Psidium friedrichsthalianum

(O. Berg.) Niedz.

Costa Rica guava

Myrtaceae Edible: Fruit 629 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Psidium friedrichsthalianum, the Costa Rican guava or cas, is a species of guava origin in Costa Rica but also grown in Guatemala, Nicaragua and other Central American countries. It can be found in Costa Rica as "fresco de cas”. This fruit is commonly used to prepare a sour and refreshing drink. It is used as the base for fresco de Cas, in which Costa Ricans mix it with sugar and water and sometimes add cream for a slightly acidic fruit drink. The cas fruit was described by Otto Karl Berg in 1893.

Description

A small tree. It grows 3-4 m tall. The branches are angular and hairy. They are reddish. The leaves are papery and 4-10 cm long. There are 8 pairs of secondary veins. The flowers occur singly. They are white and have a scent. The fruit are a medium size and yellow with soft acid pulp. They are like a guava. They have many seeds. The fruit are 6-7 cm across.

Edible Uses

Fruits - raw or cooked. An aromatic but very acid flavour, they are usually cooked in pies, made into jellies etc. Sometimes eaten raw, often with salt added. They make a refreshing drink. The pectin content is high, so the fruit makes a good, firm jelly, even when used fully ripe. The yellow, spherical to ovoid fruit is 4 - 6cm in diameter.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are eaten fresh or used in jelly and juice. It is very acid.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

It is tropical. It suits hot, tropical lowlands. It cannot tolerate frosts. It grows naturally in seasonally flooded forests in Central America. It is best with medium to high rainfall. It can tolerate a range soils conditions if well drained.

Where It Grows

Asia, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Central America*, Colombia, Costa Rica*, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, North America, Pacific, Panama, Peru, Philippines, SE Asia, South America, West Indies, Venezuela,

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed. It can also be grown by cuttings.

Other Uses

The wood is fine-grained and durable.

Production

It produces fruit in 4-5 years if grown from seed. The fruit matures in 90 days.

Other Information

It is a cultivated fruit tree.

Notes

There are about 150 Psidium species.

Nutrition

Part	Moisture	kJ	kcal	Protein	Vit A	Vit C	Iron	Zinc
Fruit	83.2	—	—	0.8	—	—	—	—

Synonyms

Psidium grandiflorum Ruiz & PavCalyptropsidium friedrichsthalianum O. Berg.

Also Known As

Arrayan, Cas, Cos, Goiaba-da-cosa-rica, Goiaba-da-agua, Guayaba agria, Guayaba de choco, Guayabina, Kachore, Pohon jambu kosta rika

References (31)

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Coronel, R.E., 1982, Fruit Collections in the Philippines. IBPGR Newsletter p 10
D'Ambrosio, U., & Puri, R. K., 2016, Foodways in transition: food plants, diet and local perceptions of change in a Costa Rican Ngäbe community. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2016) 12:3 p 27
H. G. A. Engler & K. A. E. Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3(7):69. 1893
Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 159

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