Chapter 2: Review of related literature

Chemical constituents and properties of

guava:

Fixed oil, 6%; volatile (essential) oil, 0.365%; eugenol;

tannin 815%;

saponins; amydalin; phenolic acids; malic acid; ash,

aldehydes.

Contains catequinic components and flavonoids. Major

constituents of leaves are tannins, ßsitosterol, maslinic

acid, essential oils, triterpenoids and flavonoids.

Andiarrheal, antiseptic, antispasmodic, antioxidant

hepatoprotective, antiallergy, antimicrobial,

antigenotoxic, antiplasmodial, cardioactive, anticough,

antidiabetic, antiinflammatory,

antinociceptive.www.wikepedia.com/guava

The fruits of Psidium guava were examined at three different stages

of growth to follow the chemical changes. From the unripe fruits an

ester of hexahydroxydiphenic acid with -arabinose has been obtained

and its constitution established. It disappears in the ripe fruits, which

contain mainly free ellagic acid. Leucocyanidin and oxalates are

present at their maximum in the unripe fruits and diminish with

ripening.

K. Misra1 and T. R. Seshadri (1967), Chemical components of the fruits of

Psidium guava Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, Delhi 7, India.

Received 6 September 1967.

Many people in oriental countries, including Japan and

Taiwan, believe that guava (Psidium guajava Linn.) leaves

are helpful in retarding the progress of type 2 diabetes.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of

watersoluble solids (WSS) andethanolsoluble solids (ESS)

of guava leaves on lipid peroxidation in vitro and in type

2 diabetic rats in order to obtain a better understanding

of the mechanism of retardation of diabetes.

RESULTS: It was found that ESS contained significantly

higher total phenolic and flavonoid levels than WSS (P <

0.05). Nevertheless, WSS showed higher superoxide

dismutaselike activity and lipid peroxidation inhibition

ability than ESS in vitro (P < 0.05). Also, reduced levels of

serum triglyceride, lowdensity lipoprotein and liver

thiobarbituric acidreactiv substances were found in type

2 diabetic rats fed with either WSS or ESS as compared

with control animals (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Antiperoxidation of lipids is a possible

mechanism for guava leaves to retard the progress of

diabetes.

Rosa Martha Pérez Gutiérreza (2003), guava extract for curing

diabetic patient, National Science Council, Taiwan (ROC)

Guava leaf extract is utilized as an alternative natural

reagent for quantification of iron. The flow injection

technique enables the use of the extract in acetate buffer

solution without the need of further purification. Some

properties of the extract such as its stability and ability

to form a colored complex with iron were studied. The

proposed system is an environmentally friendly method

for determination of iron with less toxic chemical wastes.

Thapanon Settheeworrarit(a), Supaporn Kradtap Hartwell(a),

Somchai Lapanatnoppakhun(a), Jaroon Jakmunee(a), Gary D.

Christian(b) and Kate Grudpan(a) Exploiting guava leaf extract

as an alternative natural reagent for flow injection determination

of iron, a) Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Chiang

Mai University, 239 Huay Kaew Road, Suthep, Chiang Mai 50200,

Thailand

b) Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Box

351700, Seattle, WA 981951700, USA , received 26 May 2005;

revised 16 July 2005; accepted 16 July 2005. Available online 29

August 2005 from World Wide Web:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?

Psidium guajava (guava) leaf is a phytotherapic used in

folk medicine to treat gastrointestinal and respiratory

disturbances and is used as anti-inflammatory medicine.

In nuclear medicine, blood constituents (BC) are labelled

with technetium99m (99mTc) and used to image

procedures. However, data have demonstrated that

synthetic or natural drugs could modify the labelling of

BC with 99mTc. The aim of this work was to evaluate the

effects of aqueous extract of guava leaves on the

labelling of BC with 99mTc. Blood samples of Wistar rats

were incubated with different concentrations of guava

extract and labelled with 99mTc after the percentage of

incorporated radioactivity (%ATI) in BC was determined.

The results suggest that aqueous guava extract could

present antioxidant action and/or alters the membrane

structures involved in ion transport into cells, thus

decreasing the radiolabelling of BC with 99mTc. The data

showed significant (P<0.05) alteration of ATI in BC from

blood incubated with guava extract.

P.R.C. Abreu,1 M.C. Almeida,1 R.M. Bernardo,1 L.C. Bernardo,1 L.C. Brito,1

E.A.C. Garcia,2 and M. Bernardo-Filho1

1
Department of Biophysics and Biometry, Institute of Biology Roberto Alcantara

Gomes, University of Estate of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 20551030, Brazil

2
Department of Physiology, Biological Sciences and Health Center, Federal

University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe 49100000, Brazil

The benefits of guava include controlling blood pressure,

lowering cholestrol, battling diabetes, combating cancer

and protecting prostrate!

Diarrhea & Dysentery: Guava is very rich in

astringents (compounds those make your gums feel

tighter and fresh after you chew guava leaves or eat a

raw guava or use some (toothpaste) which binds up loose

bowels in diarrhea. These astringents are alkaline in

nature and have disinfectant and antibacterial properties,

thus help cure dysentery by inhibiting microbial growth

and removing extra mucus from the intestines. Further,

other nutrients in guava, such as vitaminC, Carotenoids

and potassium strengthens and tones up the digestive

system and disinfect it. Guava is also beneficial I in

gastroenteritis due to reasons stated above. High

amounts of Vitamin C compared to other fruits. The flesh

usually provides 230 mg per 100 gram (3.5 oz) Vitamin C.

