WHAT IS PAPAYA?
Papaya, also known as paw paw, is the laymen’s term for carina papaya, an edible orange fruit with black seeds that come from the family Caricaceae. The fruit is native to southern Mexico and Central America. From there, legend says that Spanish and Portuguese explorers took the fruit across the world.
Indeed, it is said that Christopher Columbus called papaya the fruit of the angels, a testament to its exemplary quality and taste. Papaya is often mistakenly called a tree when it is in fact a plant with a thick central stem. The plant can grow anywhere from 20 to 30 feet high. You can easily recognize the tree by its trunk, which is thin with horizontal ridges every five inches or so. The leaves and fruits are clustered at the top and create a bushy crown that provides coverage for the growing fruit.
WHAT IS THE MARKET FOR PAPAYA?
In November 2023, the average price of papaya in the US was $1.81 per pound. Most of the papaya available in the United States comes from the state of Hawaii, with smaller quantities coming from California, Florida, and South America. Papaya is an expensive consumer fruit because it has a relatively short shelf life. The demand for papaya and other tropical fruits has increased as the temperatures continue to rise worldwide. After the mango and pineapple, papaya is the third most-produced tropical fruit worldwide. Today, the biggest growers of papaya is India, followed by Brazil and Indonesia. However, the plant can be found in the African tropics as well as South East Asia. The fruit is produced in over 60 countries worldwide.
HOW DO YOU GROW PAPAYA?
Papayas can be grown for commercial use on as little as two acres. Each plant needs between seven and ten feet diameter of space to grow and should be planted accordingly. The plant grows best in tropical climates, preferring to be planted in direct sunlight. Papayas in the best climates can provide fruit year-round. Flowers start appearing in approximately four months. The time from seed to fruit can be anywhere from seven to eleven months depending on growing conditions.
The best time to plant this crop is in the springtime (Feb/March), during the monsoon season (June/July), and also during the late fall (October/November). Papayas prefer soil with pH levels between 5.5 and 6.7. They also like being in dry conditions and prefer the heat to the cold. Other than that, the plant requires low levels of maintenance and is a relatively easy plant to grow, especially if you use fertilizer.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PAPAYAS?
The papaya plant comes in three genders – the male, which bears no fruit, the female – which does, and the hermaphrodite, which has both male and female parts. Fruits from the hermaphrodite plants are more cylindrical, whereas fruit from the female plant is rounder or oval-shaped. It is not uncommon for a female papaya plant to switch to a male plant when it gets hot, or for the male papaya plant to switch to being a female after beheading.
HOW DO YOU HARVEST PAPAYA?
For domestically consumed papaya, the fruit should be picked when the skin is 80% yellow. However, if you are growing the papaya for export, it is best to pick the fruit when the skin is mostly green, with only a small amount of yellow. Picking the fruit when it is still green allows for the fruit to ripen in transit. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, papayas can produce up to 80 pounds of fruit over the course of twelve months. Papaya plants can produce fruits for many years. However, over time, the number of fruits the plant produces declines, sometimes only producing in alternating years.
WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH PAPAYA?
The fruit of papaya can be eaten by itself or made into juice or smoothies. The seeds of this fruit have also been akin to black pepper. In some parts of the world, the seeds have been used as a seasoning. When ingested, papayas have high levels of antioxidants, which reduce the chance of heart disease and aids in digestion. Indeed, the fruit is the only natural source of papain, an enzyme that helps with digesting proteins. This fruit also has more vitamin C than oranges, making it a good choice for daily nutrition. Topically, papaya leaves have been used to treat skin ulcers and also used as an exfoliant to remove dead skin.
HOW DO YOU START A PAPAYA-BASED BUSINESS?
The first step in getting started is sowing your crop. You can get the seeds from the fruit itself and begin the germination process. Mind your spacing and growing conditions and you will be on your way to a bountiful harvest in a matter of months. Be prepared to pay a premium for international shipping, but the rewards on the other end are promising – you’ll be entering a market where the demand is greater than the supply. As always, with any agricultural product, it is best to have buyers before you plant and harvest your crop but because papaya is in high demand that shouldn’t be a problem.
Like all-natural products? Check out our shop.
