The papaya ( Carica papaya ) is a slightly sweet fruit with a musky tang, cultivated throughout the tropical world and into the warmest parts of the subtropics. It may have originated through the fusion of Carica species native to Mexico and Central America, and was further developed by the Maya at least 4,000 years ago. The papaya plant is considered a tree, though its trunk is not very woody, and can grow up to 26 feet tall. Deeply lobed leaves crown the tree. Male and female flowers grow on separate plants. The fruit is typically spherical to cylindrical, weighing up to 25 pounds. Its juicy flesh is deep yellow or orange to salmon-colored, with many black seeds inside. The unripe fruit contains papain , a protein-digesting enzyme used in meat tenderizers and remedies for indigestion. Papayas are usually grown from seed, with fruit production starting before the end of the first year.

Where does the papaya tree grow?

The papaya, Carica papaya , is a succulent fruit-bearing plant that likely originated from the fusion of Carica species native to Mexico and Central America. Today, the papaya is cultivated throughout the tropical world and in the warmest subtropical regions. Papayas are typically grown from seed and develop rapidly, producing fruit before the end of their first year. Under favorable conditions, a papaya plant may live for five years or more.

What does a papaya tree look like?

The papaya plant ( Carica papaya ) is considered a tree, though its trunk is not very woody and can grow up to 8 meters (26 feet) tall. Deeply lobed leaves, sometimes 60 cm (2 feet) across, crown the tree. Papayas are typically dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, but hermaphroditic forms exist. Male flowers grow in clusters on stalks, while larger female flowers are on short stalks. The papaya fruit is typically spherical to cylindrical, 75 to 500 mm (3 to 20 inches) long, and can weigh up to 9 to 11.5 kg (20 to 25.5 pounds). The juicy flesh is deep yellow, orange, or salmon-colored. Numerous round, wrinkled black seeds line the walls of the large central cavity. The unripe fruit contains a milky juice with papain, a protein-digesting enzyme.

How is the papaya fruit used or eaten?

The papaya fruit is enjoyed in many ways. When ripe, its slightly sweet flesh, with a musky tang, makes it a popular breakfast fruit. It is also a common ingredient in salads, pies, sherbets, juices, and confections. The unripe fruit can be cooked like squash. Papain, an enzyme found in the fruit, leaves, latex, and roots of the papaya plant, is used to tenderize meat and in remedies for indigestion. It is also used in enzyme-action cleansing agents, toothpastes, and cosmetics.

What are the health benefits of eating papaya?

Papayas are nutritious fruits. According to a rating system for 28 popular fresh fruits, papayas are high in nutrients and low in calories. Papain, an enzyme found in papayas, helps break down proteins. The unripe fruit contains a milky juice with papain, used to treat indigestion and tenderize meat. The fruit is also a source of vitamins A, B, and C, as well as calcium and iron.

How are papaya trees grown and cared for?

Papayas are typically grown from seed and develop quickly, producing fruit within the first year. They can live for five years or more under favorable conditions. The papaya ringspot virus devastated papaya crops worldwide after initially impacting Hawaiian plantations in the 1940s. In the early 2000s, a genetically modified (GMO) variety called the Rainbow papaya was created to resist the virus. It became one of the first GMO fruits in commercial production, and most exported papayas are now GMO crops.

Papaya

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Images

Papaya fruit (Carica payapa) cut lengthwise.

Papaya trees (Carica papaya) in Thailand

Cluster of large green papayas growing closely together on the trunk of a papaya tree (Carica papaya), surrounded by broad, deeply lobed leaves.

Whole papaya and a halved papaya showing orange flesh and black seeds, set against a white background.

Quick Facts

Also called:: papaw or pawpaw

Related Topics:: Carica; fruit

On the Web:: WebMD - Health Benefits of Papaya (Oct. 29, 2026)

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Papaya

tree and fruit

Also known as: Carica papaya, papaw, pawpaw

Written and fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 3, 2026 •History

Top Questions

What is a papaya?
The papaya (Carica papaya) is a slightly sweet fruit with a musky tang, cultivated throughout the tropical world and into the warmest parts of the subtropics. It may have originated through the fusion of Carica species native to Mexico and Central America, and was further developed by the Maya at least 4,000 years ago.

The papaya plant is considered a tree, though its trunk is not very woody, and can grow up to 26 feet tall. Deeply lobed leaves crown the tree. Male and female flowers grow on separate plants. The fruit is typically spherical to cylindrical, weighing up to 25 pounds. Its juicy flesh is deep yellow or orange to salmon-colored, with many black seeds inside. The unripe fruit contains papain, a protein-digesting enzyme used in meat tenderizers and remedies for indigestion.

Papayas are usually grown from seed, with fruit production starting before the end of the first year.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where does the papaya tree grow?
The papaya, Carica papaya, is a succulent fruit-bearing plant that likely originated from the fusion of Carica species native to Mexico and Central America. Today, the papaya is cultivated throughout the tropical world and in the warmest subtropical regions. Papayas are typically grown from seed and develop rapidly, producing fruit before the end of their first year. Under favorable conditions, a papaya plant may live for five years or more.
1 Britannica Source
1. papaya
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What does a papaya tree look like?
The papaya plant (Carica papaya) is considered a tree, though its trunk is not very woody and can grow up to 8 meters (26 feet) tall. Deeply lobed leaves, sometimes 60 cm (2 feet) across, crown the tree.

