Psidium guajava L. known as Guava is a medicinal plant
belonging to the family Myrtaceae. P. guajava is a well
known traditional medicinal plant used in various
indigenous systems of medicine. It is widely distributed
throughout India
1
. The leaves and bark of P. guajava tree
have long history of medicinal uses, that is still employed
today. It is a native of Central America but is now widely
cultivated, distributed and the fruits enrich the diets of
millions of people in the tropics of the world
2,3
. It is a
genus of about 133 genera and more than 3,800 species of
tropical shrubs and a small tree of about 10m high with
spreading branches that thrives on all kinds of soils. It is
one of the most gregarious fruit trees and is widely known
by its common English name (guava). In Nigeria, it is
called guava (Hausa), gurfa (Yoruba) and Gwaibwa
(Igbo)
3
. P. guajava also known as the ‘poor man’s apple’
of the tropics has a long history of traditional use, and a
good proportion of which have been validated by scientific
research