Papaya - Tropical and Subtropical Fruits: Postharvest Physiology, Processing and Packaging - page 289

16
Papaya

Maria Gloria Lobo and Cristina Rodrıguez Pastor

INTRODUCTION
Papayas ( Carica papaya ) are thought to be native to tropical
America, in a region that stretches from Mexico to Panama.
The first literary reference to papayas dates back to 1526,
when they were found in the Caribbean coast of Panama and
Colombia and described by the Spanish chronicler Oviedo.
Spanish and Portuguese introduced the seeds, which re-
main viable for several years if dried, in the Philippines,
Malaysia, Pacific islands, India, and Africa (Nakasone and
Paull, 1998). In Europe, they are only cultivated in the
Canary Islands (Spain) under mesh greenhouses (Rancel
Delgado et al., 2007).
This fruits receive other common names such as “paw
paw or papaw” in United Kingdom and North America,
“papaye” in France, “meloenboom” in The Netherlands,
“melonenbaum and papaya” in Germany, “fruta bomba”
in Cuba, “lechoso” in Venezuela, “mamao” in Brazil, “du
du” in Vietnam and “loko,” “malakor,” and “ma kuai thet”
in Thailand. In Australia, red and pink-fleshed cultivars
are called “papayas” to distinguish them from the yellow-
fleshed fruits known as “papaw” or “paw paw” (Papaya
Australia, 2007).

tries. India, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Mexico were top
five papaya-producing countries. India alone contributed
about 37% of total world production, and along with Brazil,
these two countries had about 55% share of total papaya
produced in 2009. Mexico, Brazil, Belize, Malasia, and
India were the top five papaya-exporting countries, while
the United States, Singapore, Canada, the Netherlands, and
Germany were the major importers. World papya produc-
tion, exports, and imports on a regional basis are shown in
Table 16.2.
Around 4% of world papaya production typically enters
world trade as fresh or dried papayas; a large but unknown
quantity is further processed for export. Papaya is con-
sumed mainly as a fresh fruit but is also canned (usually
as pulp), made into jams, or dried and crystallized (NRIA,
2010).

SIGNIFICANCE IN HUMAN HEALTH
AND CONSUMPTION TRENDS
Papaya has been used for culinary and medicinal purposes
for centuries. It is a popular breakfast and dessert in the trop-
ics and is recently being sold regularly on markets all over
the world. It is also consumed in salads, drinks, and so on.
The emerging trend of consumers concern over their body
health and pursuing healthy lifestyle have increased the de-
mands toward natural, fresh, and organic foods. One of the
uptrending healthy foods that has increasingly appeared in
consumer grocery list is the fruit that has nutritional sig-
nificance due to its nutrient richness or antioxidant value,
which are believed to make a positive contribution toward
consumer health. In this regard, papaya is low in calories

WORLD DISTRIBUTION
AND PRODUCTION
World production and exports of papayas have grown
strongly over the last decade, despite a generally down-
ward trend in prices. World production of papayas in 2009
was 10.49 million metric tons, which was almost 1.5 times
higher than that in 1999 (Fig. 16.1). Table 16.1 shows lead-
ing papaya-producing, -exporting, and -importing coun-