Papayas are typically dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, but hermaphroditic forms exist. Male flowers grow in clusters on stalks, while larger female flowers are on short stalks.

The papaya fruit is typically spherical to cylindrical, 75 to 500 mm (3 to 20 inches) long, and can weigh up to 9 to 11.5 kg (20 to 25.5 pounds). The juicy flesh is deep yellow, orange, or salmon-colored. Numerous round, wrinkled black seeds line the walls of the large central cavity. The unripe fruit contains a milky juice with papain, a protein-digesting enzyme.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Brassicales: Caricaceae
2. papaya: Physical description
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How is the papaya fruit used or eaten?
The papaya fruit is enjoyed in many ways. When ripe, its slightly sweet flesh, with a musky tang, makes it a popular breakfast fruit. It is also a common ingredient in salads, pies, sherbets, juices, and confections. The unripe fruit can be cooked like squash.

Papain, an enzyme found in the fruit, leaves, latex, and roots of the papaya plant, is used to tenderize meat and in remedies for indigestion. It is also used in enzyme-action cleansing agents, toothpastes, and cosmetics.
2 Britannica Sources
1. papaya
2. papain
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What are the health benefits of eating papaya?
Papayas are nutritious fruits. According to a rating system for 28 popular fresh fruits, papayas are high in nutrients and low in calories.

Papain, an enzyme found in papayas, helps break down proteins. The unripe fruit contains a milky juice with papain, used to treat indigestion and tenderize meat. The fruit is also a source of vitamins A, B, and C, as well as calcium and iron.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How are papaya trees grown and cared for?
Papayas are typically grown from seed and develop quickly, producing fruit within the first year. They can live for five years or more under favorable conditions.

The papaya ringspot virus devastated papaya crops worldwide after initially impacting Hawaiian plantations in the 1940s. In the early 2000s, a genetically modified (GMO) variety called the Rainbow papaya was created to resist the virus. It became one of the first GMO fruits in commercial production, and most exported papayas are now GMO crops.
1 Britannica Source
1. papaya: Cultivation
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Papaya, (Carica papaya), succulent fruit of a large plant of the family Caricaceae. Though its origin is rather obscure, the papaya may represent the fusion of two or more species of Carica native to Mexico and Central America. Today it is cultivated throughout the tropical world and into the warmest parts of the subtropics. The papaya fruit is slightly sweet, with an agreeable musky tang, which is more pronounced in some varieties and in some climates than in others. It is a popular breakfast fruit in many countries and is also used in salads, pies, sherbets, juices, and confections. The unripe fruit can be cooked like squash.

Physical description

papaya treePapaya tree (*Carica papaya*).

The papaya plant is considered a tree, though its palmlike trunk, up to 8 meters (26 feet) tall, is not as woody as the designation generally implies. The plant is crowned by deeply lobed leaves, sometimes 60 cm (2 feet) across, borne on hollow petioles (leaf stalks) 60 cm long. Normally, the species is dioecious, male and female flowers being produced on separate plants, but hermaphroditic forms are known, and numerous irregularities in the distribution of the sexes are common. Male flowers are borne in clusters on stalks 90 cm long; the flowers are funnel-shaped, about 2.5 mm (0.1 inch) long, and whitish, with 10 stamens in the throat. The female flowers are considerably larger, on very short stalks, and often solitary in the leaf axils; they have five fleshy petals that are united toward the base and a large cylindrical or globose superior ovary that is crowned by five fan-shaped sessile stigmas.

The fruit is commonly spherical to cylindrical in form, is 75 to 500 mm (3 to 20 inches) or even more in length, and sometimes weighs as much as 9 to 11.5 kg (20 to 25.5 pounds). The very juicy flesh is deep yellow or orange to salmon-colored. Along the walls of the large central cavity are attached the numerous round, wrinkled black seeds.

Chef tossing vegetables in a frying pan over a burner (skillet, food).

Britannica Quiz

What’s on the Menu? Vocabulary Quiz

The unripe fruit contains a milky juice in which is present a protein-digesting enzyme known as papain, which greatly resembles the animal enzyme pepsin in its digestive action. This juice is used in the preparation of various remedies for indigestion and in the manufacture of meat tenderizers.

Cultivation

Papayas are usually grown from seed. Their development is rapid, with fruit being produced before the end of the first year. Under favorable conditions, a plant may live five years or more.

The papaya ringspot virus nearly wiped out papaya crops around the world, first hitting Hawaiian plantations in the 1940s and soon spreading. A genetically modified (GMO) variety named the Rainbow papaya was developed in the early 2000s with resistance to the virus. It was one of the first GMO fruits in commercial production, and the majority of exported papayas are now GMO crops.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

This article was most recently revised and updated by Mindy Johnston.

Papaya

Physical description

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Cultivation