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The '''papaya''' (from [[Carib language|Carib]] via [[Spanish language|Spanish]]), '''papaw,''' or '''pawpaw''' is the [[fruit]] of the [[plant]] '''''Carica papaya''''', the sole species in the [[genus]] ''[[Carica]]'' of the plant family [[Caricaceae]]. It is native to the tropics of the [[Americas]], and was first cultivated in [[Mexico]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.exoticfruitx.com/2011/09/papaya-fruit-of-angels/|title=Papaya, Fruit of Angels|date=22 September 2011|publisher=Exotic Fruit for Health|accessdate=20 December 2011}}</ref> several centuries before the emergence of the [[Mesoamerica]]n classical civilizations.
The '''papaya''' (from [[Carib language|Carib]] via [[Spanish language|Spanish]]), '''papaw,''' or '''pawpaw''' is the [[fruit]] of the [[plant]] '''''Carica papaya''''', the sole species in the [[genus]] ''[[Carica]]'' of the plant family [[Caricaceae]]. It is native to the tropics of the [[Americas]], perhaps from southern Mexico and neighboring Central America. It was first cultivated in [[Mexico]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.exoticfruitx.com/2011/09/papaya-fruit-of-angels/|title=Papaya, Fruit of Angels|date=22 September 2011|publisher=Exotic Fruit for Health|accessdate=20 December 2011}}</ref> several centuries before the emergence of the [[Mesoamerica]]n classical civilizations.


The papaya is a large [[tree]]-like [[plant]], with a single [[Plant stem|stem]] growing from {{convert|5|to|10|m|ft}} tall, with spirally arranged [[leaf|leaves]] confined to the top of the [[trunk (botany)|trunk]]. The lower trunk is conspicuously [[scar]]red where leaves and fruit were borne. The leaves are large, {{convert|50|-|70|cm|in}} [[diameter]], deeply [[palmate]]ly lobed with 7 lobes. The tree is usually unbranched, unless lopped. The [[flower]]s are similar in shape to the flowers of the ''[[Plumeria]]'', but are much smaller and [[wax]]-like. They appear on the [[axil]]s of the leaves, maturing into the large {{convert|15|-|45|cm|in}} long, {{convert|10|-|30|cm|in}} diameter fruit. The fruit is [[Ripening|ripe]] when it feels soft (as soft as a ripe [[avocado]] or a bit softer) and its skin has attained an amber to orange hue.
The papaya is a large [[tree]]-like [[plant]], with a single [[Plant stem|stem]] growing from {{convert|5|to|10|m|ft}} tall, with spirally arranged [[leaf|leaves]] confined to the top of the [[trunk (botany)|trunk]]. The lower trunk is conspicuously [[scar]]red where leaves and fruit were borne. The leaves are large, {{convert|50|-|70|cm|in}} [[diameter]], deeply [[palmate]]ly lobed with 7 lobes. The tree is usually unbranched, unless lopped. The [[flower]]s are similar in shape to the flowers of the ''[[Plumeria]]'', but are much smaller and [[wax]]-like. They appear on the [[axil]]s of the leaves, maturing into the large {{convert|15|-|45|cm|in}} long, {{convert|10|-|30|cm|in}} diameter fruit. The fruit is [[Ripening|ripe]] when it feels soft (as soft as a ripe [[avocado]] or a bit softer) and its skin has attained an amber to orange hue.

Revision as of 16:23, 4 September 2012

This article is about Carica papaya, the widely cultivated papaya (or papaw or pawpaw), a tropical fruit tree; "Papaya" redirects here. For the mountain papaya of South America, see Vasconcellea pubescens. For the Eastern North American tree (and fruit) called "pawpaw", see Asimina triloba. For other uses of "papaya", see Papaya (disambiguation).

Template:Distinguish2

Papaya
Papaya tree and fruit, from Koehler's Medicinal-Plants (1887)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Brassicales
Family:
Caricaceae
Genus:
Carica
Species:
C. papaya
Binomial name
Carica papaya

The papaya (from Carib via Spanish), papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae. It is native to the tropics of the Americas, perhaps from southern Mexico and neighboring Central America. It was first cultivated in Mexico[1] several centuries before the emergence of the Mesoamerican classical civilizations.

