A small, branching, evergreen, Mexican native tree, attaining a height of 2 - 10 m. It branches close to the ground, and often produces suckers at the base of the trunk. The guava is suscep-tible to frost, (tolerant to - 2°C), but if not too severe, it will recover by suckering from below the soil. It does best in high rainfall areas, but will tolerate 4 - 5 months of drought. It is also reported to be tolerant of flooding and somewhat salt tolerant. It will grow on a variety of soils, although does not like heavy clay soils. It seems able to withstand some waterlogging. In cooler climates, guavas can be grown in a hot house, and are well suited to container growing.
The fruit are highly scented, yellow in colour when ripe and globose in shape. They are produced over a long period. The pulpy flesh is sweet - acid, and contains many hard, kidney -shaped seeds. It has 2 - 5 times the Vitamin C content of fresh orange juice and is also a good source of Vitamin A. The fruits are best eaten fresh, but can also be made into jams, jelly, paste, juice and nectar. Seedling trees will begin bearing fruit at about 2 years of age.
Nutritional composition of guava per 100 grams of edible portion is: Water - 83%, Energy - 62 calories, Carbohydrate - 15 g, Fat - 0.6 g, Protein - 0.8 g, Ash - 0.6 g, Calcium - 23 mg, Potas-sium - 289 mg, Sodium - 4 mg, Magnesium - 13 mg, Iron - 0.9 mg, Phosphorous - 42 mg, Chlorine - 155 mg, Sulphur - 105 mg, Silicon - 30 mg, Vitamin A - 280.U., Thiamin - 0.05 mg, Riboflavin - 0.05 mg, Niacin -1.2 mg, Ascorbic acid - 242 mgs and the digestion time is 3 hours.
In some countries, the tannin - rich leaves and bark are used for dyeing and tanning. Guava wood is very heavy and strong and can be used for tool handles and implements. It has a fine reddish to yellow grain and is used in carpentry and joinery. It also makes excellent firewood and charcoal.
Because of their astringency, the roots, bark, leaves and immature fruits are commonly used for gastroenteritis, diarrhoea and dysentry throughout the tropics. Crushed leaves are applied to wounds, ulcers and rheumatism and the leaves are chewed to relieve toothache. The leaf concoction can be taken as a remedy for coughs, throat and chest ailments, gargled to relieve mouth ulcers and inflamed gums. It can also be taken as a vermifuge and to promote men-strual flow.
Trees are propagated from seed, cuttings and suckers. When grown from seed, about 70% will grow true to type. Because of the variability of guava fruits, vegetative propagation from superior plants is more common. Minimum spacing between plants is 3 m.