Raw Materials Guava

Guava

06/30/12 09:01:13

By: Chandra Shekhar Gupta

Botanical Name:
Psidium guajava

Family:
Myrtaceae (Myrtle Family)

COMMON NAMES

Apple guava, Pineapple Guava, Bayabas, Yellow guava, Guayabas, Jambu batu (Indonesia), Amrud, Jamphal (India).

It is believed that Guava is native to southern Mexico or Central and tropical America. It is cultivated and distributed throughout all tropical regions in America and in the West Indies, Bermuda and southern Florida. It was adopted as a crop in Asia and in warm parts of Africa. Guava is a tropical and semitropical plant and can be found growing as a common vegetation cover close to roads and in waste places in Hawaii. In India, it is a commercial crop and cultivated throughout the country.

The bisexual flowers of the guava are white in color and occur usually singly or in clusters of two or three. The fruit is a berry, which may be round, ovate or pear shaped. The skin color of the ripe fruit is usually yellow and the flesh color may be white, pink, yellow, salmon or carmine. Guavas vary from thick-fleshed fruits with only a few seeds in a small center cavity to thin-fleshed fruits with numerous seeds embedded in a large mass of pulp. The fruits range in flavor from quite sweet to sour and may be highly acidic when unripe. The characteristic musky guava aroma and flavor are quite evident.

Guava is one of the most common fruits; it is quite hardy and a prolific bearer. The fruit is a very good source of Vitamins C, B and A and flavonoids like beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein and cryptoxanthin, and therefore it is considered to be a “Superfruit.” It is also referred to as “apple of the tropics” by those familiar with dessert guavas. The plant is cultivated in orchards and home gardens. Guavas are up to five times richer in vitamin C than oranges. In addition to possessing valuable nutritional qualities, the guava blends well in various processed fruit preparations.

In the pink fruit, the commercial essence is characterized to present a volatile profile rich in components and with low molecular weight, especially esters, alcohols and aldehydes, whereas in the fresh fruit puree, terpenic hydrocarbons are the most common components. The strong odor of the fruit is attributed to carbonyl compounds.

The ripe fruits become soft and have a sweet, musky aroma and a creamy texture. The sweet, musky odor is pungent and penetrating. Internally, the flesh varies in color depending up on the variety and may be white, pink, yellow, or red. Ripe fruits have a quince-banana like flavor with a sweet and tart taste. Each fruit contains numerous tiny, semi-hard edible seeds, which are concentrated especially in the center.

Some of the perfumes and colognes with a fruity note and musky aroma from guava are Hawaiian Ruby Guava by Pacifica for women and men, with tropical guava as a middle note; Sexy Little Things Noir Summer with a mixture of pink guava, Mediterranean jasmine and musk; and Grapefruit-Guava by Fruits & Passion for women, a sparkling, exotic and fresh fragrance with a fruity guava top note, etc.

• The green fruit and leaf decoction of guava is considered an astringent and used to cure diarrhea and dysentery. Modern proof of this traditional medicinal use of guava can be found in modern literature. The methanolic extract of guava leaves showed significant inhibitory activities against the growths of bacteria, i.e. Salmonella, Shigella spp and Escherichia Coli.

• The antibacterial potential of crude leaf extract of guava leaves against some bacteria associated with surgical wounds, burns, skin and soft tissue infection are also evident by medical specialists and are considered a traditional medicine.

• Guava is one of the most important fruits in the tropics and exported to temperate areas. The fruit is consumed as fresh fruit and made into juice, jams and jellies, and paste or “cheese.” The fruit rinds are candied or stewed in syrup.

Photos: kthread, Ciro Boro - photo, remusse, Hermann Saksono, clayirving

Author: Dr. Chandra Shekhar Gupta (cshekhar)

Fragrantica Writer

rosembloom

Many thanx Dr. Gupta! Now I understand why Believe by B.Spears smells so musky! I thought of guava as a zesty acid smelling fruit. Now I can detect it's rich presence in a few perfumes. great article!

Jul
01
2012

fazli ikram

Be Careful when eating..too much may lead to constipation...

Jul
01
2012

lettyb76

In some parts of Mexico, people put guavas next to their beds because the smell of guava keeps bed bugs away. To me, guava smells like urine.

Jul
01
2012

cshekhar

Thanks :)))))))

Jul
01
2012

dina

Great Article! Thanks Dr. Gupta...
Just wondering how different in taste the pink and the yellow guava are?

In Egypt,the leafs are boiled, sweetened and used as a remedy for cough.

Jul
01
2012

ednafrau

super interesting article! here in buenos aires it's really hard to find, but i did, once, in a chinese market...what a delicious, creamy flavor! i couldn't believe it - and how amazing to know it has all these properties! i agree with ADCout: gucci by gucci for women is the first perfume that comes to mind...musky and very guava-infused! love it :) one that i haven't yet tried but have read feautures prominent guava is britney spears' believe.

Jul
01
2012

alena.gavronskaja

:)райский фрукт!!!

Jul
01
2012

haasemanzi

In Brazil Goiaba is called !!!Is in Solo Loewe Pour Homme.

Jul
01
2012

ANGELICA07

Great work, as usual ! ;-)

Could someone recommend me some other tropical guava scents please ?

Thanks.

Jul
01
2012

For me paradise is where Guava grows!

Jul
01
2012

tommy_girl

I've never eaten Guava fruit,but I love how it smells in perfumes!

Jul
01
2012

Helsinki

Nattonline, exactly! It's the best fruit in the world! :P~ slurpee!

Jul
01
2012

sherryxfilesfan

Smells much better than it tastes...yuck!

Jun
30
2012

DiBonD

I think the common name of guava is not jambu batu in Indonesian. In the Big Dictionary of Indonesian, guava means jambu biji (source: I'm a native Indonesian).

Jun
30
2012

ADCout