The papaya is a large tree-like plant, with a single stem growing from 5 to 10 metres (16 to 33 ft) tall, with spirally arranged leaves confined to the top of the trunk. The lower trunk is conspicuously scarred where leaves and fruit were borne. The leaves are large, 50–70 centimetres (20–28 in) diameter, deeply palmately lobed with 7 lobes. The tree is usually unbranched, unless lopped. The flowers are similar in shape to the flowers of the Plumeria, but are much smaller and wax-like. They appear on the axils of the leaves, maturing into the large 15–45 centimetres (5.9–17.7 in) long, 10–30 centimetres (3.9–11.8 in) diameter fruit. The fruit is ripe when it feels soft (as soft as a ripe avocado or a bit softer) and its skin has attained an amber to orange hue.

Carica papaya was the first transgenic fruit tree to have its genome deciphered.[2]

Common names

Carica papaya plants, and their fruits, are generally known as papayas. The papaya is also commonly called pawpaw or papaw,[3][4] although in North America the term pawpaw usually refers to plants in the unrelated North American genus Asimina, especially A. triloba, which produces large, edible fruits. The papaya is also sometimes called mugua, a name used in traditional Chinese medicine for Chaenomeles speciosa (flowering quince) or Pseudocydonia sinensis (Chinese quince).[citation needed][5] In Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the papaya is usually called "lechosa", a name associated with the plant's milky sap. In Cuba, the papaya is called "fruta bomba" and the word papaya is a reference to female genitalia.In India it is referred to as 'papeeta'

Cultivation

Female flowers of a papaya tree
Male flowers of a papaya tree
Leaf of a papaya tree

Originally from southern Mexico (particularly Chiapas and Veracruz), Central America, and northern South America, the papaya is now cultivated in most tropical countries. In cultivation, it grows rapidly, fruiting within 3 years. It is, however, highly frost sensitive, limiting papaya production to tropical lands.

Pests and diseases

Main article: List of papaya diseases

Papayas are susceptible to the papaya ringspot virus, which causes premature molting and malformation of the leaves.[6] In the 1990s, the papaya ringspot virus threatened to wipe out Hawaii's papaya industry completely. Genetically altered plants that have some of the virus's DNA incorporated into the DNA of the plant are resistant to the virus.[6] Cultivars that had been genetically modified to be resistant to the virus (including 'SunUp' and 'Rainbow'), were then introduced there.[7] Phillipine researchers have recently developed conventionally bred, non-genetically engineered papaya that are proving resistant to the papaya ringspot virus.[8] In 2004, it was found that papayas throughout Hawaii had experienced hybridization with the genetically modified varieties and that many seed stocks were contaminated.[9] By 2010, 80% of Hawaiian papaya plants were genetically modified.[citation needed]

The papaya is also susceptible to the fruit fly, a small wasp-like insect that lays its eggs in young fruit.

Cultivars

Tender Papaya in Tree, India
Ripe Papaya from the same tree (image on the left)

Two kinds of papayas are commonly grown. One has sweet, red (or orangish) flesh, and the other has yellow flesh; in Australia these are called "red papaya" and "yellow papaw", respectively.[10] Either kind, picked green, is called a "green papaya."

The large-fruited, red-fleshed 'Maradol', 'Sunrise', and 'Caribbean Red' papayas often sold in U.S. markets are commonly grown in Mexico and Belize.[11]

'SunUp' and 'Rainbow' are genetically modified cultivars developed in Hawaii that are resistant to the papaya ringspot virus.[6][12]

Uses

Papayas can be used as a food, a cooking aid, and in traditional medicine. The stem and bark may be used in rope production.

Nutrients, phytochemicals and culinary practices

Papaya, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy163 kJ (39 kcal)
9.81 g
Sugars5.90 g
Dietary fibre1.8 g
0.14 g
0.61 g
VitaminsQuantity
%DV†
Vitamin A equiv.
36%
328 μg
Thiamine (B1)
3%
0.04 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
4%
0.05 mg
Niacin (B3)
2%
0.338 mg
Vitamin B6
6%
0.1 mg
Folate (B9)
10%
38 μg
Vitamin C
69%
61.8 mg
MineralsQuantity
%DV†
Calcium
2%
24 mg
Iron
1%
0.10 mg
Magnesium
2%
10 mg
Phosphorus
0%
5 mg
Potassium
9%
257 mg
Sodium
0%
3 mg
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[13] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[14]
Papaya output in 2005, shown as a percentage of the top producer, Brazil (1.7 megatonnes)

