PAPAYA CULTURE IN HAWAII 
35 
COMPOSITION OF THE FRUIT 
A number of analyses of the fruit of the papaya have been made 
at the station. In 1914 Alice Thompson (20) analyzed ripe papayas 
of plants that were designated by the names of the countries whence 
the seeds had been obtained several years previously. These kind:; 
soon lost their identity as such, however, and they have since been 
known at the station only by accession numbers. Table 2 gives 
these and other analyses of the papaya. 
Table 2. — Composition of the papaya 
GROUP Ai 
Total 
solids 
Ash 
Acid 
as 
H2SO4 
Pro- 
tein 2 
Su- 
crose 
Reduc- 
ing 
sugars 3 
Total 
sugars 4 
Fat 
Fiber 
Strain: 
Trinidad (2976) 
P.ct. 
12.14 
13.00 
12.20 
11.72 
14.41 
10.19 
P.ct. 
0.530 
.540 
.560 
.480 
.900 
.670 
P.ct. 
0. 060 
.090 
.070 
.060 
.140 
.170 
P.ct. 
0.430 
.680 
.500 
.460 
.500 
.900 
P.ct. 
0.74 
.53 
.00 
.00 
1.26 
.94 
P.ct. 
8.98 
10.20 
10.29 
8.95 
9.86 
7.50 
P.ct. 
9.72 
10.73 
10.29 
8.95 
11.12 
8.44 
P.ct. 
0.060 
.070 
.C50 
.060 
.250 
.050 
P.ct. 
0.780 
South African (2973) 
.810 
Honolulu (2355:3) 
.660 
Barbados (2848) 
Panama (2978) ... .. ... .. 
.760 
1.090 
Tahiti (2975) 
.790 
GROUP B5 
Period of ripening: 
5 to 6 weeks before ripeness . 
Do 
4 weeks before ripeness 
3 weeks before ripeness 
2 weeks before ripeness 
8 days before ripeness 
1 day before ripeness 
Ripe 1 
6.48 
0. 621 
0. 065 
0.800 
0.23 
2.15 
2.38 
0.205 
6.13 
.451 
.045 
.381 
.00 
2.88 
2.88 
.186 
6.13 
.427 
.045 
.388 
.23 
2.81 
3.04 
.188 
6.26 
.471 
.026 
.306 
.00 
2.93 
2.93 
.208 
6.45 
.425 
.044 
.306 
.47 
4.13 
4.60 
.261 
8.92 
.508 
.033 
.356 
.00 
5.99 
5.99 
.163 
10.68 
.514 
.059 
.468 
.47 
7.82 
8.29 
.168 
10.59 
.565 
.059 
.388 
.00 
8.02 
8.02 
.186 
0.873 
.602 
.662 
.716 
.581 
.654 
.592 
.693 
GROUP C 6 
Station accession Xo. 
4610 
4609 
4618 
4509 
16.27 
14.44 
11.05 
11.78 
0.687 
.778 
.688 
.887 
0.140 
.134 
.131 
.124 
0.548 
.501 
.454 
.449 
0.38 
.83 
.38 
.30 
13.38 
10.14 
8.43 
8.60 
13.76 
10.97 
8.81 
8.90 
0.148 
.092 
080 
0.827 
.947 
.818 
1. 25.5 
1 Analyzed in 1914. 
2 Protein amounts to nitrogen times 6.25. 
3 Reducing sugars expressed as invert sugars. 
* Total sugars— the sum of sucrose and reducing sugars. 
s Fruit analyzed at different stages of ripeness in 1914. 
« Analyzed in 1922. 
The early analyses of the papaya had two leading objectives — to 
show the comparative composition of ripe fruit of a number of 
seedling strains (Group A) and to study the composition of fruit 
ranging from half-grown to fully ripe specimens on a given plant 
(Group B). The papaya, although containing little nourishment, is 
important for its fruit acids, enzymes, and high water content. The 
leading enzyme, papain, is of particular interest because it is allied 
to pepsin and is considered an aid to digestion. A study of Group B 
shows that the green fruit contains practically no starch or sucrose 
and that the reducing sugars are low in the green fruit, but rapidly 
increase as the fruit approaches ripeness. Fruit of the plant known 
at the station as No. 4G10 (fig. 21) was found to be high in carbohy- 
