This document provides information on the Caricaceae family which includes papaya. It discusses the six genera and 34-35 species within the family. Key points include: - The largest genus is Vasconcellea which has 21 species. Several Vasconcellea species are described. - Carica papaya is the only species of economic importance grown for its fruit worldwide. Characteristics of the tree, leaves, flowers, and fruit are covered. - Papaya varieties grown in different countries are also mentioned, including Eksotika and Sekaki in Malaysia, and Honey Dew in India.

1. Submitted to :
Associate Professor
Department of Fruit Science
ACH, NAU, Navsari
Systematics of Caricaceae family
Submitted by :
Reg. No. 1020221014
4th Sem. Ph. D. (Horticulture)
Fruit Science
ACH, NAU, Navsari
ASPEE COLLEGE OF HORTICULTURE
NAVSARI AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
NAVSARI 39650

2. Introduction
 Caricaceae family also called papaya or pawpaw family
Kingdom Plantae
Subkingdom Tracheobionta
Superdivision Spermatophyta
Division Magnoliophyta
Subdivision Angiospermae
Class Magnoliopsida
Subclass Rosidae
Order Brassicales
Family Caricaceae

3. Genera and species
 Caricaceae family have six genera and about 34-35 species.
• Vasconcellea is the largest genus of Caricaceae.
• The genus has 21 species (20 species and 1 hybrid, Vasconcellea
× heiibornii considered as a separate species).

4.  Vasconcellea parviflora A. DC.: It is native to western South America
(Ecuador, Peru) and is considered a bridge species for gene transfer in
papaya
 Vasconcellea cauliflora (Jacq.) A. DC. syn. Carica cauliflora: It is a South
American species. The leaves are 5-lobed. It is resistant to leaf mosaic
virus. The fruit is small.
 Vasconcellea candicans (A. Gray) A. DC.: It is native to western South
America (Ecuador, Peru). It has heart-shaped leaves (reflected in their four
basal secondary veins and a small basal extension in length).
 Vasconcellea quercifolia A. St.-Hil. : It is native to South America. It is
hardiest among the Carica species and has potential to induce disease
resistance in papaya based on hybrids through embryo rescue technique.
It is characterized by typical oblong leaves with many small lobes, usually
3-lobed. The fruit is of the size of a date but is of worthless quality.
 Vasconcellea monoica (Desf.) A. DC. : It is native of Brazil, western South
America (Bolivia, Peru) from the region having 37.5 cm rainfall and more
than 50°C temperature and thus can withstand heat and rain successfully.
The plants are monoecious. The flower cluster contains both male and
female flowers. The fruit becomes ready in 3-4 months. It has potential for
inducing growth habit in papaya.

5. Carica papaya

6. Jarilla heterophylla
 Other two species are Jarilla caudata and Jarilla nana.
Jarilla chocola

7. Jacaratia Mexicana - tree Jacaratia heptaphylla
Jacaratia spinosa
Jacaratia dolichaula Jacaratia digitata Jacaratia corumbensis

8. Vasconcellea candicans Vasconcellea chilensis
Vasconcellea goudotiana Vasconcellea cauliflora
Vasconcellea parviflora
Vasconcellea pubescens
Mountain papaya

9. Characteristics of family Caricaceae
 The plants are distinctly semi-herbaceous, small trees with a straight and
rarely branched trunk having soft wood, milky latex in all parts in articulated
laticifers. The latex may be pungent.
 The stems are sometimes spiny. (Jacaratia spinosa)
 In Carica papaya, the stem has little development of secondary xylem, the
wood being formed largely from the phloem producing a soft and large pithed
trunk.
 The leaves are alternate, crowded at branch tips, palmately 7-lobed
forming, usually with long petioles and without stipules (stipules spine-like in
Vasconcellea stipulata).
 The inflorescences are axillary, 1-flowered or a many flowered thyrse. The
plants have varying sex forms but are usually dioecious (very rarely
monoecious or polygamous).
 The flowers are unisexual, rarely bisexual (sometimes in Carica).
 The flowers are regular with the parts in fives.

