Guava is an oval-shaped fruit with light green or light yellow skin. Hailed as one of the superfruits, it has a unique flavour and fragrance. Besides flavour, it also offers numerous health benefits. The fruit is a good source of vitamin C, pectin, calcium and phosphorus.

For many reasons including the delicious taste of guava, the fruit is used for the preparation of processed products like jams, jellies and nectar. By converting it into various delicacies, guava's taste can be relished even in the seasons when the fruit is not produced.

You would love eating the guava jelly, popular for its attractive purplish-red colour, pleasant taste and mouthwatering aroma. The puree can be used in juice, cakes, puddings, sauces, ice-creams, jam and jelly.

If you are fond of whole fruits, guavas can be preserved by canning as halves or quarters, that too with or without seed core (shells). You can prepare good quality salad can be prepared from the shell of ripe fruits and enjoy it any time.

Guava fruits are often classified by the colour of the flesh. These varieties of guava have different preparation as their composition differs. If you want to have a better tasting dish, look at the below list which provides you with 25 different guava varieties.

1. Allahabad Safeda

The most famous of all the available guava varieties is the Allahabad Safeda, whose trees bear a lot of fruits. The crown of the Allahabad Safeda guava tree is expansive and compact, mostly dome-shaped.

The guavas of this variety are round in shape and not very large. The skin of the fruit is very mild and the flesh is white with not many seeds inside it.

The smoothness of the skin and lesser seeds make this a widely loved variety. It is used for both serving on the table and processing purposes. The yield is nearly 13.69 kg/tree

2. Sardar (Lucknow-49)

The tree of the Safeda guava variety is lively, spreading and bountiful. It is weighty having huge and round-shaped fruits with primrose yellow skin shading.

It has white fragile flesh and seeds are in bounty and harder than that of Allahabad Safeda. The plant has been used to treat inflammation, kidney infections and urinary tract infections; as a diuretic and as a stomach tonic. The yield is 144 kg per tree.

3. Lalit

It is a high yielding pink-fleshed guava assortment delivered by Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow for business development in guava developing zones of the nation. Fruits are of saffron yellow shading with a red tinge.

It is reasonable for both table-serving and processing purposes. The jam produced using this assortment has a better flavour and appealing appearance. The yield is 100 kg per tree.

4. Shweta

Next on our guava varieties list are the Shweta guavas. The tree produces medium size spherical fruits, which have velvety white skin with red spots and nearly-white flesh.

The assortment is developed by the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow. It is appropriate for business development and trading guavas. Fruits are appealing and highly nutritious, with an average yield of 151 kg per tree.

5. Arka Mridula

The plans of this Guava variety are semi-vigorous in nature and spreading. Fruits are round in shape. It is a selection from open-pollinated seedlings of Allahabad Safeda.

The skin is yellow in colour and smooth. The flesh is white and fruits are soft seeded. Hence, it is one of the best guava varieties for jelly making.

6. Allahabad Surkha

Allahabad Surkha is one of the most loved guava varieties in India. It is a remarkable variety of enormous size with pink colour and has pulpy pink flesh. Trees are lively, dome-shaped and compact. The organic product is sweet and unequivocally enhanced with a couple of seeds.

7. Red Malaysian

This cultivar is a great choice for adding interesting colour to the garden. It produces red fruits, but also red-tinted leaves, and very showy, bright pink flowers.

8. Tropical White

‘Tropical White’ guava variety produces a tender, sweet fruit with yellow skin and a pleasant aroma. The flesh is white, hence the name.

9. Mexican Cream

Also known as ‘Tropical Yellow', Mexican Cream is yet another delicious guava variety. The tree of this guava variety grows upright and does not provide much canopy spread. It has a white-flesh, as well as creamy and sweet taste. It is excellent for use in desserts.

10. Lemon Guava

Lemon Guava variety is a different species of tree, but it produces a guava fruit that is famed for its flavour. It belongs to the same species as the strawberry guava and produces fruits with a distinct taste.

The lemon guava fruits are yellow, having a yellow flesh and a flavour reminiscent of both guava and lemon. The tree of this variety grows smaller in size than other types of guava.

11. Detwiler

Detwiler guava variety is unique for being the only yellow-fleshed guava. It is currently not easy to find this variety of guava, but the large yellow fruits with a firm texture taste delicious.

12. Safed Jam

This guava variety is a cross of Allahabad safeda and kohir. The fruit shape is usually round and the fruit pulp is thin with good taste. Seeds are soft and located at the core. The yield is 80.9 kg/plant.

13. Kohir Safeda

Obtained from the cross between Kohir and Allahabad safeda, is the guava variety Safeda Jam. The fruits are large with bard seeds. The tree is large and bears profusely. You can get 90 to 100 kg of fruit per plant.

