CSIR-NEERI Biodiversity Portal

PAPAYA / PAPITA

Carica papaya L.

Botanical name	: Carica papaya L.
Synonym	: Papaya carica
Vernacular name	: Papaya / Papita
Family	: Caricaceae
About the Tree	: Papaya is a giant herbaceous plant, resembling a tree but not woody in nature. The plant is native to Florida, Mexico, and Central and South America and is now grown in tropical areas world-wide for its large, sweet, melon-like fruits.
Height	: Up to 6.1 m. tall or more.
Bark	: Crooked trunk, smooth and shining stems, succulent, with abundant sticky, milky latex. Bark has a smooth, papery outer layer which is grey, shining, and constantly exfoliating in small flakes. Wood is yellowish-white and soft.
Leaf	: The leaves have long, hollow petioles (stalks) and are green, clustered at the stem tips, and deeply palmately lobed with 5 to 9 main lobes that are themselves pinnately lobed. 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.
Flower	: Plants are dioecious or hermaphrodite, are sometimes said to be "trioecious" meaning that separate plants bear either male, female, or bisexual flowers. Female (pear shaped) and bisexual (tubular) flowers are waxy, ivory white, solitary or small cymes of 3 individuals, and borne on short peduncles in leaf axils along the main stem. A male papaya is distinguished by the smaller flowers borne on long stalks. Since bisexual plants produce the most desirable fruit and are self-pollinating, they are preferred over female or male plants.
Fruits	: Fruit are Large, oval to round berries borne axillary on the main stem, usually singly but sometimes in small clusters. Fruits weigh from 0.5 up to 20 lbs, and are green until ripe, turning yellow or red-orange, and the edible portion surrounding the large, central seed cavity in the center. Individual fruits mature in 5-9 months, depending on cultivar and temperature. Plants begin bearing in 6-12 months.
Season	: Blooms in summer.
Medicinal Properties Peculiar Character	: The juice is used for warts, cancers, tumors, corns, and indurations of the skin. The root infusion is used for syphilis in Africa. Javanese believe that eating papaya prevents rheumatism. Flowers have been used for jaundice. : Papain, an enzyme used as a meat tenderizer, is extracted from the dried milky sap.