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Papaya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Papaya (disambiguation).

The papaya (from Carib via Spanish) is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, in the genus Carica. It is native
navigation Papaya
to the tropics of the Americas, and was cultivated in Mexico several centuries before the emergence of the
Main page
Mesoamerican classic cultures. It is sometimes called a "big melon" or a "paw paw" but the North American
Contents
pawpaw is a different species, in the genus Asimina.
Featured content
Current events It is a large tree-like plant, the single stem growing from 5 to 10 meters tall, with spirally arranged leaves
Random article confined to the top of the trunk; the lower trunk is conspicuously scarred where leaves and fruit were borne.
search The leaves are large, 50-70 cm diameter, deeply palmately lobed with 7 lobes. The tree is usually 
unbranched if unlopped. 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 cm long, 10-30 cm 
Go   Search diameter fruit. The fruit is ripe when it feels soft (like a ripe avocado or a bit softer) and its skin has attained
an amber to orange hue. The fruit's taste is vaguely similar to pineapple and peach, although much milder
interaction
without the tartness.
About Wikipedia
Community portal It is the first fruit tree to have its genome deciphered.[1]
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Contents [hide]
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Donate to Wikipedia 1 Cultivation and uses of papaya
Papaya tree and fruit, from Koehler's
Help 2 Allergies and side-effects
Medicinal-Plants (1887)
3 Medicinal potential
toolbox
3.1 Diseases Scientific classification
What links here
4 Names in other languages Kingdom: Plantae
Related changes
5 Photo gallery
Upload file (unranked): Angiosperms
Special pages 6 Notes and references
Printable version 7 See also (unranked): Eudicots
Permanent link 8 External links (unranked): Rosids
Cite this page
Order: Brassicales
languages Cultivation and uses of papaya [edit]
Family: Caricaceae
Originally from southern Mexico, Puerto Rico,Central America and northern South America, the papaya is Genus: Carica
Bân-lâm-gú
Bikol Central
now cultivated in most countries with a tropical climate, such as Brazil, India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Haiti,
Species: C. papaya
and Southeast Asia.
Български The ripe fruit is usually eaten raw, without the skin or seeds. The unripe green fruit of papaya can be eaten Binomial name
Català cooked, usually in curries, salads and stews. It also has a relatively high amount of pectin, which can be Carica papaya
Česky L.
used to make jellies.
Chamoru
Dansk Green papaya fruit and the tree's latex are both rich in an enzyme called papain, a protease which is useful
Deutsch in tenderizing meat and other proteins. Its ability to break down tough meat fibers was utilized for thousands of years by indigenous Americans. It
Ελληνικά is included as a component in powdered meat tenderizers, and is also marketed in tablet form to remedy digestive problems. Green papaya is
Español
used in Thai cuisine, both raw and cooked.[2]
Esperanto
Papain is also popular (in countries where it grows) as a topical application in the treatment of cuts,
Papaya, raw
Français rashes, stings and burns. Papain ointment is commonly made from fermented papaya flesh, and is
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Galego applied as a gel-like paste. Harrison Ford was treated for a ruptured disc incurred during filming of
Hornjoserbsce [3] Energy 40 kcal   160 kJ
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom by papain injections.
Bahasa Indonesia Carbohydrates     9.81 g
Women in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other parts of the world have long used green papaya as a
Italiano - Sugars  5.90 g
[citation needed]
folk remedy for contraception and abortion. Enslaved women in the West Indies are
- Dietary fibre  1.8 g  
Basa Jawa also noted for consuming papaya to prevent pregnancies and thus preventing their children from
Fat 0.14 g
Kapampangan being born into slavery. Medical research in animals has confirmed the contraceptive and Protein 0.61 g
ქართული abortifacient capability of papaya, and also found that papaya seeds have contraceptive effects in Vitamin A equiv.  55 μg  6%
Kreyòl ayisyen adult male langur monkeys, possibly in adult male humans as well.[4] Unripe papaya is especially - beta-carotene  276 μg  3%
Latina effective in large amounts or high doses. Papaya is not teratogenic and will not cause miscarriage in Thiamine (Vit. B1)  0.04 mg   3%
Lietuvių
small, ripe amounts. Phytochemicals in papaya may suppress the effects of progesterone.[5] Riboflavin (Vit. B2)  0.05 mg  3%
Magyar Niacin (Vit. B3)  0.338 mg   2%
The stem and the bark are also used in rope production. Vitamin B6  0.1 mg 8%
Bahasa Melayu The black seeds are edible and have a sharp, spicy taste. They are sometimes ground up and used Vitamin C  61.8 mg 103%
Nāhuatl Calcium  24 mg 2%
as a substitute for black pepper. In some parts of Asia the young leaves of papaya are steamed and
Nederlands Iron  0.10 mg 1%
日本語
eaten like spinach. In parts of the world papaya leaves are made into tea as a preventative for
[6] Magnesium  10 mg 3% 
Norsk (bokmål) Malaria, though there is no real scientific evidence for the effectiveness of this treatment.
Phosphorus  5 mg 1%
Polski The papaya fruit is susceptible to the Papaya Fruit Fly. This wasp-like fly lays its eggs in young fruit. Potassium  257 mg   5%
Português In cultivation it grows rapidly fruiting within 3 years, however it is highly frost sensitive. Sodium  3 mg 0%
Română
Runa Simi In the 1990s, two varieties of papaya, SunUp and Rainbow, that had been genetically-modified to be Percentages are relative to US
recommendations for adults.
Русский resistant to the papaya ring spot virus, were introduced into Hawaii.[7] By 2004, non-genetically
Simple English modified and organic papayas throughout Hawaii had experienced widespread contamination from
Suomi the genetically-modified varieties.[8]
Svenska
Tagalog Allergies and side-effects [edit]

