When bojoon.com met with Mr. Reinzy Fernando – the owner of Sri Lanka's popular fresh fruit juice chain, Roots – he had an interesting fruit in his hand: a guava. This immediately took me back in times to my childhood. Growing up in Kandy, with our backyards literally a hop away from Udawatta rainforest, a huge portion of our childhood was spent amongst wild tropica fruits like guava, mango, lovi, knamiknam (a knobbly sweetish-sourish fruit that’s yellow-brown in color), jumboo (a very juicy fruit that looks somewhat like a bottle-cork; the pink variety is sweeter and is about 1 ½” in height whereas the white variety is juicier and is about 3 inches in height), laavulu (shape and size is similar to a pear and is bright yellow in color; rich in vitamin A and tastes a bit like boiled egg yolk), kottambba (flesh inside the hard seed; tastes nutty), and cashew or rather the fruit, puhulum (juicy, but rather tannin and is a greater teaser with salt).

The older cousins were really daring – hanging onto the fragile branches of guava trees in a bid to win a luring prize of ripe fruit. Our grandmother had a rule, we can eat any amount of fruits hanging on the lower branches, but not the top ones – fruits of those are for the birds, she said. Been children, we were more empathic with those in the animal kingdom – thus we obliged, even though the best of the fruits always seemed to be teasing us from the topmost branches.

I remember once we hung bright red lovi on jam-pera trees (in Sinhala, guava are called pera and jam-pera is a variety of guavas that are very small, perhaps the size of a cherry). *Lovi, even at its ripest is extremely sour, where as jam-pera is very sweet. Both are of the same size and shape, though lovi is harder and bright red, almost purple in color where as jam-pera is soft and not as red. When our cousins from Colombo came they rushed and plucked the bright red ‘jam-pera’. In their rush and innocence, they never thought we’d do something like this and didn’t realize their mistake until they bit into the fruit. I wonder if at least now they’ve forgiven us for our mischief?!?

Such memories rushed in as Mr. Fernando extolled the benefits of guava. Though the origin of guava is unclear and thought perhaps to be from the Caribbean’s, this fruit is found in many parts of the world – from the Amazon jungles to Asian countries and is even grown in some European countries. Though a popular commercial fruit, a huge percentage is procured from the wild plants says Mr. Fernando. This fantastic fruit, that smells and tastes great is a favorite among man, beast and bird. As even the seeds are edible, the natural forces favoring germination is very strong laughs Mr. Fernando and hence its’ wide spread across many countries.

As you bite into a guava, describes Mr. Fernando, you first experience the hardy almost gritty skin, then the soft, juicy flesh and finally the seeds. Some people cut away the skin, but this is a mistake, says Mr. Fernando for the skin alone contains 5 times more vitamin C than an orange. The fruit as a whole is considered as a “superfruit” for it is rich in fiber, vitamins A, B and C and calcium in levels unusual in fruits. Even in ancient folk-lore medicines he continues, guavas had been used for many purposes such as a cure against diarrhea (though large amounts may result in the converse he cautions), gastroenteritis and dysentery. Recent studies indicate, though yet to be conclusive, that guava may even reduce blood-sugar levels making this a good fruit for those with diabetes.

There are many, many varieties of guava points out Mr. Fernando – from cherry-sizes to tennis-ball sizes to even larger grapefruit-sizes. The skin color may vary from light green to hues of yellow, orange and red and the flesh color from white, creamy yellow, salmon pink to a blushing red. When selecting the fruit, always go for the ones that are bruise-free and has a nice, refreshing fruity-rosy fragrance tips Mr. Fernando. The skin of the ripe fruit will have a glow and except for the larger varieties, the firm fruit would yield softly to the gentle pressure from the thumb continues Mr. Fernando.

No matter how tempting it might be to bite straightaway into the fruit, Mr. Fernando says it’s always better to cut it into wedges as one would do with an apple for the fruit maybe home to wriggly creatures. He also cautions that even after the guava is plucked from the tree, it will continue to ripen if left in room temperature. Thus, refrigerate the fruit if it is at its’ ripest.

At Roots guava is a popular ingredient for beverages like the ‘Tropical Cooler’. As a fruit, guava has many things going for it says Mr. Fernando. It tastes fabulous, smells great, extremely nutritious and because most fruits are from wild plants is devoid of any chemicals or pesticides. Wow! Suddenly, guava is no longer just a fruit invoking happy childhood memories now is it?!?