I have always enjoyed eating papaya fruit first thing in the morning before my breakfast, which I usually have 30 to 60 minutes later. Similarly, my body seems to take to green papaya salad. Whenever I go out and eat in a Thai restaurant that’s what I order for starters. I never asked myself, why? But this is not surprising. I am usually going with what the body approves, and for some (fortunate) reason, my body is only rarely interested in junk. The taste buds, yes, on occasion they are. Which is why I sometimes cave in (or even for short periods of time when I am traveling) and eat according to the taste buds’ dictate. More often, however, I just listen to what the body tells me like, “Papaya is good for you!” And then I have some.
About papaya we can generally say this much: Both as a delicious food and potent medicinal plant the papaya tree provides a whole array of health benefits. Of course Christopher Columbus did not know this when he gave a name to this tree, but his choice was appropriate. He called it ‘Fruit of Angels’. The name fits, because every part of the papaya tree and its fruit is useable. It will contribute to maintaining health (like my breakfast papaya that is soothing to the stomach lining and a great digestive aid), or it will even correct imbalances in the body.
Despite such great benefits papayas are not difficult but on the contrary relatively easy to grow, especially in places like Goa, which is where we live. With sufficient watering and some organic fertilizing they even flourish in relatively poor soils. One fruit contains so many seeds that it is possible to grow an entire cultivation from just one single papaya.
These wonderful fruit have a high content in different kinds of vitamins, both water- and fat-soluble, like vitamin A,C, and E. Papayas also contain certain carotenoids, flavonoids, folates and trace minerals that react synergistically with the body to protect its DNA by sending out health sustaining epigenetic messages. Furthermore, papayas are rich in pantothenic acid, potassium, magnesium and dietary fiber. Last but not least, they contain papain, their own plant specific enzyme, which helps in the digestion of protein and reduces inflammation. To come back to my liking for green papaya salad, there is an excellent reason for it above and beyond the taste: the green papaya has three times more of the papain enzyme than the fully ripened fruit.
Naturally, papaya has been a part of many folk medicine traditions. For example, natives in South America have used the plant for centuries to treat several diseases and symptoms. Mature ripe fruits have been applied as effective remedy against ringworm, whereas green fruit have been used to lower blood pressure. Fruit and seed extracts are now found to be effective against several bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, and Shingella flexneri. Papaya tree bark helps with toothache, while the root can be cooked as a tea for jaundice, intestinal parasites and bleeding disorders.
Natives of the South Seas have long used papaya seeds for birth control. And indeed, research has proven that papaya seeds have potent spermicidal properties, and may thus temporarily reduce fertility. The same can be said about unripe fruit in South American folk medicine, which used them for the purpose of contraception, and in order to induce abortions. The latter use has likewise been confirmed by present day research. As such it is now advised that pregnant women refrain from consuming large amounts of green papaya before and during the first stages of pregnancy. Leaves are also steamed and eaten like a vegetable, and are used as a heart tonic, analgesic and to treat cases of stomachache.
And then in the last 2 to 3 years papaya has made the headlines as anti-carcinogenic agent.