Botany and Improvement 45
‘Solo’ in 1919 and by 1936 was the only commercial papaya in the islands. ‘Solo’
produces no male plants, only female (with round, shallowly furrowed fruits) and
bisexual (with pear-shaped fruits) in equal proportions. ‘Kapoho Solo’or ‘PunaSolo’,
‘Dwarf Solo’ (a backcross of Florida’s ‘Betty’ and ‘Solo’) and Waimanalo’ (‘Solo’
line 77) were developed and became popular with growers in USA (Table 2.2).
Higgins (Line 17 A): This was introduced to Hawaiian growers in 1974. It is of
high quality, pear shaped, with orange-yellow skin, deep-yellow flesh and averages
about 0.5 kg when grown under irrigation. In areas or seasons of low rainfall, the
fruit remains undersized.
Wilder (Line 25): This is a cultivar admired for its uniformity of size, firmness,
small cavity and now popular for export.
Hortus Gold: This is a South African cultivar, launched in the early 1950s, dioe-
cious, early maturing, round-oval shape, golden-yellow fruits and 0.9–1.36 kg in
weight. This possessed higher sugar content and disease resistance was chosen and
named ‘Honey Gold’ in 1976. This cultivar had a slight beak at the apex, golden-
yellow skin, sweet flavour and good texture, but becomes mushy when overripe. It
averages 1.0 kg per fruit, except for those at the end of the season which are much
smaller. It does not reproduce true from seed and is, therefore, propagated by cut-
tings. It is late-maturing (10 months from fruit set to maturity) and, therefore, brings
nearly double the price of other cultivars.
Bettina and Petersen: These long-standing cultivars of Queensland, Australia
were inbred for several generations to obtain pure lines. ‘Bettina’, a hybrid from a
cross between Florida’s ‘Betty’ and a Queensland strain, is a low, shrubby, dioecious
plant producing well-coloured, round-oval fruits weighing 1.5–2.5 kg.
Improved Petersen: This is dioecious, tall-growing variety, with fruits noted for
the fine colour and flavour of the flesh. In 1947,’Bettina 100A’ was crossed with
‘Petersen 170’ to produce the superior, semi-dwarf’ Hybrid No. 5′, with fruits which
TABLE 2.2
Improved Papaya Varieties in Different Countries
Country Variety
South Africa Hortus Gold, Honey Gold
Sri Lanka Peradeniya
Hawaii (USA) Solo, Solo-10, Higgins, Wilder, Waimanalo, Homestead
Trinidad Santa Cruz Giant (hermaphrodite), Cedros (dioecious),
Singapore Pink (hermaphrodite)
Indonesia Semangka (Red Fleshed Fruits); Thialand
Venezuela Maradol Roja, Cubana, Paraguanera
Florida (USA) Betty, Washington, Honeydew
Australia Improved Peterson, Peterson, Bettina
Surinam Santo 3, Santo 4, Santo 7Source: Adapted from Ray, P. K., 2002, Breeding Tropical and Subtropical
Fruits, Narosa Publishing House, Daryaganj, New Delhi, India.