Papaya fruit – health benefits and contraindications

The majority of the fruits you come across in Thailand are wild. However, there are also purposefully grown (such as durian), which are agricultural crops. Among them, the papaya fruit has a special place; it is an obligatory ingredient in many national dishes, although it came to the Kingdom of Siam from the other side of the Pacific Ocean. In its wild form, the melon-like papaya fruit is found in Mexico, Central America and Latin America. Its juicy flesh is pierced by chains of closed tubes filled with white, milky juice.

Wonder-fruit: both fruit and vegetable in one person

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It grows on low (no higher than 10 meters) palms. So it is more of a fruit. If you’ve never seen what a papaya fruit looks like in its natural state, you might well confuse its unripe fruit with a bunch of coconuts.

If you read the description of the papaya fruit, you might come across its second name, the breadfruit tree. This is because when baked over a fire, the fruit begins to exude the aroma of fresh bread.

The papaya tree is the fruit’s main feature.

Papaya Plantation

There’s no need to wait for the fruit to turn yellow-orange. There are plenty of recipes whose ingredients are unripe, green fruits. The taste of the papaya fruit is reminiscent of melon, and about the smell, most connoisseurs are inclined to believe it most resembles raspberry.

Eating the fruit is even possible as a standalone dish, which is often seasoned with grated parmesan. But this is a European invention, while Thai people love to pour slices of this fruit with green lemon (lime) juice and eat it as a hearty breakfast (the fruit is high in proteins and carbohydrates). The searing and invigorating Som Tam salad, served in many national restaurants in Thailand, is made with slices of green papaya and dried shrimp. Chili peppers and garlic are added for spiciness.

Som Tam Salad with the addition of papaya

Each province in Thailand has its own, unique recipes for using papaya. In the Northeast, it is eaten with sticky rice. On the coast, the fruit is added to fish soups, seafood and meat dishes. They also cut it into salads, using it as a flavor spacer between the egg and garlic. The green fruit is also stuffed with meat, rice seasoned with spices and stewed. The price of papaya in Thailand is an average of 25 baht per kilogram.

The price of papaya in Thailand is 25 baht per kilogram.

In general, there is one general rule: if the papaya is unripe, it is used as a vegetable. The ripe fruit is used as a fruit, even added to ice cream. Therefore, the question “papaya – is it a fruit or a vegetable?” still has no clear answer. Especially since it is scientifically classified as a cruciferous plant, of which cabbage is the best known.

Green and ripe papaya fruits

Papaya benefits

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The exotic papaya fruit is remarkable primarily for its content of a special enzyme not found in any other fruit. It is called papain. It helps improve digestion. Especially in those cases where meat dishes prevail in the menu. Indians of Latin America have known these properties for several thousand years. It is worth noting that it is also used to make medicines to treat osteochondrosis.

The health benefits of the papaya fruit are so numerous that they are worthy of a treatise of their own. The fruit contains protein, carbohydrates and fiber, but remains low in calories with only 39 calories per 100 grams of flesh. They contain a full range of vitamins and trace elements.

Papaya cut into slices

Virologist Luc Montagnier, who discovered the HIV virus, believes it can stop the development of pathogenic microflora.

The juice of the fruit of this plant has beneficial effects on the gastrointestinal tract, making you feel better and in some cases curing gastritis and peptic ulcers. It also helps with dangerous insect bites, burns.

Thai medicine uses not only papaya fruits, but also leaves and roots. They are used to make anthelmintics and antidepressants, medicines that relieve asthma patients.

Possible harms of papaya

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Contraindications to the papaya fruit primarily concern those who suffer from allergic reactions. The latex juice contained not only in the fruit but in all other parts of the plant can have an irritant effect, in severe cases leading to burns. It is particularly abundant in freshly picked, unripe fruits from the branch.

The fruit also contains the alkaloid Carpain. In fact, it is a mild poison, due to which the plant is attributed anthelmintic properties. Overconsumption of papaya can lead to severe poisoning.