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Papaya (Fig. 2755). The papaya (Carica Papaya) is a well-known edible fruit which has spread from its original home in America throughout the tropical world, and is a favorite fruit in many regions. In Hawaii it is said to rank next to the banana in popularity ; in nearly all parts of tropical America it is one of the commonest fruits, while early in the seventeenth century it became known in the Orient and is now grown in India, Ceylon, the Malay Archipelago, and many other regions, as well as in tropical Africa and Australia. The name papaya is considered a corruption of the Carib ababai, which in one form or another has been carried around the world; papaia, papeya and papia are some of the various adaptations which are in use. The English name papaw (or pawpaw) is probably derived from the same source, and is widely used ; in the United States it has the disadvantage of confusing this fruit with Asimina triloba, which is well known in the central and southeastern states under the same name. The Portuguese name, current in Brazil, is mamao (the tree mamoeiro), a word probably referring to the mammiform apex of the fruit; in the French colonies it is called papaye (the plant papayer) ; in German colonies papaja and papajabaum, or melonenbaum. Several other names are used in tropical America, notably fruta de bomba in Cuba, lechosa in Porto Rico, melon zapote in parts of Mexico, and tree melon in English-speaking countries.
The papaya — a giant herbaceous plant rather than a tree — grows to a height of 25 or 30 feet, and is often likened to a palm in general appearance, though there is, of course, no botanical relationship. The trunk is commonly unbranched, bearing toward its apex large soft deeply-lobed leaves sometimes 2 feet across, upon stiff hollow petioles 2 feet or more in length. The wood is fleshy, the bark smooth, grayish brown, marked by prominent leaf-scars.
The plant is normally dioecious, and produces its flowers in the uppermost leaf-axils, the staminate ones sessile on pendent racemes 3 feet or more in length, the pistillate ones subsessile and usually solitary or in few- flowered corymbs. The staminate flowers are funnel- shaped, about an inch long, whitish, the corolla five- lobed, with ten stamens in the throat; the pistillate flowers are considerably larger, with five fleshy petals connate toward the base, a large cylindrical or globose superior ovary, and five sessile fan-shaped stigmas.
Beside the typical dioecious form, in which male and female flowers are confined to separate plants, it is not unusual to find various other distributions of the sexes; these have been studied in Hawaii by Higgins and Holt, who describe (Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 32) a number of different forms, such as the occurrence of staminate flowers with more or less rudimentary stigmas and ovaries which sometimes give rise to small fruits; a hermaphrodite form, which regularly produces perfect flowers and good fruits; and various other combinations of staminate, pistillate and hermaphrodite flowers on the same and different plants. It will thus be seen that the distribution of the sexes in the papaya is very irregular; it has been reported by some authorities, indeed, that severe pruning or injury to the tree sometimes results in a change of sex, but this has been observed only on staminate trees of the dioecious type.
Aside from these variations in the distribution of the sexes, there are marked differences in the size, shape and quality of the fruits produced by different seedlings of the typical dioecious form, and the papayas of certain regions in the tropics are uniformly superior to those of other regions. In Bahia, Brazil, there are two distinct types, one with small nearly spherical fruits not over 6 inches in diameter, and a very superior type called "mamao da India" which produces fruits 18 inches long, cylindrical in form, and of excellent flavor. With the recent discovery of a method of grafting the papaya, which is fully described under Carica (page 663; cf. also Circ. No. 119, Bur. PL Ind., U. S. Dept. Agric. 1913), the propagation of superior seedlings has been made possible. In addition, much can be done to improve the quality of the fruit through the selection of seed, but the number of males which arise is usually much greater than is necessary to furnish pollen for the female trees. Through vegetative propagation, it is possible to eliminate all unnecessary males and propagate only a sufficient number to furnish the required pollen—not more than one in ten.
The fruit is commonly spherical or cylindrical in form, round or obscurely five-angled in transverse section, from 3 up to 20 or more inches in length, sometimes weighing twenty pounds or over. In general character it strongly resembles a melon; the skin is thin, smooth on the exterior, orange-yellow to deep orange in color, while the flesh, which is concolorous with the skin, is from 1 to 2 inches thick, and incloses a large sometimes five-angled cavity, to the walls of which are attached the numerous round wrinkled and blackish seeds, the size of small peas, inclosed by a thin gelatinous aril.
