Sugar determination: The phenol-sulphuric acid method [7] was used to determine total neutral sugars. Reduc- ing sugars were measured using the Somogyi-Nelson method [8] [9] . Results were expressed as g of GE/100g flour or fresh weight.

Soluble protein concentration was determined by the method of Bradford [10] using BSA as standard. Results were expressed as mg BSA-E/100g flour or FW. The total Nitrogen (N) content of fresh fruits or flour was determined by Kjeldahl method [11] (AOAC, 1998). Crude protein content was calculated as % N × 6.25.

An aliquot of 20 g of sample was used to determine crude fat by extracting with petroleum ether (40˚C - 60˚C) in a Soxhlet apparatus during 4 h [12] (AOCS, 1989).

Ripe fruits and flour were macerated in ethanol 96˚ (1 g of tissue per 5 mL of ethanol) for 1 day with stirring (40 cycles/min) at room temperature in glass vessels in dark conditions. Then, the preparation was maintained in an ultrasonic bath for 30 min at room temperature and then centrifuged at 12,000 x g during 10 min. The remain- ing solids were extracted exhaustively with the same solvent system. All organic extracts were combined and evaporated in vacuo (40˚C).

Total phenolic content of the samples was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent [13] . Results were expressed in mg GAE/100g flour or FW. Non-flavonoid phenols were measured by determination of total phenol content remaining after precipitation of the flavonoids with acidic formaldehyde [14] . Results were expressed in mg GAE/100g flour or FW.

Flour or fresh fruits (1 g) was extracted with 12.5 mL acetone: water (70:30, v:v) in an ultrasonic bath for 30 min at room temperature and then centrifuged at 9000 x g during 10 min. The pellet was extracted exhaustively with the same solvent system. All organic extracts were combined and the acetone was evaporated in vacuo (40˚C), then the final volume was adjusted to 5 mL.

Condensed tannins: The total condensed tannins content was determined with DMAC according to Prior et al. [15] . 450 μL of DMAC solution (0.1% in acidified ethanol) was added to 150 μL of tannin extraction. The absorbance was measured at 640 nm after 20 min at 25˚C. Data were expressed as mg PB2E/100g flour or FW.

Hydrolized tannins: The aqueous fraction was subjected to acid hydrolysis by adding sulphuric acid (2N) and heating at 100˚C during 26 h and the gallic acid released was determined with the rhodanine method [16] . The hydrolyzed fraction and non hidrolyzed fraction were freeze-dried and resuspended in 200 μL of 0.2 N H₂SO₄. Two hundred μL of 0.2 N H₂SO₄ and 300 μL rhodanine (0.67% in methanol) were added to the diluted extracts. After 5 min, 200 μL of 0.5 N potassium hydroxide and 4 mL distilled water were added and the absorbance at 520 nm was determined. Gallotannin concentrations were expressed as mg GAE/100g flour or FW of fruits obtained by difference between the amount of gallic acid present in hydrolized sample and without hydrolysis.

1) Total monomeric anthocyanins

Flour or fresh fruit (1 g) was extracted with 5 mL 1% HCl in methanol overnight at 5˚C and then centrifuged at 12,000 x g during 10 minutes. The pellet was extracted three times with the same solvent and combined, vacuum-concentrated at 40˚C and resuspended with 5 mL MILLIQ water. Total anthocyanins were evaluated by the pH differential method [17] . The content of total anthocyanins was expressed as mg C3-G E/100g flour or FW.

2) Total carotenoids

Samples (1 g) were extracted with 5 mL of hexane:acetone:ethanol (50:25:25, v/v). After centrifugation at 13,000 x g for 10 min at 4˚C, the top hexane layer was recovered and the absorbance was measured at 450 nm [18] . Total carotenoid content was calculated as mg β-CE/ 100g flour or FW.

Samples (0.2 g) were extracted with 500 μL of H₃PO₄ 2% and centrifuged at 12,000 x g during 10 min. The supernatant was reserved to determine the AA content using 2,6 dichloroindophenol sodium salt hydrate according to Barros et al. [19] . AA content was expressed as mg L-AA/100g fresh fruit or flour.

