Health Benefits of Philippine Guava (Bayabas)
I went to my father’s farm to get some guavas. I was surprised. I only got few of them. Most of the guava trees are cut down. Anyway, native guavas are not propagated. Most of them grow on their own beside coconut trees.
Bird plays an important role in its propagation. Birds feed on ripe guavas then seeds are excreted through droppings. Seeds grow and germinate when conditions are favorable.
Native guavas are not in demand because they are small and superseded by foreign apple guava variety which is known to have less anti-oxidant properties.
Apple guava was known to have the following nutrients. Sad to say but I can’t find any nutrient information about our native version. Filipinos like imported very much.
Calories 36-50
Moisture 77-86 g
Dietary Fiber 2.8-5.5 g
Protein 0.9-1.0 g
Fat 0.1-0.5 g
Ash 0.43-0.7 g
Carbohydrates 9.5-10 g
Calcium 9.1–17 mg
Phosphorus 17.8–30 mg
Iron 0.30-0.70 mg
Carotene (Vitamin A) 200-400 I.U
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) 200–400 mg
Thiamin (Vitamin B1) 0.046 mg
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) 0.03-0.04 mg
Niacin (Vitamin B3) 0.6-1.068 mg
Guavas are rich in vitamins A and C. Seeds are rich in omega-3, omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and especially dietary fiber. A single fruit contains over four times the amount of vitamin C versus a single orange. It also have good levels of the dietary minerals, potassium, magnesium, and generally a broad, low-calorie profile of essential nutrients.
My mom told me that guava has ten time more vitamin C than calamansi. She was talking about native variety.
Most of our native guavas have red or orange flesh color. This is due to high levels of antioxidant pigments, the carotenoids and polyphenols. They have relatively high dietary antioxidant value among other plants.
Yellowish-green varieties have lesser values.
In case you have a lot of native guavas in your farm, you can make money from it by processing it into wine, puree or juice, vinegar, jelly and marmalade.
Guavas have a lot of medicinal properties. Its a powerful natural medicine.
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thanks for the info..:)
In my childhood days in our province me and my friends climbing guava trees…and climb another tree in another neighbor, so fun!
[Reply]
marvin Reply:
May 24th, 2011 at 6:33 am
@ben – I am still climbing the trees to get fruits
[Reply]