Modern history of papaya

Papaya most probably originated along the Caribbean coast of Central America. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it quickly became favored by Spanish and Portuguese explorers.

The species was probably widely cultivated by Indians in Mexico and Central America, prior to 1492.

The fruit was first described by the Spaniard Oviedo in 1526. Papayas are consumed year-round in the tropics and subtropics. The numerous seeds, when dried, remain viable for several years, and this facilitated their movement from Caribbean region to Malacca and to India in the 1600s.

Papaya was grown in Uganda in 1874. When Europeans first saw papaya, they called the fruit ‘tree melon’ because of the similarity of the flavors of papaya and melon.

Papayas were brought to United States in the twentieth century and have been cultivated in Hawaii. The fruit is widely renowned for its medicinal purposes.

The hundreds of little black seeds found inside the fruit are used in the treatment of parasites and tapeworms.

In England the name papaya commonly named pawpaw, but in United States it is apt to be confused with pawpaw as applied to the Asimina tribola, a very different fruit.

The name papaya derived from Indian word papayana, which means ‘hammering’, probably referring to the quality of some papaya components to tenderize meat.

Modern history of papaya