10. Characteristics of family Caricaceae
 Staminate flowers are on open long racemes.
 Calyx is 5-lobed and much reduced. Petals are connate into an
elongated 5-lobed tube. Stamens are 10 in two whorls attached at the
throat of corolla and the anthers open inward.
 The pistillate flowers are sessile, usually solitary or in groups of
three. Calyx is reduced. Petals are short, twisted and fleshy and
connate at the base. The stalks are short.
 The ovary is superior, of 5 fused carpels, with 1-5 locules having
parietal placentas. The style is short and crowned by 5 stigmas.
 The fruit is a berry. Each of the numerous seeds have gelatinous
envelope, oily proteinaceous endosperm and a straight embryo

11. Genus Carica
 Carica is a monotypic genus and includes the economically
important species,
 C. papaya L, cultivated since prehistoric times in the lowlands of
East Mexico and Central America and now in all the tropical
countries.
 The trunk is unbranched with hollow internodes and succulent
with prominent leaf scars.
 The plant is rapidly growing and palm like. The leaves are very
large, palmately lobed, 7-12-veined with long hollow petiole.
 As the plant grows, the leaves shed leaving a crown at the top only.
 The inflorescence is monoecious or dioecious.
 Flowers are 5-merous having stamens with submoniliform hairs,
connectives hardly prolonged beyond the apex of anther, entirely 1-
celled ovary, very short or no style, 5 usually anther like branched
stylodia.
 Fruit is ovoid to ellipsoid and pentagonal

12. Papaya : Carica papaya (2n=18)
 The papaya is native to tropical America .
 The Spanish explorers in the 16th century carried
the fruit from its natural habitat to Caribbean
(West Indies) and later to south east Asia. From
here the crop further moved to India, Africa and
Oceania and presently it is expensively cultivated
all over the world especially in the tropical and
warm sub tropical areas.
 Carica papaya the common papaya is the only
one species which is extensively grown for its
fruit.

13. Tree
 The plant has green or deep purple
stem growing straight and
cylindrical contain latex vessels
hollow inside with spongy fibrous
tissues, up to 10 m height can become
30-40 cm thick at the base, thinning to
5-7.5 cm at the crown.
 It generally branches only when
injured to crown.
 The stem marked with sharp,
prominent orbicular leaf scars.
 Papaya plant development is very fast,
taking 3–8 months for the juvenile
phase from seed germination to
flowering and 9–15 months for
harvesting (Paterson et al., 2008).
Because of its flat root system, papaya
is vulnerable to wind damage,
especially in a monoculture.
20- 100 cm
30 -40 cm
10 m

14. Leaf
 The leaves emerge directly from the
upper part of the stem in a spiral on
nearly horizontal 25-100 cm long
petioles and form a loose open crown.
 The plant produces large palmate
leaves with five to nine palmate lobes
of various widths (40–60 cm), arranged
in a spiral pattern on stem.
 The leaf blade is 25-75 cm in width and
has prominent yellowish ribs and veins
and is deeply divided into 5 to 9 main
lobes.
 The life of a leaf is 2.5 to 8 months and
1.5- 4 new leaves arise per week.

15. Root
 The papaya root is predominately a non-
axial, fibrous system, composed of one
or two 0.5–1.0 m long tap roots.
 Secondary roots emerge from the upper
sections and branch profusely
 Healthy roots are of a whitish cream
color, and no laticifers have been
observed in them

16. Flower
 Papaya is a polygamous species (with many
forms of inflorescence). Flowers are mainly of
three types, male, female and hermaphrodite
usually borne in the leaf axils on separate trees.
 Male flowers are borne in panicles (25-100 cm
long) which are erect/ pendent, sessile calyx,
small five toothed, generally cup shaped.
 Corolla pale yellow, 2-2.5 cm long trumpet
shaped, lobes 5 gamopetalous, yellow corolla
often fragrant
 stamens are 10, generally in two whorls of five
each, alternating with the petal lobes, filaments
light yellow, anthers oblong, pistilloides also
present
MALE FLOWER

17. Flower
 Female flowers generally appears singly or in few flowered cymes, in the axils of
leaves, larger than males measuring 3.5-5 cm across, rachis short and thick, more or
less sessile on main rachis.
 Calyx cup shaped with 5 narrow teeth, yellow green in colour, corolla 5 yellow,
almost free, united at base, fleshy somewhat twisted, lanceolate in shape.
 Stigma 5, fan shaped, deeply 5 lobed / cleft, sessile, ovary ovoid-oblong (2-3 cm
long) has five united carpels, central cavity with numerous ovules on parietal
placentation.

