Guava

Guavas are really delicious! Ripe yellow ones are tasty, but the crunchy green ones are mouth-watering too, especially when sprinkled with salt and masala.

Have you seen a guava tree? It is not very tall, possibly as tall as a single storeyed house. The trunk is slender with a grey-ochre bark that peels off in strips. The leaves are oval and rough to touch. The tree is full of beautiful, five-petalled white flowers, towards the end of winter and then again at the time of the rains.

When these flowers fall, small green guavas begin to appear. At first, the fruit is green and hard. As it ripens, it becomes softer and the colour becomes a creamy gold.

The flesh is white and in the centre, there are lots of woody seeds. Some guavas have pink flesh. These are also very tasty. Another type of guava is deep red on the outside.

Guavas that ripen in the winter are always tastier than those found during the rest of the year. In India, Allahabadi guavas are famous for their taste.

There are so many guava trees in India that it is hard to believe that they came from Brazil in South America. Sailors travelling from those parts, brought the seeds of guavas with them.

Parrots and monkeys love guavas. It is believed that a guava pecked by a parrot will be sweet! Guavas are very good for us as they are full of vitamin A and C. The tree has other uses too. The leaves are mashed and used to relieve toothache. The bark is used to make a dye for colouring silk.