Papaya

Overview

Papaya is native to northern South America and Mexico, it has become naturalized throughout the Florida, California, Caribbean Islands, Hawaii, Texas and other subtropical and tropical areas of the world. Green fruits are used in Southeast Asian cooking, both raw and cooked or pickled as vegetable. In some parts of Asia, the young leaves of  are steamed and eaten. Ripe papaya can be used to salads. 

Vernacular Names

Fan mu gua (Chinese), Betik (Malaysia), Papaye (French), Motukuwa (Japanese), Loko (Thailand), Du du (Vietnamese), Fruta bomba (Spanish).

Agroecology

Papaya succeeds in tropical and subtropical areas. Produces best  warm areas with adequate rainfall, at elevations below 900 m, though it can also succeed as high as 2,100 m near the equator. Grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 21-30 °C, but can tolerate 12- 44 °C. Prefers a full sunlight, soils rich in organic matter, soil pH of 6.0-6.5, well-drained. 

Morphology

• Stems -   single,cylindrical, unbranched, 10-30 cm in diameter, non-woody, has scars of old leaf base.
• Leaves - lobed, petiole up to 1 m long, spirally arranged, lamina orbicular and glabrous.
• Flowers - dioecious (having male and female flowers in separate tree) while others are hermaphroditic (having both male and female flowers in one tree), axillary. Trumpet shaped, fragrant, yellow to white, males in long raceme, females in small clusters or sometimes solitary.
• Fruits - a fleshy berry, obovoid or oblong-cylindric, 5 to 30 cm long, indehiscent, subglobose,  fleshy and yellowish or yellow-orange when ripe, edible, sweet with mild containing numerous black seeds.

Cultivation

• It propagated by seeds, greenwood cuttings, and grafting.

Chemical Constituents

Papain and chemopapain, glutamine cyclotransferase, alkaloids, alkaloids carpain, pseudocarpain, saponin, phenol, flavonoids, amino acids, anthraquinone, steroid, choline, carposide,  carotenoids, polyphenols, terpenoid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, farnesyl cyanide.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• Leaves are used as tonic, stomachic analgesic, dengue fever, antimalarial and antiplasmodial. 
• Roots are considered analgesic, abortifacient, and urinary troubles
• Latex is considered styptic and vermifuge. Latex contains papain and chymopapain.
• Seeds are edible and spicy taste. Seeds are considered nephro - protective activity, antibacterial properties,  are considered anti-inflammatory, anthelmintic, analgesic, stomachic and antifungal.
• Studies have shown hypotensive, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, antisickling, anti-dengue, wound healing, anti-cancer, immunomodulatory, antidiarrheal properties.
• In Philippines, bruised papaya leaves are used as a poultice for rheumatism.
• A decoction of the ripe fruit is used to treat persistent diarrhoea and dysentery in children.
• Decoction of leaves used for asthma.
• Decoction of boiled flowers or powdered seeds promote menstruation.
• Infusion of male flowers with honey used for cough, hoarseness, bronchitis, laryngitis and tracheitis: a spoonful every hour.
• The latex is applied externally to wounds, boils, ulcers, warts and cancerous tumours in order to speed their healing.