The flavor is rather sweet; with a slight musky twang which is sometimes objectionable to the novice, and which varies greatly in amount; the best types are of a bland agreeable taste which is almost sure to be relished, and which makes the papaya one of the most popular breakfast fruits in many tropical countries. In Brazil the flavor is thought to be improved if the fruit is lightly scored when taken from the tree, and then allowed to stand for a day so that the milky juice may run out. While most commonly used, perhaps, as a breakfast fruit, like the muskmelon in northern countries, the papaya can be prepared in numerous ways. In Brazil it is served as a dessert, sliced, with the addition of a little sugar and whipped cream. As a salad, in combination with lettuce, it is excellent. As a crystallized fruit it is good; but it has not very much character. When green it is sometimes boiled and served as a vegetable, much as summer squash is in the North. It can also be made into pickles, preserves, jellies, pies, and sherbets. When used as a breakfast fruit it is cut in halves longitudinally, and after the seeds are removed, served with the addition of lemon juice, salt and pepper, or sugar, according to taste.
In the tropics, papayas are in season during a large part of the year, and the yield is enormous, single trees bearing in the course of their lifetime a hundred or more of their immense fruits. In Florida the season extends from December to June, with occasional fruits ripening at other times. While considered a rather difficult fruit to ship, especially when fully ripe, papayas have been sent from Hawaii to San Francisco and marketed in the cities of the Pacific coast. According to Higgins and Holt, the best method of shipment is to wrap the fruits separately in paper, then encase them in cylinders of corrugated strawboard, and pack them in single-tier crates. They should be picked when they show the first signs of'ripeness. Refrigeration during the voyage is important.
The fruit of the papaya, as well as all other parts of the plant, contains a milky juice in which an active principle known as papain is present. This enzyme, which was first separated by Peckholt, greatly resembles animal pepsin in its digestive action, and in recent years has become an article of commerce. Aside from its value as a remedy in dyspepsia and kindred ailments, it has very recently been utilized for the clarification of beer. Its digestive action has long been recognized in the tropics, as evidenced by the common practice of the natives, who rub the juice over meat to make it tender. or wrap a fowl in papaya leaves and let it stand overnight before cooking it.
The papaya succeeds best in regions with a warm climate and rich loamy but well-drained soil. In south Florida it appears to prefer the richer hammock soils to those of pine-lands, but may be very successfully grown on the latter with proper fertilizing. On the Florida Keys, the plant has become thoroughly naturalized, and springs up wherever a clearing is made; the seeds being scattered by birds and other agencies. It withstands but little frost, although it is occasionally possible to fruit it toward the northern part of the state when a mild winter allows it to reach its second summer without injury. In California, the papaya has never been very successful, probably because the nights are too cool to mature the fruit perfectly. It has been noticed in the tropics that fruit ripened in cool weather is poor and somewhat squash-like in flavor. The best locations in southern California are the protected foothill regions, where the ground is sloping and the soil well drained, and where the heat during the summer months is more intense than on the seacoast. An old tree at Hollywood, Los Angeles, bore fruit for several years, but finally succumbed to the cold rains of winter, which often cause the plants to rot off at the base, especially if the drainage is the least bit defective.
In Hawaii the papaya is said to succeed on almost any soil, provided it is well drained. As soon as the plants are well started they like plenty of moisture, and are rank feeders. On the shallow soils of south Florida, organic nitrogen should be abundantly supplied. The papaya is easily grown from seed, which in Florida should be planted as early as possible,—preferably in January,—in order to have the plants in fruit by the following winter. If seeds are washed and dried after removal from the fruit, and stored in glass bottles, they will retain their viability for several years. A light sandy loam is a good medium for germination, and the seeds should be sown rather thickly about 1/2 inch deep. They may be potted off when they have made their third leaves, and from pots later set out in the ground. As the stems of young plants are very succulent, care should be taken to avoid damping-off.
For a permanent orchard, the plants should be set not less than 10 feet apart. The papaya is short-lived, and will not usually remain in profitable bearing more than two to four years. That it is of extremely simple culture is proved by the ease with which it becomes naturalized in tropical regions, and the thriftiness of the wild plants.
Two pests have become sufficiently troublesome in south Florida to require attention, one of which, the papaya fruit-fly (Toxotrypana curvicauda), threatened at one time to become serious (Cf. Journ. Agr. Research, ii. 447-453, Knab & Yothers). This insect occurs in several parts of tropical America; the female inserts her eggs into the immature papaya by means of a long ovipositor, and the larvae first feed in the central seed-mass, but later work into the flesh of the fruit, frequently rendering it unfit for human consumption. The only means of control which have been suggested are the destruction of wild plants and infested fruits, and the production of varieties of the papaya with very thick flesh, so that the female will be unable to reach the seed cavity with her ovipositor;—the young larvae are unable to live in the flesh. A fungous disease, known as papaya leaf-spot (Pucciniopsis caricae) frequently attacks the foliage during the winter season, forming small black masses on the under surfaces of the leaves. It is not very destructive, and easily controlled by spraying with bordeaux mixture.
F.W.Popenoe.
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