Papaya is a tropical fruit native to Central America. It has 18 chromosomes and can be propagated through seeds, though vegetative methods are not viable commercially due to its fragile stem. There are dioecious and gynodioecious varieties that bear male and female or hermaphroditic flowers separately. Papaya grows best in tropical climates, well-draining soil, and requires irrigation every 5-6 days in summer and 8-10 days in winter. It is harvested 9-10 months after planting when the fruit skin changes color and latex becomes consistent. Papaya is a source of papain enzyme and vitamin A, and has an economic life of 2-3 years.

1. Papaya
Dr. Mahesh B. Ghuge
Assistant Professor
School of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture
Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, India

2. Papaya
Botanical name: Carica papaya
Family: Caricaceae
Chromosome No.: 18 (2n)
Origin: Tropical America
Papayas can be processed as Jam, Syrup,
Preserves, Papaya candy, canned fruits,
salad, and jelly. Papya is also a commercial
source of protease enzyme, ‘
Papain’
Rich in Vitamin A

3. Flower Structure
 Dioecious which bears male and female
flowers separately on different plants
 Gynodioecious forms also which bears
female (Pistillate) and Hermaphrodite
(Bisexual) flowers

4. Climate & Soil
 Climate: Tropical fruit crop, sensitive
to frost, below 10OC and exceed
38OCwill affect the growth and fruit
set, does not stand strong
(80Km/Hour) or hot winds.
 Soil: Variety of soils, well drained,
cannot withstand water stagnation for
more than 48 hours, Medium black
and alluvial soils are also suitable

5. Varieties
 GYD: P. Delicious, P. Majesty, CO-3,
CHD, Sunrise Solo, Taiwan, Surya
 Dioecious: P. Giant, P. Dwarf, CO-1,
CO-2, CO-5, Pink Flesh Sweet, Pant C-
1, Betty, Chinmay -1,
 Mutant: P. Nanha

6. Propagation
 Commercially
propagated by seeds
 highly cross-pollinated
 Vegetative methods of
propagation like cuttings,
layering, grafting and
budding are not possible
on a commercial scale
due to the hollow and
fragile nature of its stem

7. Raising of seedlings
 Freshly extracted seeds germinate better and grow
quicker
 Dioecious: 400 -500 g
 Gynodioecious: 250-300 g
 Seedlings raised in polythene bags are found good
 germinate with in 15-20 days
 Transplanted after 2 months

8. Planting
 Ploughed deep, harrowed and levelled
 Pits of size 45cm X 45cm are dug
 5 kg. of FYM, 100 grams of Neem cake
and 40 grams of super phosphate
 4seedlings should be maintained per pit
till the identification of female and male
progenies
 One female plant per pit and one male
plant for every 10 female plants in
dioecious
 Beginning of the monsoon

9. Manuring & Irrigation
 Quick grower and heavy feeder
 50 grams each of N, P and K per plant
(110 g of urea, 310 g of super
phosphate and 80 g of muriate of
potash)
 Ring system of irrigation is better
 Summer: 5-6 days interval
 Winter: 8-10 days interval

10.  5-6 months after planting, Fruit takes 4
to 5 months to reach full maturity
 Harvesting after 9-10 months after
planting
 Colour change and the consistency of
latex
 Average yield is about 75-100 tones per
hectare
 Economic life of papaya is 2 to 3 years
Harvesting & Yield

11. Papain
 Papain is the proteolytic enzyme present in
the milky latex obtained from green fruits of
papaya
 Exclusively exported, great demand
 Used in breweries, especially for
clarification of beer, medicines, cosmetics,
tanning industry, tenderization of meat and
fish, extraction of animal and plant protein
from various animals and plants etc
 proprietary pharmaceutical preparations
using papain are available in the market

12. Papain extraction
 Tapped from 75 to 90 days old immature papaya
fruits early in the morning up to 10.00am
 Four longitudinal incisions should be given using
a razor blade attached to bamboo splinter
 depth of the cut should not be more than 0.3cm
 tapping has to be repeated four times on the
same fruit at an interval of 4 days
 latex should be collected in aluminium trays and
shade dried
 Before drying, potassium meta-bi-sulphate
(KMS) 0.05% has to be added to the latex for
better colour and keeping quality

13.  The latex can also be dried in oven at a
temperature range of 50-55 OC
 Papain yield ranges from 1.23g to 7.45g
per fruit and the cultivar
 Time for papain extraction: Cool and wet
period–gives more papain. July to
August is the best period.