18.  Hermaphrodite: these are of three types i.e. elongata and
pentandria and intermediate type)
 Elongata : Flowers in clusters with short peduncles, petals
partially united, stamens 10 in two whorls / series, ovary
elongate.
 Pentandria: Flowers are similar to female flowers, but has only
5 stamens.
 Intermediate: Flowers appear, where stamens are carpelloid
and result in irregular fruits. Type of flowers produced and
their proportion vary according to environment and age of the
tree
Pentandria
Hermaphrodite
Female Elongata

19. Storey (1958) reported 8 categories of flowers in
papaya(morphological/sex forms).
1) Staminate-produed by male plant.
2) Tetralogical staminate- produced by sex reversing male plants.
3) Reduced elongata-produced by hermophodite plants.
4) Elongata- produced by hermoprodite plnts(referred to as normal
bisexualflower)
5) Carpelloid elongata- produced by hermophodite plants.
6) Pentandria- produced by hermophodite plants.
7) Carpelloid pentandria- produced by hermophodite plants.
8) Pistillate-produced by female plants.

20. Carpellody
 When hermaphrodite papaya plants
are subjected to stresses such as high
temperatures and water and nitrogen
shortages, female sterility is
disturbed
 Perfect papaya flowers may also
undergo variable degrees of fusion
between their stamens and the
ovary (carpellody)
 This may even affect the main
flowers, leading in some cases to
totally infertile (staminate) and
unproductive inflorescences.
 In severe cases, the five an
tepetalous stamens are completely
transformed into carpels, and the
resulting flower resembles a female
one, with a rounded ovary and free
petals almost all along their length.
This type of flower is also known as
the “pentadria type
elongata
elongata

21. Hermaphrodite flowers with varying degrees of female sterility
Carpellody in hermaphrodite flowers

23. Floral formula
Male Hermaphrodite Female

24. Fruit
 Fruit is a large fleshy hallow berry variable in shape.
 The fruit may be globose, ovoid, obovoid, or pyriform, 7-35 cm long,
and 0.25-10 kg in weight.
 It has a smooth exocarp (peel) and thick, fleshy mesocarp.
 The seeds are enclosed in aril. seeds are small, round-globose, greyish
black attached with numerous placentae in 5 rows to the central
cavity, covered with gelatinous sarcotesta, which is attached to flesh
by fleshy gelatinous stalk
 Being tropical the plants are susceptible to hot winds and frost but
require heat for fruit maturity. The plant may survive for 25-30 years
but the productive life is only 3 years.

26. The hermaphrodite plants
produce small to medium
elongated fruit of good
quality but have smaller
seed cavity (fig. a).
Female plants produce
medium to large round
fruits with a large seed
cavity having good quality
(fig. b).
The male plants with
bisexual flowers may
produce a few elongated
poor quality fruits (fig. c).

27. Varieties

28.  The major papaya cultivars in Malyasia are Foot Long, Batu Arang,
Sitiawan and Subang 6. The cultivars used as dessert fruit are Eksotika,
Eksotika II and Sekaki.
 Eksotika: It is a self pollinated inbred cultivar having similar features as
Sunrise Solo except for the larger fruit size. It is a very popular cultivar in
Malaysia.
• Eksotika is a good bearer giving fruit yield of about 60 t/ha/year. The
fruits are small to medium in size (400-800 g).
• The fruit has orange red flesh with a pleasant aroma and high TSS of
12-14°Brix but does not keep well because of its soft texture. It is also
quite susceptible to fruit freckles and malformed top disease.
 Eksotika II (F1 hybrid):
• It was developed by hybridizing Line 19 with its sib Line 20 (Eksotika).
The hybrid gives 14-33% higher yield due to the larger fruit weighing
600-800 g.
• The appearance of the fruit is more attractive having smooth skin and high
tolerance to freckles. The flesh is firmer and the fruit stores longer and is
thus preferred for export.

