Antioxidants are plant chemicals that have the power to neutralize free radicals , which are harmful compounds

that are
both generated inside human bodies and found in pollutants like cigarette smoke. Reducing free radicals can only
improve human health because the oxidative damage they cause to human cells is believed to trigger various chronic
diseases. Free-radical damage has been linked to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular
disease, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration—and to the aging process itself.

It’s no wonder that nutritionists and scientists have—for years—recommended that we eat five to nine servings of fruits
and vegetables each day.

Potential health benefits

Main article: Polyphenol antioxidant

The possible health benefits of specific polyphenols such as quercetin remain unproved, as exists for all types of
polyphenols.

Research indicates that polyphenols have antioxidant characteristics in vitro but antioxidant effects in vivo are probably
negligible.[4] By mechanisms still undefined, polyphenols may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer or other
diseases.[5] Polyphenols have also been investigated in organic produce as a source of additional health benefit, but no
conclusion is possible from existing research.[6] Polyphenols bind with nonheme iron (e.g. from plant sources) in vitro in
model systems,[7] possibly reducing its absorption

Polyphenols are the most abundant antioxidants in the diet. Their total dietary intake could be as high as 1 g/d, which is
much higher than that of all other classes of phytochemicals and known dietary antioxidants. For perspective, this is ~10
times higher than the intake of vitamin C and 100 times higher that the intakes of vitamin E and carotenoids (1, 2). Their
main dietary sources are fruits and plant-derived beverages such as fruit juices, tea, coffee, and red wine. Vegetables,
cereals, chocolate, and dry legumes also contribute to the total polyphenol intake.

Despite their wide distribution in plants, the health effects of dietary polyphenols have come to the attention of
nutritionists only rather recently. Until the mid-1990s, the most widely studied antioxidants were antioxidant vitamins,
carotenoids, and minerals. Research on flavonoids and other polyphenols, their antioxidant properties, and their effects
in disease prevention truly began after 1995 (Figure 1Go). Flavonoids were hardly mentioned in textbooks on
antioxidants published before that date (3). The main factor that has delayed research on polyphenols is the
considerable diversity and complexity of their chemical structures.

Guava: A Natural Source of Disease-fighting Antioxidants

Recent scientific investigations have shown that guava, compared with other tropical fruits, is packed with high-grade
antioxidants such as Vitamin C, lycopene, carotenoids and polyphenols.

Let us recall for a moment what these antioxidants do to our body.

Antioxidants are “superstar” chemicals recognized to help reduce the incidence of degenerative diseases such as
arthritis, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, inflammation and brain dysfunction. In addition, antioxidants
were also reported to retard ageing.

Of course, we want to know how we can easily get hold of these friendly antioxidants from the “little” fruit we all are
very familiar with.

Are you all excited? Here it goes…

To obtain these powerful benefits of antioxidants in Guava (Psidium guajava L.) -- which comes in a variety of shapes
(round to oval) and colors (white to red), one should take the fruit when they are about to ripen for polyphenols,
ripened for Vitamin C and the yellow to red variety for lycopene and carotenoids

Nutritional value

Guavas are often included among superfruits, being 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.[3]
However, nutrient content varies across guava cultivars. Although the strawberry guava (P. littorale var. cattleianum),
notably containing 90 mg of vitamin C per serving, has about 25% of the amount found in more common varieties, its
total vitamin C content in one serving still provides 100% of the Dietary Reference Intake for adult males.[4]

'Thai maroon' guavas, a red apple guava cultivar, rich in carotenoids and polyphenols

Guavas contain both carotenoids and polyphenols – the major classes of antioxidant pigments – giving them relatively
high potential antioxidant value among plant foods.[5] 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