Guava
(Psidium Guajava)
P. guajava is a member of the Myrtaceae family, which contains at least 133 genera and more than 3,800 plant species. Guava is an important food crop and medicinal plant in tropical and subtropical countries. In many parts of Africa, the leaf, stem-bark, and roots are used traditionally for the management, control, and/or treatment of an array of human disorders.
Guava leaf in African folk medicine has many uses, including diabetes mellitus, diarrhea, cough, painful menstruation, and hypertension. It is also used to treat acne, painful menses, tooth decay, gum infection and sore throat, as a disinfectant for wounds and as an antiseptic. Guava bark is used medically as an astringent and to treat diarrhea in children, while the flowers have been used to treat bronchitis, eye sores and to cool the body. The fruit is used as a tonic and laxative, and for the treatment of bleeding gums. Guava is used in Africa and Asia to prevent and treat scurvy. Ethno-medicinal reports document use of the plant in treating malaria. The results of the experimental animal studies also show the leaf aqueous extract of guava leaves possess hypoglycemic and hypotensive properties, and thus lend pharmacological credence to the suggested traditional uses of the plant in the management or control of adult-onset, type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension in some rural African communities. Guava leaf tea of guava is commonly used as a medicine against gastroenteritis (dysentry) and child diarrhea.
Some of the traditional uses of guava leaves and bark have been scientifically appraised by experts. Scientific investigations on the medicinal properties of guava leaf products date back to the 1940s. Most scientific evidence examined the clinical efficacy of guava in treating gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. Other investigations examined anti amebic, antibiotic, anti diarrheic, anti hyperglycemic, anti mutagenic, anti-acne, antispasmodic, and sedative effects, as well as anti cough and narcotic-like activities of the plant species. Most phytochemical analyses investigated the properties of guava leaf products, revealing more than 20 isolated compounds, including alkaloids, anthocyanins, carotenoids, essential oils, fatty acids, lectins, phenols, saponins, tannins, triterpenes, and vitamin C (80 mg per 100 g of guava). The main active constituent in the plant is quercetin. Spasmolytic and anti diarrheal effects are associated with its quercetin-derived flavonoid glycosides, which supports the use of this ancient leaf remedy in treating GI disorders. Essential oil extracts of the plant demonstrated an ability to kill diarrhoea-causing germs like S. aureus and Salmonella spp. and was found to be comparable to tea tree oil, as well as doxycycline and clindamycin antibiotics thus supporting the use of guava leaf extracts and essential oils where access to commercial antibiotics is restricted. P. guajava may be useful in treating infantile rotaviral enteritis.
1. Guava, nature's solution for painful menses, diarrhoea, pimples, http://www.tribune.com.ng/11072008/thr/hlt2.html
2. DrugDigest.com