14. Arka Amulya

It is a progeny from the cross Allahabad Safeda and Triploid. Plants are medium in vigour and spreading type. Fruits are round in shape. Skin is smooth and yellow in colour. Fruits on an average weigh about 180 - 200 g, the flesh is white in colour and firm.

15. Arka Kiran

It is a pink pulp variety with an average fruit weight of 200-220g with medium-soft seeds. The crop will come to harvest only after two years of planting.

16. Apple Guava

Apple guava trees are native to Mexico and Peru but are easy to grow in most tropical areas. The small fruits are popular for making preserved items such as jams and jellies but can be eaten fresh or made into juice.

17. Giant Vietnamese Guava

The largest of all guava fruit varieties, the Giant Vietnamese/Bankok is full of vitamins and nutrients. It is used to make the globally popular guava juice, the Giant Vietnamese/Bankok is considered by many as a superfruit.

18. Hong Kong Pink

The Hong Kong Guava variety is known for producing big round fruits, which weigh between 6 to 8 ounces. The fruit has a smooth pink exterior, with a sweet flavour, and very few seeds inside. The Hong Kong Guava tree is high yielding and spreads outwards in growth habit.

19. Pineapple Guava

Pineapple guavas are a variety of guava which produce oblong and slightly egg-shaped fruits. Pineapple guavas are dull-green or yellow-green in colour, sometimes showing a red or orange blush. This fruit is very aromatic even before the fruit is fully ripe.

The flesh is thick, creamy white, granular and watery, similar to the texture of a pear. This flesh surrounds a translucent central pulp that encloses very small oblong edible seeds.

Pineapple guavas are known for their strong tropical flavour, which is a combination of pineapple, guava, and strawberry tasting notes. It is used for making jam and jellies.

20. Lemon Guava

Lemon guava offers a fragrant aroma and lemon-guava like flavour. Lemon guava grows on a small tree. The fruits are small in size, around 3 to 5 centimetres in diameter, though it is larger than the petite strawberry guava.

The skin ranges in colour from lime green to a golden yellow when mature. The Lemon guava variety has a jelly-like inner flesh that is perforated with small yellow seeds. The seeds are edible but are sometimes discarded. It is used for jelly making.

21. Yellow-fruited Cherry Guava

Yellow Cherry Guavas are produced from hard, low maintenance, fruit trees. They are small fruits, generally suited for eating fresh or preserving as guava products. It can also be used as a hedging plant due to its growth habit and size.

The fruit of Cherry guava tree is sweet and juicy with small edible seeds and is best eaten fresh straight off the plant when ripe.

22. 'Thai maroon' Guava

Thai Guavas are a special guava variety, with a softball-sized fruit and apple green skin that can range from bumpy to smooth. The flesh of Thai Maroon Guavas is white with pale yellow seeds and tends to be drier than the pink type of guavas.

These Guavas are mildly sweet and have very little fragrance. When you eat it, the flesh is crunchy and seeds are hard.

23. Indonesian Seedless

The Indonesian Seedless guava variety grows on an evergreen tree that can range from 3 to 10 meters in height. It has a smooth bark, which is brownish-green or even red in colour. They do not have a definite shape and can be round, ovoid or piriform.

These guavas have a thin lime-green skin that is fully edible when ripe. The crisp white flesh is highly aromatic and sweeter than the seeded varieties of guavas. Hence, it offers flavours of peach, passionfruit, lime zest and rose.

24. Ruby Supreme

Ruby Supreme is a guava variety that produces baseball-sized fruits. They turn yellow when ripe and have highly aromatic, sweet and pink flesh. It can be eaten raw or made into jelly or juice.

Much to your surprise, this guava variety fowers and fruits year-round in cycles that last 60-90 days. The more sun and warmth they receive, the more fruit they produce. The yield is approximately 40 - 70 lbs of fruit per year.

25. Strawberry Guava

Strawberry Guava variety produces small fruits, having round to oval shape with a distinct, open calyx opposite the stem end. The skin is smooth, chewy, and thin. Upon ripening, the skin's colour changes from light green to variegated hues of maroon, pink, and dark red.

It has translucent to white flesh which contains many hard and round, tan seeds. The seeds are edible and hard, generally swallowed whole. Strawberry guavas are aromatic and have a sweet, fruity, and floral flavour reminiscent of roses and strawberries.

The fruits have tarty and tangy notes, and each fruit will vary on the degree of tartness. It can be eaten raw or used to make guava products such as puree, juice, jam, or jelly.

While a guava tree is a great shady tree for warm-climate gardens, a great reason to grow one is to enjoy the fruit. Guava is a large berry that comes in a variety of colours and flavours. You can either eat guavas raw or can transform them into juice, jams and jellies.

These guava varieties can not be found all at one place, but if you et a chance, do try them. Until then, happy eating!

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25 Guava Varieties From Across The World That Are Little Lesser Known