FRUITS AND NUTS 121 



The milky juice pours out of the rind of the green fruit in 

 abundance after shallow tapping. In an investigation at the 

 Hawaii Experiment Station it was found that if in the early 

 morning a dozen shallow lengthwise incisions, J^ to ^ inch 

 apart, were made in a papaya fruit of good size, enough juice 

 would be obtained to make an ounce of dry papain. Crude dry 

 papain ordinarily brings about $2 a pound on the market. 

 This ferment is even more active than the common ferment 

 of the pineapple, but like that of the pineapple is destroyed 

 by cooking. The action of the papaya ferment is so well known 

 that it is used for various purposes throughout the Tropics. 

 If a piece of tough steak is wrapped in a bruised papaya leaf 

 the papaya ferment will rapidly make the steak tender. Papain 

 has also been used in medicine in dissolving the membranes 

 which occur in diphtheria. 



The papaya is eaten for the most part in a fresh condition 

 and may be had the year round. In fact, there are always ripe 

 and green fruit on the papaya tree. It is also sometimes stewed 

 like a squash and eaten as a vegetable. The fruit contains no 

 starch at any stage of growth. In a ripe condition the papaya 

 contains from 7 to 10 per cent, of sugar and about 0.5 per 

 cent, protein. 



GUAVA 



The common or lemon guava (Psidium guajava) is a native 

 bush or small tree of tropical America reaching a height of 3 

 to 30 feet. The plant has been introduced into all tropical 

 and subtropical countries, including Florida, where it runs wild, 

 bearing large crops of fruit. In Hawaii and a few other re- 

 gions the guava has become a fearful pest necessitating the 

 expenditure of large sums of money for its eradication. It 

 occurs throughout the Territory of Hawaii in a wild condi- 

 tion and the fruit are collected for making guava jam or jelly. 

 Guava is cultivated in Florida and California. The leaves 

 of this tree are opposite and bright green, the flowers are four- 



