The fruit of the papaya tree; it is a dull orange-colored, melon-shaped fruit,
which is eaten both raw and cooked or pickled. The fruit contains papain, a protease.
Commonly and erroneously referred to as a "tree", the plant is properly a large herb growing at the rate
of 6 to 10 ft (1.8-3 m) the first year and reaching 20 or even 30 ft (6-9 m) in height, with a hollow green
or deep-purple stem becoming 12 to 16 in (30-40 cm) or more thick at the base and roughened by leaf scars.
The leaves emerge directly from the upper part of the stem in a spiral on nearly horizontal petioles
1 to 3 1/2 ft (30-105 cm) long, hollow, succulent, green or more or less dark purple. The blade,
deeply divided into 5 to 9 main segments, each irregularly subdivided, varies from 1 to 2 ft (30-60 cm) in width
and has prominent yellowish ribs and veins. The life of a leaf is 4 to 6 months. Both the stem and
leaves contain copious white milky latex.
The 5-petalled flowers are fleshy, waxy and slightly fragrant. Some plants bear only short-stalked
pistillate (female) flowers, waxy and ivory-white; or hermaprodite (perfect) flowers (having female and male organs),
ivory-white with bright-yellow anthers and borne on short stalks; while others may bear only staminate (male) flowers,
clustered on panicles to 5 or 6 ft (1.5-1.8 m) long. There may even be monoecious plants having
both male and female flowers. Some plants at certain seasons produce short-stalked male flowers,
at other times perfect flowers. This change of sex may occur temporarily during high temperatures in midsummer.
Some "all-male" plants occasionally bear, at the tip of the spray, small flowers with perfect pistils and these
produce abnormally slender fruits. Male or hermaphrodite plants may change completely to female plants after being beheaded.
Ripe papayas are most commonly eaten fresh, merely peeled, seeded, cut in wedges and served with a half or quarter of lime or lemon. Sometimes a few seeds are left attached for those who enjoy their peppery flavor but not many should be eaten. The flesh is often cubed or shaped into balls and served in fruit salad or fruit cup. Firm-ripe papaya may be seasoned and baked for consumption as a vegetable. Ripe flesh is commonly made into sauce for shortcake or ice cream sundaes, or is added to ice cream just before freezing; or is cooked in pie, pickled, or preserved as marmalade or jam. Papaya and pineapple cubes, covered with sugar sirup, may be quick-frozen for later serving as dessert. Half-ripe fruits are sliced and crystallized as a sweetmeat.
Papaya juice and nectar may be prepared from peeled or unpeeled fruit and are sold fresh in bottles or canned. In Hawaii, papayas are reduced to puree with sucrose added to retard gelling and the puree is frozen for later use locally or in mainland USA in fruit juice blending or for making jam.
Unripe papaya is never eaten raw because of its latex content. [Raw green papaya is frequently used in Thai and Vietnamese cooking.] Even for use in salads, it must first be peeled, seeded, and boiled until tender, then chilled. Green papaya is frequently boiled and served as a vegetable. Cubed green papaya is cooked in mixed vegetable soup. Green papaya is commonly canned in sugar sirup in Puerto Rico for local consumption and for export. Green papayas for canning in Queensland must be checked for nitrate levels. High nitrate content causes detinning of ordinary cans, and all papayas with over 30 ppm nitrate must be packed in cans lacquered on the inside. Australian growers are hopeful that the papaya can be bred for low nitrate uptake.
A lye process for batch peeling of green papayas has proven feasible in Puerto Rico. The fruits may be immersed in boiling 10% lye solution for 6 minutes, in a 15% solution for 4 minutes, or a 20% solution for 3 minutes. They are then rapidly cooled by a cold water bath and then sprayed with water to remove all softened tissue. Best proportions are 1 lb (.45 kg) of fruit for every gallon (3.8 liters) of solution.
Andhra Pradesh
Kerala
Gujarat
Chhatishgarh
Assam
West Bengal
The papaya is a tropical and near-tropical species, very sensitive to frost and limited to the region between 32º north and 32º south of the Equator. It needs plentiful rainfall or irrigation but must have good drainage. Flooding for 48 hours is fatal. Brief exposure to 32º F (-0.56º C) is damaging; prolonged cold without overhead sprinkling will kill the plants.