However, the level varies from 10 to 410 mg per 100

gram depending upon the variety. This can be compared

to the recommended daily allowance which is only 60 mg

of Vitamin C per person per day. The health benefits of

guava herbal medicine are truly incredible, and in

particular it contains quercetin which is an antioxidant

that blocks enzymes that are responsible for building

sorbitol, the sugar that forms the cloudy white clusters

that cause cataracts. Guava is also rich in folate which

helps to fight bad breath that causes gum disease

gingivitis. Combating free radicals produced during

metabolism and aids in preventing age related chronic

diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, cataracts, heart

disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Guava can improve

your heart health by helping to control your blood

pressure and cholesterol. Guava's ability to lower blood

pressure could be the result of potassium. This mineral is

an electrolyte that is essential to electrical reaction in

your body, including your heart.

Other Benefits: Where to begin? Shall I start with the

fact that guava helps control diabetes, protects

prostrate, its Lypocene reduces the risk of cancer, the

juice of the leaves cures toothache, swollen gums & oral

ulcers, heals wounds when applied externally,

convulsions, epilepsy, bacterial infections and so on and

so forth.

• Guava Extracts and Radiolabelling: Study showed

aqueous PG extract could present antioxidant action and

affect membrane structures in ion transport altering

radiolabelling of blood constituents with Technitium

(Tc99m) and precautions applied to nuclear medicine

procedures on patients using guava extracts.

• Antidiabetic: Study of extract of leaves of PG showed

to possess antidiabetic effect in type 2 diabetic mice

model, the effect in part, mediated via the inhibition of

PTP1B (protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B).

• Phytochemical / Trypanocidal: Study showed that

PG leaf extract possessed trypanocidal properties

attributed to broad antimicrobial and iron chelating

activity of flavonoids and tannins. Iron chelation was

suggested as a effective way of killing trypanosomes.

• Antitumor: Study showed P guajava extracts to be

efficacious in preventing tumor development by

depressing Tr cells (regulatory).

• Antioxidant: Study of methanolic extract of PG leaves

showed in vitro free radical scavenging activity.

• Antiproliferative / Anticancer: A study on the

antiproliferative activity of essential oil from 17 thai

medicinal plants on human mouth epidermal carcioma

(KB) and murine leukemia (P388) cell lines. In the KB cell

line, Psidium guajava leaf oil showed the highest

antiproliferative activity, more than 4x more potent than

vincristine. The results suggested the potential of Thai

medicinal plants for cancer treatment.

Essential oils from guava leaves display

anticancer activity in vitro. From preliminary medical

research in laboratory models, extracts from apple guava

leaves or bark are implicated in therapeutic mechanisms

against cancer.

Manosroi et al. (2006), Kaljee et al. (2004) , The benefits of

guava. www.wikipedia.com/guava.

Natural products have recently become the focus of

increased research interest due to their Potential

pharmacological activities. Therefore, we established a

program to screen natural products for cytotoxic activity

using the MTT reduction assay system to test HT29

human colon cancer cells. During the course of screening,

we found that the acetone extracts of guava (Psidium

guajava L.) branch (GBA) had cytotoxic effects on HT29

cells. The GBA showed highly cytotoxic effects via the

MTT reduction assay, LDH release assay, and colony

formation assay. In particular, the GBA of the 250 μg/ml

showed 35.5% inhibition against growth of HT29 cells. As

expected, GBA induced characteristic apoptotic effects in

HT29 cells, including chromatin condensation and

sharking that occurred 24 h after the cells had been

treated at a concentration level of 250 μg/ml. To examine

the functions on apoptosis, we used a flow cytometric

analysis. The apoptotic cells were distributed according

to the cell cycle phase shown by subG1 DNA content.

Sang Bong Lee and HaeRyong Park, Gapo High School, Masan

631320, Korea. Department of Food Science and Biotechnology,

Kyungnam University, Masan 631701, Korea. Accepted 10 May,

2010, Journal of Medicinal Plants Research Vol. 4(10), pp.

891896, 18 May, 2010. Available online at

http://www.academicjournals.org/JMPR

The effect of Psidium guajava extract on erythromycin-

induced liver damage in albino rats was investigated

using 30 normal rats grouped into six . Group I and II

served as the normal and treatment controls that were

administered with normal saline and 100mg/kg body

weight of erythromycin stearate daily for 14 days

respectively. Rats in group III were administered

450mg/kg body weight of Psidium guajava only for 7 days

while rats in groups IV, V and VI were administered

Psidium guajava extract for 7 days and 100mg/kg body

weight of erythromycin for 14 days. Histopathological

investigation of the liver tissues revealed striking

oedema and mild periportal mononuclear cell infiltration

of hepatic cords in the liver of rats administered 100

mg/kg of erythromycin stearate and 300/450 mg/kg of

Psidium guajava extract. Pretreatment with 150 mg/kg of

Psidium guajava extract showed a slight degree of

protection against the induced hepatic injury caused by

100 mg/kg of erythromycin stearate. Biochemical analysis

of the serum obtained revealed a significant increase in

serum levels of hepatic enzymes measured in the groups

administered with 100 mg/kg of erythromycin stearate

and 300/450 mg/kg of Psidium guajava extract compared

to the control groups and those pretreated with 150

mg/kg of Psidium guajava extract. This study has shown

that the aqueous extract of psidium guajava leaf

possesses hepatoprotective property at lower dose and a

hepatotoxic property at higher dose but further studies

with prolonged duration is recommended.

N. SAMBO, S. H. GARBA1 AND H. TIMOTHY (EFFECT OF THE AQUEOUS

EXTRACT OF PSIDIUM GUAJAVA ON ERYTHROMYCIN-INDUCED LIVER DAMAGE

IN RATS)

Departments of Human Physiology* and Human Anatomy1, College of Medical

Sciences, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Physiological Sciences

24 (2): 171 -176 ©Physiological Society of Nigeria, 2009