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BULLETIN 77, HAWAII EXPERIMENT STATION 



PAPAYA 



( Carica pa paya ) 



Description: The papaya is a melon-like fruit which varies greatly 

 in size and shape. One strain known as the solo papaya is a small fruit 

 only 4 to 5 inches in diameter, but papayas 20 inches or more in length 

 and weighing 10 pounds may sometimes be seen on the market. They 

 are often obscurely five-angled in transverse section. 



The skin is smooth and thin, shading from deep orange to green. 

 The flesh varies from 1 to 2 inches in thickness and from light yellow 

 to deep salmon pink in color. Numerous round, black, wrinkled seeds, 

 each enclosed in a gelatinous membrane, cling to the inner wall. The 

 flavor and odor of the fruit are distinctive. 



History: The date of the introduction of the papaya into Hawaii 

 has been a matter of discussion for many years. Because the papaya 

 has a distinctly Hawaiian name, he-i, some people insist that it grew 

 in Hawaii before the first European voyagers arrived. However, Dr. 

 Mayen, who visited Hawaii in 1831, states in the history of his trip, 

 which was abstracted by Bishop Henry Restarick ( 54 ), that while visit- 

 ing Don Marin's possessions he learned of the many kinds of plants 

 introduce by Don Marin, among which was the papaya from the Mar- 

 queses. This introduction must have been prior to 1823, as William 

 Ellis noted "pawpaw apples" growing in the gardens in Kona that year 

 while on a trip through Hawaii (48, p. 2). 



Pawpaw is the name commonly used in England for the papaya, 

 but in the Southern United States, it is apt to be confused with pawpaw 

 as applied to the Asimina tribola, a very different fruit. Most countries 

 now use either the name papaya or some variation of it, as papaia, 

 apaeya or papaja, which are all believed to be derived from the Carib 

 word ababai (50, p. 228). 



Additional information about the papaya may be obtained from a 

 previous bulletin of the Hawaii Experiment Station. (48) 



Nutritive value: The quantity of papain, a protein-splitting enzyme, 

 consumed when even large quantities of papaya are eaten is probably 

 not of any great nutritional significance, but it may possibly be the rea- 

 son that a few people experience some digestive distress after eating 

 papaya. (A note in Science, Dec. 13, 1935, states, however, that ripe 

 papaya contains little or no papain. ) 



As an economical and important source of vitamins A and C and 

 of calcium and a basic ash, papaya should be more widely used by 

 people in Hawaii. 



Carotene is the pigment in fruits and vegetables to which the vitamin 

 A activity is commonly attributed, but in 1933 Yamamoto and Tin (75) 

 pointed out that papaya contains no carotene but a pigment which they 

 called caricaxanthin and which, like carotene, possesses growth pro- 

 moting properties. Karrer and Schlientz (25) have confirmed the pres- 

 ence of caricaxanthin, but pointed out that it is chemically identical to 

 cryptoxanthin. 