29.  Sekaki (Hong Kong papaya):
 It is the second most popular cultivar in Malaysia after Eksotika. It is a
cross pollinated cultivar and a prolific bearer (60-70 t/ha/year) with
medium size fruits of 1.5-2 kg.
 The tree is dwarf and bears low near the ground. It is also easy to manage
in the field because of its tolerance to malformed top disease.
 The fruit is attractive with smooth, even-coloured and freckle free skin.
The flesh is red, firm but sweetness is not high (10°Brix or less).
 In Philippines, papaya (lechosa) is grown for local fresh fruit market, for
canning and for papain production. The most popular strains of Solo
papaya commercially propagated here are Kapoho and Sunrise. The other
cultivars are Cavite Special (Pineras), Waimanolo, Sinta, Red Lady Papaya
(F1 hybrid), Tainung No. 1, Tainung No. 2 and Tainung No. 3. Cavite and
Sinta are hermaphrodite and red-fleshed. Cavite or Pineras has large and
oblong fruit weighing 1.5-6 kg.
 In Thailand, the main cultivars of papaya (malakor, loko, ma kuai thet)
are Khaegdam, Kaegnuan, Koko and Sai-nampueng.
 Sai-nampueng and Khaegdam are red-fleshed hermaphrodite cultivars.
 Khaegdam is vigorous, bears fruit weighing about 1.2 kg with 10.6°Brix
TSS.

30.  Papaya cultivars in India
 Honey Dew (Madhu Bindu): This cultivar is extensively grown
in North India. The stem and leaf stalks are purple. The fruit is
oblong and purple on the stem end. The pulp is orange in colour
having very few seeds, good taste and flavour.
 Barwani: There are two types; one having deep orange pulp and
the otherhaving golden yellow or golden orange pulp
 Washington: The cultivar is grown all over the world. The stem,
leaf petioles and basal part of the fruit close to the stem have
purple pigmentation. The fruit is ovate oblong in shape and large
in size of around one kg weight having good flavour, sweet taste
and orange-coloured pulp.
 Pusa Majesty: It is a selection from line Pusa 22-3. It is a
gynodioecious cultivar tolerant to viral diseases. Fruit is round
with short apex, medium size, smooth skin and firm, solid and
yellowish flesh. The fruit has very good keeping quality and
withstands long distance transportation

31.  Pusa Dwarf: It is a selection from line Pusa 1-45 D. The plant is distinctly
dwarf and hence suitable for high density planting and for kitchen garden.
It is a dioecious cultivar. The plants start bearing even when about 30 cm
tall. The fruit is oval and medium in size weighing 1-2 kg.
 Pusa Nanha: It is a mutant and is extremely dwarf. It is a dioecious
cultivar and is suitable for planting in kitchen gardens, pots and for roof
top cultivation. It is ideal for high density orcharding.
 Pusa Delicious: It is a selection from line Pusa 1-15. It is a
gynodioeciouscultivar having pistillate and hermaphrodite flowers on the
same plant. The fruit is oval with a bulge near the distal end. The flesh is
orange-coloured having very good eating quality and excellent flavour.
 Pusa Giant: It is a selection from line 1-45 (V). It is a dioecious cultivar.
Fruits are big-sized and attractive.

33.  Pant 1: It is a seedling selection. Plants are dioecious, dwarf, high
yielder andstart bearing fruits at 40-45 cm height from ground level.
Fruit is medium in size and 1 to 1.5 kg in weight. It is resistant to
anthracnose and has been recommended fortarai (damp) area of Uttar
Pradesh, India.
 Pant 2: It is a seedling selection. Plants are vigorous and medium in
size. It istolerant to frost and wet feet conditions. Fruits are medium to
large in size.
 Pant 3: It is a seedling selection. Plants are medium in height and
tolerant to frost and waterlogging. First flower emerges at a height of
115-130 cm from ground level. Fruits are small to medium in size (0.5-
0.9 kg) and of excellent quality.

34.  Coorg Honey (Coorg Honey Dew):
 It is considered to be a chance seedling of
Honey Dew.
 The plants are gynodioecious, dwarf and
prolific bearer. It has no male plants.
Productivity of the cultivar is poor.
 The hermaphrodite and pistillate flowers are
borne on the same plant. Each plant bears 40-
60 fruits and an average yield of 200 tonnes
per hectare could be obtained over a three year
cropping period.
 The fruit is long to oval, weighting 2.0 to 3.5
kg and of excellent quality. The flesh is thick
having more edible portion, sweet taste,
pleasant flavour and good quality.

