Guava: Botany, Production and Uses

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is an exquisite, nutritionally and economically valuable crop of tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Guava outshines other tropical fruits in productivity, hardiness, adaptability, nutritional value, and ensures higher economic returns to growers. It is currently commercially grown in over 70 countries, and gaining popularity due to its nutritional and health benefits. Important producing countries are India, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Australia, South Africa, USA (Hawaii, Florida and California) and Haiti. Notable recent developments include the potential to improve crop yields and quality. New research has also contributed to understanding of the crop environment, plant growth and physiology of tree and fruit development, with implications for both breeding and cultivation. Guava is one of the few tree fruit where round-the-year harvest is possible by crop regulation. Inter specific hybridization between Psidium molle and P.guajava has led to the development of hybrids which are resistant to wilt (a major guava disease in many countries) and are graft compatible with P.guajava. With contributions from many international experts, this book is focused on ways of improving the cultivation of guava as a food crop at each step in the value chain, from breeding through to post-harvest storage.