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding
lea faka-Tonga citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)
Türkçe
Papaya is frequently used for hair conditioner but should be used in small proportions. Caution should be taken when harvesting, as papaya is
Tiếng Việt
中文
known to release a latex fluid when not quite ripe, which can cause irritation and provoke allergic reaction in some people. The papaya fruit,
seeds, latex, and leaves also contains carpaine, an anthelmintic alkaloid (a drug that removes parasitic worms from the body) which can be
dangerous in high doses.

It is speculated that unripe papayas may cause miscarriage due to its latex content that may cause uterine contractions which may lead to a
miscarriage, though this has never been proven. Papaya seed extracts in large doses showed to have a contraceptive effect on rats and monkeys,
but in small doses were shown to have no effect on the unborn animals.
Excessive consumption of papaya, as of carrots, can cause carotenemia, the yellowing of soles and palms which is otherwise harmless.
[citation needed]

Medicinal potential [edit]

The juice has been seen to have an antiproliferative effect on liver cancer cells cultured in the laboratory,
probably due to its component of lycopene.[10]
Papaya seed could be used as an effective antibacterial agent for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus,
Salmonella typhi, although further research is needed before advocating large-scale therapy.[11]
2 Raw, Fresh Papya leaves ground into juice can increase platelet count dramatically in a matter of days.

Diseases [edit]

Main article: List of papaya diseases

Names in other languages [edit]

Papaya. Moche Culture.

Translations are available at Wiktionary:papaya.
Larco Museum Collection. The
Moche often depicted
Photo gallery [edit]
papayas in their ceramics.[9]

Papaya tree Papaya leaf female flowers Papaya

Papaya trunk with tree and flowers, from Hawaiian papaya (with Tanzanian Papaya tree
immature fruit Koehler's Medicinal-Plants lilies and ginger)
(1887)

An Indian papaya tree
A variety of yellow papaya Carica papaya tree with
in Kerala-India, the non- fruits in Cáceres-Brazil
ripen fruit have even yellow
skin, looks like ripe
papaya.

Notes and references [edit]

1. ^ University of Granada
2. ^ Green Papaya Salad Recipe - ThaiTable.com
3. ^ Entry on Harrison Ford's back treatment .
4. ^ Lohiya, N. K.; B. Manivannan, P. K. Mishra, N. Pathak, S. Sriram, S. S. Bhande, and S. Panneerdoss (March 2002). "Chloroform extract of Carica
papaya seeds induces long-term reversible azoospermia in langur monkey " ([dead link] – Scholar search ). Asian Journal of Andrology 4: 17–26.
Retrieved 2006-11-18.
5. ^ Oderinde, O. "Abortifacient properties of Carica papaya (Linn) seeds in female Sprague-Dawley rats". Niger Postgrad Medical Journal. PMID
12163882 .
6. ^ http://www.echotech.org/network/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=576
7. ^ http://www.hawaiipapaya.com/rainbow.htm hawaiipapaya.com
 7. ^ http://www.hawaiipapaya.com/rainbow.htm hawaiipapaya.com
8. ^ http://www.grain.org/research/contamination.cfm?id=165 grain.org
9. ^ Berrin, Katherine & Larco Museum. The Spirit of Ancient Peru:Treasures from the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera. New York: Thames
and Hudson, 1997.
10. ^ 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 ". Retrieved 9 May 2009.
11. ^ "The invitro assessment of antibacterial effect of papaya seed extract against bacterial pathogens isolated from urine, wound and stool. ".
Retrieved 14 October 2009.

See also [edit]

Chaenomeles speciosa
Pawpaw

External links [edit]

Fruits of Warm Climates: Papaya and Related Species

Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits of Papayas Wikimedia Commons has media
related to: Carica papaya
Carica papaya
California Rare Fruit Growers: Papaya Fruit Facts .
Papaya Fruit Nutrition
Treating Livestock with Medicinal Plants: Beneficial or Toxic? Carica papaya
Papaya Fruit - Internet Documentation

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