Nutrition

Why Hawaii Papaya?

Choices to the Consumer

How to Select and Store a Papaya

Recipes

Papaya Information

Nutrition – WOW!

Hawaii papayas offer more than only a delicious tropical taste. They are rich sources of nutrients that together promote healthy living.

Papayas are one of the healthiest fresh fruits. The nutritional scoreboard was developed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer-watchdog agency headquartered in Washington, D.C. In its "Fantastic Fruit" ratings for fresh fruits, papaya was impressively ranked in the Top 5 with guava, watermelon, grapefruit and kiwifruit well ahead of traditionally thought of healthy fruits as orange, apple, and banana. The score for each fruit is gotten by adding up its percent of the Daily Value for six key nutrients: vitamin C, folate, potassium, iron, calcium, and fiber plus carotenoids.

Papayas are rich in enzymes that stimulate stomach secretions and aid digestion. They contain protein-digesting enzymes including papain and chymopapain.

Papayas are low in fat and are a good source of fiber, which has been shown to lower high cholesterol levels. Papayas are an excellent source of Vitamins C and E and beta-carotene, three strong antioxidants. These nutrients help prevent the oxidation of cholesterol that may damage the blood vessel walls and eventually cause heart attack or stroke.

Papayas are also a very good source of calcium, potassium and Vitamins A and B.


Per 100 g of	Papaya	Orange	Apple	Banana
Calories (kcal)	39	47	52	89
Cholesterol (mg)	0	0	0	0
Total Lipid - Fat (g)	0.14	0.12	0.17	0.33
Carbohydrates (g)	9.81	11.75	13.81	22.84
Protein (g)	0.61	0.94	0.26	1.09
Fiber, total dietary (g)	1.8	2.4	2.4	2.6
Calcium (mg)	24	40	6	5
Iron (mg)	0.10	0.10	0.12	0.26
Potassium (mg)	257	181	107	358
Zinc (mg)	0.07	0.07	0.04	0.15
Vitamin A (IU)	1094	225	54	64
Vitamin B, total folate (mcg)	38	30	3	20
Vitamin C (mg)	61.8	53.2	4.6	8.7
Vitamin E, alpha-tocopherol (mg)	0.73	0.18	0.18	0.10
Beta Carotene (mcg)	276	71	27	26

Source: USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 18 (2005)

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Why Hawaii Papaya? High Quality

Sun filled days and cool nights give Hawaii the perfect growing conditions to produce the finest of papayas. Rich volcanic soil, dedicated growers and state-of-the-art packing and shipping operations ensure prime quality market arrivals.

Hawaii offers nutritious, quality papayas with only those meeting Hawaii Number 1 standard exported overseas. Hawaii Number 1 papaya consists of Hawaii-grown papayas that are mature in that at the least a portion of the rounded end shows a definite tinge of yellow, yet not be fully ripe and soft. They are free of foreign material, stem well trimmed, fairly well formed, and the skin fairly smooth. Hawaii Number 1 papayas are free from damage caused by decay breakdown, injury resulting from heat or sunlight, scars, surface bruise, disease, insects, and cut or puncture from mechanical or other means.

Kapoho Solo Papaya Tree pictured to the left

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Choices to the Consumer

The Hawaii papaya industry offers a wide variety of papayas to the consumers. Some of the varieties are:

Kapoho Solo – Kapoho is a pear shaped, high sugar papaya with a greenish-yellow skin that turns yellow as the fruit ripens. The deep-yellow flesh has a pleasant peach-melon taste.

Rainbow – This is the principal variety grown and shipped from the islands. Rainbow is the genetically engineered papaya resistant to the ringspot virus disease. Rainbow has a greenish-yellow skin that turns yellow as the fruit ripens with golden-yellow flesh. It is grown on the Big Island, Oahu, and Kauai. Initial consumer testing has confirmed the extreme popularity of this golden yellow flesh variety.

Sunrise/SunUp – Popular by its nickname “strawberry” papaya, Sunrise has a freckled greenish-yellow skin that turns yellow as the fruit ripens, but inside is a juicy, dramatic red-orange color flesh. SunUp is the genetically engineered papaya of the red-flesh variety that is resistant to the ringspot virus disease.

Kamiya/Laie Gold – Grown only on Oahu, Kamiya is a rounder, larger fruit than the other varieties. Kamiya has a thin, greenish-yellow skin with thick orange flesh. It is ripe when it yields to finger pressure; do not depend on color of skin. It is grown for local market only. Laie Gold is the genetically engineered papaya of the Kamiya variety that is resistant to the ringspot virus disease.

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How to Select and Store a Papaya

1/4 ripe 1/2 ripe 3/4 ripe fully ripe

Look for papayas with smooth unblemished skin, that are partly or completely yellow in color depending on the variety, that give slightly to pressure, but are not soft at the stem-end. A few black or green spots on the surface will not affect the papaya’s taste. As with most fresh fruit, papayas bruise easily, so they should be handled with care. Avoid papayas that are bruised, shriveled, or have soft areas as damages can spoil the flavor of the fruit. Uncut papayas have no smell. Papayas that are cut should have a sweet-musky smell, not bad or fermented.

Papayas are shipped to the market mature but at various degrees of ripeness. Purchased at any stage of ripeness, papayas can easily be ripened at home by leaving slightly green fruit at room temperature, especially in a paper bag, and refrigerating until they are ¾ to mostly yellow. At that point they are ready to eat. Ripe papayas can be placed in a plastic bag and stored in the refrigerator. Papayas will keep for up to a week, but it is best to eat them within a day or two.

Judging the degree of ripeness is best determined by eye rather than touch. Color is usually the key to ripe fruit. When in doubt, the rounded end will yield slightly to finger pressure when ripe. The following chart will help you select papayas as to the degree of ripeness you prefer:

Color	Stage of Ripeness	Ripening Time at Room Temperature
Green, with slight yellow tinge at larger end.	¼ ripe	5 – 7 days at room temperature.
1/3 yellow, 2/3 green.	½ ripe	2 – 4 days at room temperature.
1/2 yellow, 1/2 green.	¾ ripe	1 –2 days at room temperature.
Mostly yellow or yellow-orange.	100% ripe	Ready to eat.

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