Background: Anemia in pregnancy remains a major public health burden in Indonesia, with a national prevalence of 37.1% in 2018 despite universal iron supplementation programs¹. In South Sulawesi and West Sumatra, regional prevalence ranges from 45.5% to 76.2%, signaling persistent gaps in intervention effectiveness. Red guava is rich in ascorbic acid and iron, with proven potential to enhance non-heme iron absorption and erythropoiesis.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of twice-daily fresh red guava juice consumption in increasing hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations among anemic pregnant women in the second and third trimesters.
Methods: A pre-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design was conducted involving 60 eligible pregnant women recruited from Public Health Centers in Parepare and Bukittinggi between May and August 2025. Participants consumed 250 mL of fresh red guava juice twice daily for 28 days, without concurrent iron tablet supplementation. Hemoglobin was measured via digital photometry at baseline and post-intervention. Data were analyzed using paired t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and effect size calculation (Cohen’s d), with p < 0.05 defined as statistically significant.
Results: Mean Hb increased significantly from 9.82 ± 0.59 g/dL at baseline to 11.57 ± 0.63 g/dL post-intervention (mean difference +1.75 g/dL; 95% confidence interval 1.61–1.89 g/dL; p < 0.001; Cohen’s d = 2.91). Overall, 91.7% of participants achieved Hb ≥ 11.0 g/dL, and 78.3% no longer met diagnostic criteria for anemia. Subgroup analysis revealed comparable improvements across gestational age and anemia severity strata.
Conclusion: Twice-daily red guava juice supplementation produces a large, statistically significant, and clinically meaningful increase in Hb concentrations, making it a safe, accessible, and culturally acceptable non-pharmacological strategy to complement maternal anemia control programs.
Keywords: Guava juice; Hemoglobin; Iron absorption; Pregnancy anemia; Psidium guajava; Maternal nutrition
Citation: Agussalim, Yuniritha, E., & Citrawati, (2026). Efficacy of Twice-Daily Red Guava (Psidium guajava) Juice Supplementation on Hemoglobin Concentrations Among Second- and Third-Trimester Anemic Pregnant Women: A Pre-Experimental Multicenter Study in Indonesia. J Nurs Care Repo; 7(3):1-8. DOI : https://doi.org/10.47485/3065-7636.1054