Cattley or strawberry guava, native to the tropics of South America, especially the Amazon region, has spherical, red berries that can be eaten fresh or processed into juice, jam and sorbet. The juice can also be fermented into a fruit wine. In Réunion, the fruits also find their way into spicy dishes. The soft flesh tastes bitter-sweet and – typical for myrtle plants – slightly resinous and etheric. The thin skin, on the other hand, brings in some acidity and can be removed before eating if you don’t like it. The many, relatively large seeds can be roasted for use as a coffee substitute, while the leaves can be drunk as tea.

The strawberry guava is a problematic, invasive plant in many tropical areas. There is also a variety with yellow fruits.

• Edible Fruits
• Also edible Leaves Seeds
• Type of fruit Berry
• Culinary Group Tropical fruits
• Also used as Stimulants Coffee substitutes
• Taste (fruit) sweet
• Trivial Names Erdbeer-Guave, Cattley guava, Strawberry guava, Cherry guava, Red cattley guava, Goyavier de Chine, Goyavier-fraise, Tsongoma
• Size (fruit) 4 cm
• Taxonomy Myrtaceae (myrtle family) Psidium cattleyanum var. cattleyanum
• Origin Amazonia (Map)
• Location Wissenschaftsgarten Frankfurt (FRG) 2019