Guava in Malaysia Production, Pests and Diseases
| Series: | |
| Publisher: | Kuala Lumpur :Tropical Press |
| Subject: | Guava--Malaysia, Guava--Diseases and pests |
| Authors: | Lim Tong Kwee |
| Pages: | 1338 pages |
| Binding: | Hardcover |
| ISBN: | 9677300512 |
| Call No: | SB 379.G8 L56 1990 |
In the last decade, guava in Malaysia has grown in importance from a neglected fruit to one grown largely for the export market and for processing. Originating in the American tropics, it was brought by Spaniards to the Philippines, from where it spread to South-East Asia, East Asia and India, and later to Arabia. It was introduced to Hawaii in the eighteenth century. Brought to Europe later, it is now grown in more than fifty countries in the tropics and subtropics, and also in Mediterranean areas within 35 degrees north and 35 degrees south of the equator. A fruit rich in vitamin C, guava is used not only as a table fruit but also in a wide variety of other ways - as juice, nectar, puree, jam, jelly, yoghurt, cheese, and canned slices, and also as a source of ascorbic acid and pectin. Its economic importance lies in its superior nutritive qualities, its ease of cultivation, and its adaptability to processing and canning. But for all its commercial value it is not a crop on which there is an abundance of information, unlike oil palm, rubber, cocoa, and coconut, on which the literature, both in book form and in journal articles, is now voluminous. For a fruit with such a promising future, the appearance of this book is therefore very timely, for it is the only one of its kind in the world.