11
Introduction and Uses
1.1 Origin and History
Papaya (Carica papaya L.), belonging to the family Caricaceae, is one of the most
important fruits cultivated throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the
world. It is widely believed that papaya originated in the Caribbean coast of Central
America, ranging from Argentina to Chile to southern Mexico through natural hybridi-
sation between Carica peltata and another wild species (da Silva et al. 2007). Recently,
another taxonomic revision was proposed and supported by molecular evidence that
genetic distances were found between papaya and other related species (Kim et al.
2002). Some species that were formerly assigned to Carica family were classified in
the genus Vasconcella (Badillo 2001). Accordingly, the classification of Caricaceae
has been revised to comprise Cylicomorpha, Carica, Jacaratia, Jarilla, Horovitzia
and Vasconcella, with Carica papaya being the only species within the genus Carica
(Badillo 2001). The history of papaya appears to be first documented by Oviedo, the
Director of Mines in Hispaniola (Antilles) from 1513 to 1525, where he described how
Alphonso de Valverde took papaya seeds from the coasts of Panama to Darien, then to
San Domingo and other islands of West Indies. The Spaniards gave it the name ‘papaya’
and took the plant to Philippines, from where it expanded to Malaya and finally India in
1598 (da Silva et al. 2007). By the time papaya trees were established in Uganda in 1874,
their distribution had already spread through most tropical and subtropical countries.
When first encountered by Europeans, papaya was nicknamed ‘tree melon’.
Papaya is known by different names in the world, namely fafay and babaya (Arabic);
thimbaw (Burmese); papayer and papaye (Creole); bisexual pawpaw, pawpaw tree,
melon tree and papaya (English); papaya, lapaya and kapaya (Filipino); papailler,
papaye and papayer (French); papaya and melonenbraum (German); gedang and
papaya (Indonesian); kates (Javanese); doeumlahong (Khmer); Sino-Tibetan houng
(Lao); papaali (Luganda); papaya, betek, ketalah and kepaya (Malaya); pepol
(Sinhala); figuera del monte, frutabomba, papaya, papaita and lechosa (Spanish);
mpapai (Swahili); ma kuaithet, malakor and loko (Thai); papayo (Tigrigna) and
du du (Vietnamese). In Australia, red- and pink-fleshed cultivars are often known
as ‘papaya’ to distinguish them from the yellow-fleshed fruits, known as ‘paw-
paw’. In India, it is locally known as pappaiya (Bengali), papeeta (Hindi), papaya
(English) and pappali or pappayi (Tamil). Worldwide, India is the largest producer
(5,160,390 MT), followed by Brazil (1517696 MT) (FAOSTAT 2012a, b) (Figure 1.1).
The market demand for tropical fruits has been growing steadily over the past
two decades. Global production of tropical fruits (excluding bananas) reached 73.02
million (M) metric tonnes (t) in 2010. Gaining in popularity worldwide, papaya is
now ranked third with 11.22 Mt, or 15.36% of the total tropical fruit production,
after mango with 38.6 Mt (52.86%) and pineapple with 19.41 Mt (26.58%). Globally,