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Papaya

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is a tropical plant, the fruit of which is ovoid-oblong to nearly spherical with an outer thin skin, a thick fleshy edible inner portion, and a central seed-containing cavity. Brazil, India, and Mexico are the largest producers of papaya. It belongs to the genus Carica, a member of family caricaceae. The plant adapts itself to diverse soil and climatic conditions, and hence is grown extensively in tropical and subtropical areas for its profitable and continuous yield of fruits. The fruits arc mostly consumed ripe and are a rich source of vitamins A, B, C, and D. The fruit of Carica papaya has an outer waxy layer, a thin skin (epidermal) layer beneath the waxy layer, a thick fleshy edible inner portion and a central seed-containing cavity. The outer waxy layer is composed of cutin, suberin and waxes and is a valuable source of these materials and particularly is a good natural source of cutin. A milky latex is extracted out of 25 young green fruits. This latex contains a high percentage of papain, which is one of the most valuable of plant proteolytic enzymes. Papain is a proteolytic enzyme or mixture of enzymes prepared from papaya fruit which hydrolyzes polypeptides, amides and esters, yielding peptides of lower molecular weight. Papain is used for chillproofing beer, tenderizing meat and freeing food proteins.  Papain is a well-known natural compound useful as an anti-inflammatory agent and to aid digestion.

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