Papaya fruit is a rich source of nutrients such as provitamin A carotenoids, vitamin C, B vitamins, lycopene, dietary minerals and dietary fibre. Papaya skin, pulp and seeds also contain a variety of phytochemicals, including natural phenols. Danielone is a phytoalexin found in the papaya fruit. This compound showed high antifungal activity against Colletotrichum gloesporioides, a pathogenic fungus of papaya.[15]

Carica papaya Red Lady [1].

The ripe fruit of the papaya is usually eaten raw, with or without skin or seeds.

The unripe green fruit can be eaten cooked, usually in curries, salads, and stews. Green papaya is used in Southeast Asian cooking, both raw and cooked.[16] In Thai cuisine, papaya is used to make Thai salads such as som tam and Thai curries such as kaeng som when still not fully ripe. In Indonesian cuisine, the unripe green fruits and young leaves are boiled for use as part of lalab salad, while the flower buds are sautéed and stir fried with chillies and green tomatoes as Minahasan papaya flower vegetable dish. Papayas have a relatively high amount of pectin, which can be used to make jellies. The smell of ripe, fresh papaya flesh can strike some people as unpleasant.

The black seeds of the papaya are edible and have a sharp, spicy taste. They are sometimes ground and used as a substitute for black pepper.

In some parts of Asia, the young leaves of the papaya are steamed and eaten like spinach.

In some parts of the world, papaya leaves are made into tea as a treatment for malaria.[17] Anti-malarial and anti-plasmodial activity has been noted in some preparations of the plant,[17] but the mechanism is not understood and no treatment method based on these results has been scientifically proven.[17]

Meat tenderizing

Both green papaya fruit and the tree's latex are rich in papain, a protease used for tenderizing meat and other proteins. Its ability to break down tough meat fibers was used for thousands of years by indigenous Americans. It is now included as a component in powdered meat tenderizers.

Herbal medicine

Papaya is marketed in tablet form to remedy digestive problems.[citation needed]

Papain is also applied topically in countries where it grows for the treatment of cuts, rashes, stings and burns.[citation needed] Papain ointment is commonly made from fermented papaya flesh, and is applied as a gel-like paste. Harrison Ford was treated for a ruptured disc incurred during filming of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom by papain injections.[18]

Women in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other countries have long used green papaya as an herbal medicine for contraception and abortion.[citation needed] Enslaved women in the West Indies were noted for consuming papaya to prevent pregnancies and thus preventing their children from being born into slavery.[19]

Preliminary research

Preliminary medical research in animals has confirmed the potential contraceptive and abortifacient capability of papaya, and also found that papaya seeds have contraceptive effects in adult male langur monkeys, and possibly in adult male humans.[20] Unripe papaya is especially effective in large amounts or high doses. Ripe papaya is not teratogenic and will not cause miscarriage in small amounts. Phytochemicals in papaya may suppress the effects of progesterone.[21]

Papaya. Moche Culture. Larco Museum Collection. The Moche often depicted papayas in their ceramics.[22]

Other preliminary research indicates alternate possible effects which remain to be further studied. Papaya juice has an in vitro antiproliferative effect on liver cancer cells, possibly due to lycopene[23] or immune system stimulation.[24] Papaya seeds might contain antibacterial properties against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus or Salmonella typhi.[25] Papaya seed extract may have effects in toxicity-induced kidney failure.[26]

Allergies and side effects

A papaya seedling.

Papaya is frequently used as a hair conditioner, but should be used in small amounts. Papaya releases a latex fluid when not quite ripe, which can cause irritation and provoke allergic reaction in some people.

It is speculated that the latex concentration of unripe papayas may cause uterine contractions, which may lead to a miscarriage. Papaya seed extracts in large doses have a contraceptive effect on rats and monkeys, but in small doses have no effect on the unborn animals.

