderate source of vitamins of the B complex (including pantothenic acid, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin E and K), minerals like magnesium, copper (necessary for the production of red blood cells) and manganese.
Conclusions
Now we expect that all of you go out of your greengrocers’ confidence to buy up guava. Seriously, to us it was immediately impressed this tropical fruit is not very common on the counters of our own markets, but available from greengrocers and best stocked supermarkets.