Papaya
Parts Usually Used
Fruit, leaves
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
The papaya tree grows to a height of up to 25 feet; the palmlike trunks have soft wood and sometimes divide into several erect stems, each with a head of large, palmately lobed leaves that are near orbicular in outline. The lobes themselves are pinnately lobed. The hollow petioles are 2 feet long or more. Male and female flowers are usually on separate trees; slender racemes on funnel-shaped, yellow male flowers become up to 3 feet long; the female flowers have 5 yellow, twisted petals and grow singly or in sparse corymbs.
The fruit is a large, oblong or nearly spherical, fleshy berry with a yellow or orange rind like a gourd. It may be from 3 to 20 inches long and weigh up to 12 lb. or more. The ripe yellow fruits hang more towards the bottom of the tree; further up they are still green and unripe. They look like melons, are hollow inside and full of small, black, moist, round seeds.
Where Found
Found in tropical America. Introduced and now cultivated in southern China and other tropical parts of the Far East.
Medicinal Properties
Digestive, stomachic, vermifuge, vulnerary
Biochemical Information
Papain, other enzymes, vitamins, minerals
Legends, Myths and Stories
) has smaller fruit and tastes and texture something like bananas. It is a small tree or shrub; 9-30 feet tall, flowers are dull-purple, drooping; petals are curved backwards. Seeds are toxic. Leaves may cause rash. The fruit aids in digestion. The leaves are reputed to protect against tropical parasites. Papaya was a 16th century remedy for indigestion and constipation. It is, today, still one of the best.
Centuries ago, natives of the tropics found they could eat exceptionally heavy meals of fish and meat without any apparent stomach distress if the meal was followed by a dessert of papaya. Modern research has shown that this tropical melon-like fruit contains a powerful protein-digesting enzyme called papain, which greatly resembles pepsin, the natural digestive enzyme found in the stomach.
Papain extracted from the unripe papaya melon is so powerful that 5 grains of the white crystalline powder are said to digest a pint of milk in half an hour. The natural papain enzyme is made into tablets and sold as an aid to digestion. The tablet acts on acid, alkaline, or neutral conditions without being destroyed by intestinal juices. It is considered especially valuable as an aid to normal digestion of protein in the stomach.
Papaya is a safe and natural digestive aid; digests protein in the body. The fruit is popular in Hawaii and is very delicious. The Chinese appreciate the papaya as a meat tenderizer as well as a medicinal. ”
Uses
Historically, herbalists utilized papaya primarily as a digestive aid, attributing this effect to its papain content, an enzyme thought to assist in the breakdown of proteins and fats and to stimulate the pancreas. Traditional practitioners recommended either the fresh milky juice of the unripe fruit or its dried powder form for dyspepsia and related digestive difficulties. Folk traditions also employed the juice internally as a vermifuge and externally for the purported removal of freckles.
In topical applications, the leaves were sometimes used to dress wounds, while the fresh mashed fruit was applied as a facial mask to address dead skin. Additionally, historical sources recorded the use of papaya preparations for allergies and hemorrhoids.
How Sold
Tablets (chewable) Dried papaya slices Frozen papaya Papaya juice Papaya tea bags
Bibliography
Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , West Nyack, NY, 1987. , Simon & Schuster/Fireside, Rockefeller Center 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973. The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974.
The Magic of Herbs in Daily Living , by Richard Lucas, Parker Publishing Co. (1988). The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine , by Dr. A. , 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H.
Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974