It’s oval, oblong and spherical in shape; is green from the outside and white from within when unripe and attains an amber to orange hue with traces of green with orange flesh on ripening, with numerous small black seeds gaping at us from the fruit cavity when cut. Known as Papita in Hindi and Urdu, and pawpaw in English, it is essentially a tropical fruit and a native to southern Mexico and Costa Rica. It reached the West Indies and the Philippines somewhere in the 16th Century. By the 19th century it was wide-spread in East Africa. Now it is grown throughout the tropical world for its delicious fruit and the vegetative parts have medicinal uses.

The ripe fruit is eaten by some at breakfast and some take it as desert with great delight, though some fruit lovers do not like to eat papaya because of its strong flavour and aroma. All parts of the papaya plant i.e. the root, shoot and fruit are important ingredients of herbal medicine in the Indo-Pakistan and Chinese folk medicines.

The papaya fruit is a rich source of nutrients such as provitamin A carotenoids, Vitamin B and C, carbohydrates, sugar, minerals like iron, magnesium phosphorus, potassium and sodium, besides calcium and fibre.

Besides being eaten on it’s own, papaya can be used as a cooking aid and in traditional medicine. The unripe green fruit can be eaten cooked, usually in curries, salads and stews; green papaya is used in Southeast Asian cuisine, both raw and cooked.

Papaya has a relatively high amount of pectin, which can be used to make jellies. In some parts of Asia, the young leaves of the papaya are steamed and eaten like spinach.

Both green papaya fruit and the tree’s latex contains papain, an enzyme that is used for tenderising meat and other proteins. Its ability to break down tough meat fibres was used for thousands of years by indigenous Americans and is now included as a component in powdered meat tenderisers.

The papaya plant root, shoot and fruit are recognised in old Ayurvedic and Tibb-i-Unani systems of medicine, as well as Chinese folk medicine. Papaya is a constituent of many an allopathic syrup for stomach problems. Herbalists recommend papaya as a potent wormicide and amoebicide. The ripe fruit is digestive and stomachic, i.e. tones the stomach and improves appetite, as well as antiscorbutic i.e. helps to fight scurvy caused due to vitamin C deficiency. The fruit is a mild laxative and people suffering from chronic constipation are advised to eat it regularly.

The seeds contain carcin, a glucocide which is anthelmintic, carminative and used to reduce enlargement of liver and spleen.

The root is a strong abortifacient. Enslaved women in the West Indies were noted for consuming papaya to prevent pregnancies and thus preventing their children from being born into slavery.

Despite its benefits, papaya should be eaten in moderation and in case of any problem, e.g. allergic reaction, after eating papaya or using it in any other form, the family physician should be consulted.

The papaya plant can be grown in backyards, public parks and fruit orchards. The papaya is a large tree-like plant, with a single stem growing from five to 10 metres tall, with spirally arranged leaves confined to the top of the trunk. The lower trunk is scarred where leaves and fruit were borne. The fruiting span of a papaya tree is five to six years, thereafter the production starts dwindling and the maintenance of such a plant or plants becomes uneconomical. The papaya seed is black and round like a blackpepper. As the seedlings grow up to 20-30cm tall, they are transplanted at the desired locations as the monsoon season sets in.

The papaya plant has the ability to adjust itself to varied soil conditions, but loamy, moderately fertile soil, good drainage and  frost free days are its preferred preconditions for successful production of fruit. The climatic conditions in the suburbs of Karachi and areas around Thatta district in lower Sindh are more suited for papaya cultivation than other parts of Sindh. That is why papaya is found growing and fruiting well in these areas. Averagely, a papaya plant can produce 120-130 fruits in a year.

Papaya being a fruit of so many benefits needs to be further improved for quality and bring a uniformity in fruit size with fewer number of seeds.