Nutritional Value
Guavas are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins A and C, folic acid, and the dietary minerals, potassium, copper and manganese. Having a generally broad, low-calorie profile of essential nutrients, a single common guava (P. guajava) fruit contains about four times the amount of vitamin C as an orange.
However, nutrient content varies across guava cultivars. Although the strawberry guava (P. littorale var. cattleianum) has about 25% of the amount found in more common varieties, its total vitamin C content in one serving (90 mg) still provides 100% of the Dietary Reference Intake for adult males.
Guavas contain both carotenoids and polyphenols like (+)-gallocatechin, guaijaverin, leucocyanidin and amritoside–the major classes of antioxidant pigments – giving them relatively high potential antioxidant value among plant foods. As these pigments produce the fruit skin and flesh color, guavas that are red-orange have more pigment content as polyphenol, carotenoid and pro-vitamin A, retinoid sources than yellow-green ones.
| Common Guava, per 165 g of individual fruit portion | |
|---|---|
| Calories | 112 |
| Moisture | 133 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 8.9 g (36%) |
| Protein | 4.2 g (8%) |
| Fat | 1.6 g (2%) |
| Ash | 2.3 g |
| Carbohydrates | 23.6 g (8%) |
| Calcium | 30 mg (3%) |
| Phosphorus | 66 mg (7%) |
| Iron | 0.4 mg (2%) |
| Potassium | 688 mg (20%) |
| Copper | 0.4 mg (19%) |
| Beta-carotene (Vitamin A) | 1030 IU (21%) |
| Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) | 377 mg (628%) |
| Thiamin (Vitamin B1) | 0.1 mg (7%) |
| Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) | 0.1 mg (4%) |
| Niacin (Vitamin B3) | 1.8 mg (9%) |
| Folic acid | 81 mcg (20%) |
% Daily Value in parentheses. Nutrient data source: US Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database from Nutritiondata.com
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