Pawpaw 1

PAWPAW (Carica papaya)
Introduction
It belongs to the family caricaceae and the only species of economic importance in the
family. papaya is a native to tropical America, from there it spread to south America and
west Indian islands; it was taken to the Philippines by the Spaniards and later reached
other regions of South-East Asia and Africa. It is now present in every tropical and
subtropical country.
Plant characteristics:
 It is a small normally unbranched quick growing soft wooded tree with latex
vessels in all parts.
 The stem is hollow between the nodes, except in young plants; it mainly consists
of wood parenchyma and bears large triangular scars.
 The peltate leaves are arranged in a 2/5 spiral; they have long hollow petioles and
large, deeply lobed blades. Two weeks after germination two leaves emerge each
week.
 The plant is dioecious but hermaphrodite (bisexual) flowers and trees are present.
a) The female flowers 3-5 cm long sit alone or in small groups in the leaf axils;
the ovary is 2-3cm long and has five fan shaped stigma on top.
b) The male flowers with ten stamens each are found on long hanging panicles.
c) Bisexual flowers have either five or ten stamens and some tend to be
carpelloids (fruit like) in which case the fruit have a cat face appearance and are
unmarketable.
Different type of hermaphrodite flowers may occur on the same tree depending on the
season or the age of the tree.
 Male trees are also variable sometimes a fruit is found at the end of a long
panicle. A complete change of sex may take place when an old male tree is cut
back sprouts bearing female flowers(and later fruit ) appear there
 The fruit is a large fleshy hollow berry. Fruits formed from female flowers are
oblong to nearly spherical but if formed from bisexual flowers they are pear
shaped cylindrical or grooved.
The thin green skin becomes yellow at the bottom at maturity.
The flesh is yellow to orange and some cultivars reddish and has a pleasant flavor.
Around the cavity lie a thousand or more seeds but seedless fruits do occur.
 The root system is extensive and dense or shallow depending on soil conditions.
Cultivars
Sunrise solo Waimanalo
Kapolo solo Honey dew
Kiru Mountain
Ecology:-
Rainfall
It can tolerate drought especially after establishment but requires 1000-1500mm of
rainfall well distributed thoroughly the year
Excess rains leads to poor flowering and fruit set
The plant do not tolerate water-logging even for a short duration
Karen J. K[Type text] Page 1

Temperature
 Suitable temp range is 20-25 oC while minimum and maximum are 15 and 35 oC
respectively.
 High temp enhances sweetness and uniform ripening while low temp below 20oc
or freezing temp results to poor tree growth.
 At high temp also there is tendency of producing more male flowers which are
unfruitful
 Temp of 24.5oC during the day and 15.5 o C at night results to irregularly shaped
fruits known at cut fall and are of low commercial value.
 Hermaphrodite flowers which do not develop ovaries are caused by hot temp or
water stress.
Altitude
 Does well in altitudes below 1500m above sea level
 Yield and fruit quality is low at high altitude areas
 They grow well under shade but are not sweet. They also require plenty of
sunlight for best quality in the final four to five days to full ripeness on the tree
Soils
Should be deep and well drained rich in organic matter at a ph of 5.5-6.7and do not
tolerate salty soils
On rich organic soils they grow fast, bear quickly and heavy crop and fruits of good
quality.
1. Its intolerant to water logging as it causes premature yellowing, shedding of
leaves and
Tapping (latex production);

-It is done to small fruits (10-13cm) in diameter which should develop about a year after
germination.
-Tapping can be done by making a longitudinal cut in each fruit by use of a razor blade or
a sharpened bamboo stick. The razor blade is embedded in a rubber holder in which only
eventually death of the plant.
Establishment
Mainly propagated by seed
Thin layers of seeds are rubbed on cloth or a sheet of rubber to remove the gelatinous
covering after harvest then they are washed and dried on paper .such seeds can be stored
in air tight container for up to three years.
It can be raised in nurseries or are sown at stake i.e sown directly in the field with no
transplanting.
When sown at stake
Sow about ten seeds 1.5cm deep they will emerge about 3weeks afterwards
Allow five vigorously growing seedlings until their sex can be determined i.e six months
after transplanting when they should be thinned to allow one male tree for every 20-30
females.
When raised in polythene or poly bags
They are ready for transplanting when six wks old or even up to six months of age.

Planting;
Prepare holes 60cm by 60cm and at a spacing of 3mby 3m or 2.5m by 2m and 4.5m by
2m when machinery is to be used.
A debe of well rotten manure is mixed with top soil plus 100-120kg of DAP and top soil.
The hole is refilled with sub soil.
Fertilizer application
 Apply 8:12:6 NPK mixtures about 0.11kg per hole at sowing
 0.34kg at 2 months, 0.17kg at six months and then 0.9-1.4kg per tree divided into
three applications per annum.
 It should also be top dressed with 200g CAN per plant at the end of every year or
end of rains.
Pollination;
Hand pollination is necessary because if the plant is inadequately pollinated it bears a
light crop,fruits lacking uniformity in shape and size
Methods
2. bags are held over bisexual flowers for several days to ensure that they are self
pollinated
3. all parts of the apical female flower buds are removed and bagged1-2 days before
opening.at full opening the stigma is dusted with pollen grains from selected male
flower and bag quickly ,then released after seven days.
to cross pollinated 1-2 stamens from bisexual flower are placed on the pistil of a female
flower for a few days and the resulting seeds are1/2 female and ½ bisexual3mm of the
blade should protrude. The reason is that a smaller length fails to penetrate the latex
bearing vessels while a greater length makes deep cuts which becomes blocked up with
latex and become inflated. By the time the fruits begin to turn yellow and dry up it has a
series of parallel scars about 1.5cm apart
-As the latex drips from the fruit it is caught in the umbrella which is clamped to the
trunks. The latex coagulates on the canvas or polythene at the end of the wooden frames
and is scrapped into the box; this provides 1st grade; 2nd grade coagulate accumulates on
the fruit and mat be removed. Impurities are removed before drying.
NB
 Tapping should be done once per week and not frequently and in the morning, not
on a hot sunny day when latex flow is slow.
 Cuts should be made as far as possible from previous cut.
 Tapping should be stopped during the dried months of the year when there is no
rain.
Drying
Coagulated latex is dried immediately after collection to prevent discolouration. Latex is
flue dried where coagulum is laid on wire mesh 0.9m gauge at a temperature of 55-60 OC
for 5-7 hrs and at this time the coagulum should be crumby and not sticky
Over heating causes an undesirable brown color.

Harvesting
It is done when fruits color change from green to light green and when yellow streaks
begin to develop from the base upwards. This way the fruit will continue to ripen
normally after harvesting (are climacteric fruits)
If left to ripen fully they are prone to bruising and damage during handling.
Uses
 Fresh fruits and is high in vitamin A and is used in dessert or salads for breakfast
 For papain production from the latex used in the following ways;
-tenderizer for meat
-for medicinal and industrial purpose.
 Pectin is extracted from peels of green pawpaw and is widely in food and for
medicinal purpose
 Pulp is extracted from fully mature ripe fruits used in preparation of nectar and
also can also be mixed in ready to make a beverage
 Green fruits and leaves are used in cosmetics as it contains papain and other
enzymes which rejuvenate the skin.
 Seeds are used medicinally against worms

Pawpaw 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pawpaw 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Pawpaw 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PAWPAW (Carica papaya)

Karen J. K[Type text] Page 1

Tapping (latex production);

Karen J. K[Type text] Page 2

Karen J. K[Type text] Page 3

Karen J. K[Type text] Page 4

You might also like