P/ABC Wednesday

P is for Papaya

The papaya (also known as melon tree, papaw, pawpaw) is a fruit of the plant Carica Papaya.  It is found throughout the Philippines but a native to the tropics of the Americas, and was first cultivated in Mexico.  It is a small, erect, usually unbranched, fast-growing tree growing 3 to 6 meters high.

Ripe papaya is a popular Filipino breakfast fruit; lemon juice is often squeezed over the flesh.  It also makes an excellent ingredient for fruit salad.  The fruit is crunchy when still not fully ripe---I dip it in either salt or vinegar, one of my favorite snacks.  Green fruit is used in making Achara (pickles), and an essential ingredient in Tinola, a Filipino chicken soup.  Green papaya fruit  and the tree's latex are rich in papain, a protease used in tenderizing meat.  Its ability to break down tough meat fibers was used for thousand of years by indigenous Americans.  It is now included as a component in powdered meat tenderizers.

papaya flowers

Papaya fruit has a laxative effect and a rich source of nutrients such as calcium, iron, Vitamins A, B and C and dietary fiber.  It has also many uses in folk medicine---from rheumatism to warts, dyspepsia, bronchitis, centipede bites to asthma.  Preliminary medical research has confirmed the potential contraceptive and abortifacient capability of papaya; seeds might contain antibacterial properties and may have effects  in toxicity-induced kidney failure and liver cancer cells. Papaya is also used in cosmetics and a popular whitening, anti-acne soap and shampoo.

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