Fiber content was determined according to Jaafar et al. (2009) [20] . Two grams of samples were put into a 250 mL conical flask and 1.25% sulphuric acid solution was added. The sample was heated for about 30 min, filtered using a vacuum filter and washed until traces of acid were undetected. A Whatman 5B paper was placed in the Buchner flask. After the acid digestion, the sample was transferred to a 250 mL conical flask and 3.52% NaOH solution was added. The sample was heated again for 30 min. It was filtered using a vacuum filter and washed with water until base was undetected. The whole material was placed in a crucible and dried for 12 h at 120˚C. The crucible was heated in a muffle oven at 550˚C for 12 h and weight of the crucible was recorded.

The content of AA was approximately 20 mg/100g of fresh fruit (Table 2), about half of the content of AA in the kiwi (55 mg/100g), which is an excellent source of vitamin C, and similar to tree tomato (20 mg/100g) and lima (21 mg/100g).

According to National Sanitary Surveillance Agency (ANVISA, 1998), fruits of “guayaba” that grow in Argentina could be considered as a good source of vitamin C because it contributes with around 30% of the index of dietary uptake. The AA content of guayaba from Argentina was lesser than Psidium guajava of Brazil and higher than guayaba from Peru (9.8%) [29] . The differences may be due to several factors, such as cultivars, seasons, country of origin (soil, climate and cultivation techniques), harvest, postharvest, analytical methods for extraction and quantification of vitamin C, moisture, etc.

The AA was an abundant component in flour (143 mg/100g flour) as well as fresh fruit. Hence, the consump-

Grams of glucose equivalent/100g of fresh weigth or flour (gGE/100 gFW or flour); milligrams of bovine serum albumin equivalent/100g of fresh weigth or flour (mg BSAE/100g of FW or flour).

Data expressed as mg GAE/100g [total phenolic (TP), non-flavonoids phenolics (nF-P), flavonoid phenolic (FP)]; mg procyanidin B2/100g [condensed tannins (CT)]; mg C3GE/100g [anthocyanin (AN)]; mg AA/100g [ascorbic acid (AA)] and mg E β-C/100g [carotenoids (C)].

tion of 50 g of flour or 300 g of fresh fruits may be necessary to cover these requirements in ascorbic acid.

According to the classification of Vasco et al. (2008) [30] , guayaba fresh fruits would belong to Category 1 with a low level of total polyphenols (<100 mg GAE/100g). The flavonoids were the major polyphenolic with recognized functional potential. The flavonoid content was 49.79 mg/100g of guayaba.

The total polyphenol content of flour was around 970 mg GAE/100g flour (Table 2). Flour from guayaba would be considered to be in the category 3 with high phenolic content (>500 mg GAE/100g). Flavonoid phenolics were also the dominant phenolics in the flour (957 mg/100g flour).

Since the average value of uptake of flavonoids is 23 mg per day, 100 g guayaba fresh fruits per day (2 ripe fruits) or 3 g of flour are sufficient to meet the requirements of flavonoids.

Differential extractions were performed from ripe fruits and the anthocyanin content was determined (2.3 mg EC-3G/100g FW). The content was similar to the brazilian guayaba fruits (2.7 mg EC-3G/100 FW). In addition to the health effects have a direct impact on the quality of the products that contain them, contributing to their sensory properties. Anthocyanins are one of the pigments responsible for the colors pink, red and violet to dark blue fruits.

Other pigments are carotenoids, which act as precursors of vitamin A, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant [28] , [31] [32] . Guayaba is rich in carotenoids (0.82 g E β-C/100g FW). Lower levels were reported for guayaba fruits of Colombia [33] , which may result from differences in the methods of extraction and quantification techniques, storage conditions, maturity, varieties/cultivars, including others [34] .

The anthocyanin content in flour was similar to fresh fruit while the carotenoid content of fresh fruit was higher than flour (Table 2) taking into account the moisture of fresh fruit (85%).