NUTRITIONAL AND MEDICINAL VALUE OF PAPAYA (CARICA PAPAYA LINN.)

Abstract

The different parts of the Papaya (Carica papaya Linn.) belonging to the family Caricaceae such as leaves, seeds, latex and fruit possess excellent medicinal properties for treatment of different ailments. The stem, leaf and fruit of papaya contain plenty of latex. The latex from unripe fruit contains enzyme papain, other components include a mixture of cysteine end peptidases, chitinases and an inhibitor of serine protease, alkaloids, glycosides, flavanoids, saponins, tannins, phenols and steroids. This review focuses on the nutritional value, phytochemical constituents, antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity, treatment for dengue fever and anticancer activity of papaya. Papaya acts as a multi-faceted plant. It is also essential to identify the mechanism of the plant compounds and studying the active principle of the extract. It is recommended to include the papaya in our diet as fruit salads, fruit juice, leaf extract, decoction prepared through papaya leaves, etc.