In the world there are many trees and shrubs, the fruits of which can be eaten. But if, for example, pears and apples have long been grown in their summer cottages, then exotic trees have not yet had time to thoroughly take root and fall in love with gardeners. And completely in vain.
Today we would like to talk about such an exotic plant as guava. The properties of the plant, as well as its unusual taste, are probably familiar to many. However, not everyone knows that this evergreen shrub can be grown at home, if desired.
Myrtle family
So, what is guava? This is a green plant, which is most often found in Africa, Central America, Asia. The height of an evergreen tree is from three to five meters. Fruits a tree once or twice a year and brings a very significant (up to one hundred kilograms) yield. The guava fruit resembles a small tennis ball of green color with a bright red, green or pale yellow core.
The fruits of this tree are somewhat reminiscent of shriveled apples, only a bright green color. Sometimes there are pear-shaped fruits. The fruit has an incredibly pleasant and fairly strong smell. They say that the guava aroma can easily drown out the tobacco smell if you place it in a smoky room where a dozen smokers have just visited.
Beneficial features
Guava, whose beneficial properties are sung by many botanists and nutritionists, is perhaps the only fruit that contains more vitamin C than the popular lemon or any other citrus fruit. For example: one hundred grams of the product contains about 250 milligrams of vitamin C. And this is ten times the amount of the same vitamin contained in lemon. Due to the presence of this vitamin, guava is always recommended for people with reduced immunity, as well as for those who want to strengthen the lymphatic system and increase their overall tone.
One of the few fruits that young mothers, pregnant women and infants are allowed to eat is guava again. Useful properties, vitamin composition and a huge number of substances useful for the body make guava an indispensable product that can diversify any diet.
It is very often prescribed by nutritionists, since guava is rich in protein, calcium, potassium, iron and phosphorus. Using this fruit, you will not only easily recover the forces spent on power or cardio training, but you can also lose a couple of extra pounds without even going to the gym.
Heart Benefits and Pain Relief
If you need to adjust the digestive or cardiovascular system, normalize blood pressure, then guava is better to eat directly with the skin and seeds. Of course, the skin of this fruit is a bit bitter, but in combination with the sweet pulp it is not so noticeable.
In Brazil, for example, doctors often prescribe guavas when digestion is disturbed in patients (constipation, colic, etc.). Guava treats pneumonia and asthma in the Philippines. In Panama, India and Israel, this fruit is prescribed when a person suffers from epileptic seizures, frequent tonsillitis or bronchitis.
Guava juice added to tea will help normalize the menstrual cycle in women, reduce abdominal pain, migraines and headaches. Also, knowing how to eat the guava correctly, you can be saved from intolerable toothache, abscesses and high fever.
How to eat a guava
Very often, buying some exotic fruits in stores, we do not always know how to properly eat them. The same goes for guava. Sometimes people just don’t know how to eat a guava. Unripe fruits are acquired in the store (not realizing that the guava is still green and unripe), they try the fruit and spit it out. Why?
The thing is that the guava contains quite a large amount of hexahydroxidifenoic acid esters. It is she who gives the unripe fruits of this plant a terribly sour taste. When the fruit ripens, the pectin content in it increases and the number of acid esters decreases, which makes the guava incredibly tasty and sweet.
It is important that you make sure of its maturity before buying this fruit. How to determine the ripeness of the fetus? As a rule, the guava peel can “tell” about it. The denser and harder it is, the ripe the fruit.
What to do with bones
Very often people know how to eat a guava, but they don’t have a clue what to do with the bones that are inside it. Everything here is exactly the same as, for example, with watermelons. There will be no harm to the body from the use of watermelon seeds, but not everyone likes to eat this berry with them. The same goes for guava. If you want - eat the fruit along with the peel (and this is allowed) and seeds, if you want - take out the internal solid contents and peel the fruit.
How to grow guava at home
Despite the fact that fruit is not as popular in our latitudes as apples, pears or watermelons, guava at home can be grown without problems. The main thing is to know how to plant and how to care for the plant. Let's talk about this in more detail.
Just say that to grow a guava in a small pot, standing on a dark windowsill, will not work. This plant loves space and sunlight. Unfortunately, you will not find domestic seeds. Guava, the cultivation of which is developed in Egypt, India, America, will be sold from these countries. But there are no problems today with the purchase of seeds or seedlings; they can be found in any foreign floriculture or seed growing catalog.
What you need to grow guava
So, you have found a plant. Where and how to put it? There are several important aspects to consider if you want a strong tree with regular fruiting:
- Choose the most lit place.
- For the normal development of the plant, maintaining the optimum temperature is required. Its minimum indicator is 15 degrees.
- As for the soil, here the guava is completely unpretentious. It can develop both on sandy soils and bear fruit well, growing on heavy clay terrain.
- Guava varieties may be different. There are self-pollinated and requiring cross-pollination. There are propagating by cuttings, others require planting through a seed.
- Does the plant need pruning? If you want a twenty-meter-tall tree to grow in your dacha, then you can stop pruning. If you want to limit the bushiness and height of the guava a little, then it will easily tolerate pruning.
- Fertilizers and fertilizers are used as desired.
- Watering should be moderate. Too dry soil should not be allowed, but overflows should also not be allowed.
In conclusion, I would like to say: now you know how to eat a guava, how healthy it is for the body, and how you can grow this tree at home. We hope that you will no longer pass fruit shelves in the store, but be sure to put fruit in the basket, which is ten times more useful than lemon and works great as an air freshener.