Excessive consumption of papaya can cause carotenemia, the yellowing of soles and palms, which is otherwise harmless. However, a very large dose would need to be consumed; papaya contains about 6% of the level of beta carotene found in carrots (the most common cause of carotenemia).[27]

In popular culture

The paw paw appears in the lyrics of the song "The Bare Necessities" from Disney's animated film, The Jungle Book (1967). Baloo, the bear, sings the song and contrasts the smooth fruit of the "big paw paw" with the spiny, prickly pear. Given the jungle setting, this refers to the Carica papaya, rather than the pawpaw native to North America, Asimina triloba.

Jazz vocalist Urszula Dudziak sings a playful song entitled Papaya (1976).

See also

References

  1. ^ "Papaya, Fruit of Angels". Exotic Fruit for Health. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
  2. ^ Comment on transgenic 'SunUp' papaya genome sequencing on Nature magazine
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Online: pawpaw
  4. ^ Delbridge, A., and J. R. L. Bernard. 1988 The Macquarie Concise Dictionary. The Macquarie Library: Sydney.
  5. ^ Subhuti Dharmananda 2005. "Chaenomeles: A relaxing and strengthening fruit" in Institute for Traditional Medicine database ITMonline.org
  6. ^ a b c http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/pae/botany/botany_map/articles/article_03.html
  7. ^ Hawaiipapaya.com
  8. ^ "Euphytica, Volume 181, Number 2". SpringerLink. doi:10.1007/s10681-011-0388-z. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
  9. ^ Hawaii Reports Widespread Contamination of Papaya Crop by GE Varieties, grain.org
  10. ^ "Papaya Vs Papaw". News (15 April 2005). Horticulture Australia. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  11. ^ Sagon, Candy (13 October 2004). "Maradol Papaya". Market Watch (13 Oct 2004). The Washington Post. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  12. ^ http://www.harc-hspa.com/publications/TF5.pdf
  13. ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  14. ^ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-06-21.
  15. ^ Danielone, a phytoalexin from papaya fruit. Echeverri F., Torres F., Quinones W., Cardona G., Archbold R., Roldan J., Brito I., Luis J.G., and LahlouU E.-H., Phytochemistry, 1997, vol. 44, no2, pp. 255-256, INIST 2558881
  16. ^ Green Papaya Salad Recipe - ThaiTable.com
  17. ^ a b c Titanji, V.P.; Zofou, D.; Ngemenya, M.N. (2008). "The Antimalarial Potential of Medicinal Plants Used for the Treatment of Malaria in Cameroonian Folk Medicine". African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines. 5 (3): 302–321. PMC 2816552. PMID 20161952.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Entry on Harrison Ford's back treatment.
  19. ^ Morton, J.F. (1987). "Papaya. In: Fruits of warm climates": 336–346. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. ^ Lohiya, N. K. (2002). "Chloroform extract of Carica papaya seeds induces long-term reversible azoospermia in langur monkey". Asian Journal of Andrology. 4 (1): 17–26. PMID 11907624. Archived from the original (– Scholar search) on October 18, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-18. {{cite journal}}: External link in |format= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help) [dead link]
  21. ^ Oderinde, O; Noronha, C; Oremosu, A; Kusemiju, T; Okanlawon, OA (2002). "Abortifacient properties of Carica papaya (Linn) seeds in female Sprague-Dawley rats". Niger Postgrad Medical Journal. 9 (2): 95–8. PMID 12163882.
  22. ^ Berrin, Katherine & Larco Museum. The Spirit of Ancient Peru:Treasures from the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1997.
  23. ^ Rahmat, Asmah; et al. "Antiproliferative activity of pure lycopene compared to both extracted lycopene and juices from watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris) and papaya (Carica papaya) on human breast and liver cancer cell lines" (PDF). Retrieved 9 May 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Explicit use of et al. in: |first= (help)
  24. ^ "Papaya extract thwarts growth of cancer cells in lab tests". Retrieved 3 March 2010. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  25. ^ "The invitro assessment of antibacterial effect of papaya seed extract against bacterial pathogens isolated from urine, wound and stool". Retrieved 14 October 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  26. ^ "Nephroprotective activities of the aqueous seed extract of Carica papaya Linn. in carbon tetrachloride induced renal injured Wistar rats: a dose- and time-dependent study" (PDF). Retrieved 19 November 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  27. ^ "Search the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference". Nal.usda.gov. Retrieved 2010-08-18.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carica papaya.
Look up Papaya in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Papaya&oldid=510777435"