35.  CO 1: It is a selection from cultivar Ranchi on selfing for nine generations.
Plants are dioecious and dwarf. The fruit has orange yellow flesh, of fairly
uniform quality, medium size and spherical shape.
 CO 2: A pure line selection from local type. The plants are medium tall and
dioecious. The fruit is large, obovate and initially bright green colour which
later turns yellowish green. Flesh is soft, moderately juicy and orange
yellow in colour. It is a dual purpose cultivar used for fruit, predominantly
for papain production.
 CO 3 (CO 2 x Sunrise Solo): Trees are gynodioecious and vigorous. The
fruits are pyriform, medium in size having high sugar content and red flesh.
It is suitable for table purpose.
 CO 4 (CO 1 x Washington): It is a dioecious cultivar having medium to tall
trees. Petiole, leaf and stem are purple. It is suitable for home gardening.
 CO 5: It is a selection from Washington. It is a dioecious cultivar. Petiole is
purple. It is cultivated mainly for papain production. It yields 1500-1600 kg
of dried papain per hectare.

36.  CO 6: It is a selection from the cultivar Pusa Giant and is dioecious having
plants of dwarf stature. It has large fruits and is recommended for
production of papain as well as fruits.
 CO 7 (Pusa Delicious x CO 3): It is a gynodioecious cultivar. It has fruit
sizeand quality superior to CO 3. Pink Flesh Sweet: It is a selection. It is a
gynodioecious cultivar. Fruits are medium in size having pink flesh suitable
for dessert purpose. Punjab Sweet: It is a dioecious cultivar. Plants start
bearing at a height of 75em from ground level. Fruits are round to oval in
shape and are yellow-fleshed.

37.  Taiwan: This is gynodioecious cultivar having blood red flesh of good
taste.
 Arka Surya (Sunrise Solo x Pink Flesh Sweet): It is a gynodioecious
cultivar. Fruits are medium in size weighing 600 to 800 g. The pulp is red
in colour with 3.0 to 3.5 cm thickness and sweet taste having 13.5 to 15ºB
TSS.
 Arka Prabhath (Surya x Local Dwarf): It is a gynodioecious cultivar
having deep pink pulp about 3.0 to 3.5 cm in thickness. Fruits are sweet
having 13.50 to 15 B TSS. Sunrise Solo: This is a gynodioecious cultivar
having pink flesh and good taste.
 Solo: This cultivar is important in Hawaii. HPSC-3 (Tripura Local x Honey
Dew): This cultivar is resistant to papaya mosaic virus.
 Red Lady (Taiwan 786): This is a gynodioecious cultivar having blood red
coloured flesh with good taste.
 Hybrids: Commercial F1 hybrids of papaya are rare. An important hybrid
developed in Taiwan that has resistance to papaya ringspot virus disease is
Tainung No. 5 which was develop from a cross between Florida (FL-77-5)
and Costa Rica Red.

39. Arka surya

40. Arka praphath

41.  Clonal cultivars: Honey Gold is a well known papaya clone. It is a
dioecious cultivar selected in South Africa from plants propagated by
leafy cuttings over generations.
 The clonal plants have greater uniformity especially in fruit shape,
which is a sex-linked characters. Clonally propagated Honey Gold
clone gives fairly high annual yields of 25-30 tonnes/ha under
subtropical conditions and is known to remain productive for 10 or
more years.
 Vasconcellea heilbornii var. pentagona of babaco, which is grown to
a small extent in Ecuador and New Zealand, is exclusively
propagated by cuttings because it has parthenocarpic fruits

42.  Transgenic cultivars
 The world's first transgenic papaya was SunUp, which was
transformed with coat-protein mediated resistance to papaya
ringspot virus disease.
 Rainbow is the first transgenic commercial cultivar developed in
Hawaii from a cross between SunUp and the conventiona, cultivar
Kapoho.
 Transgenic cultivars of Kamiya have also been developed by
introduction of the coat-protein transgene from Rainbow through
conventional hybridization and backcrossing.
 Transgenic papaya cultivars with delayed fruit ripening and resistance
to papaya ringspot virus disease are being developed in Malaysia,
Thailand, Indonesia, Philipp- ines and Vietnam under the Papaya
Biotechnology Network of South East Asia.

43.  Systematics of fruit crops by Girish sharma, O. C. Sharma and B. S.
Thakur.
 Systematics pomology by O. P. Pareek and S. Sharma .
References