Secondary Metabolites from Carica papaya, and its Biological Activities: A Comprehensive Review

Carica papaya L. is the most well-known species of the family Caricaceae. The edible tropical plant was widely used in traditional folk medicine worldwide and is known for possessing high nutritional and medicinal values in all its parts such as fruit, leaf, seed, and latex. This review provides a comprehensive literature survey of the biological activity and the isolated phytochemical compounds reported from Carica papaya . The phytochemical survey reported the isolation of several classes of phytochemicals including flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolic acids, fatty acids, sterols, triterpenes, saponins, and isothiocyanates as well as other miscellaneous compounds. The review also focused on the wide range of biological activities reported from the crude extracts and fractions of the different parts of C. papaya . This review can contribute to finding alternative therapeutic approaches to combat various health problems and improve the health of the people suffering from those problems. The various biological activities highlight the need for further studies to explore the bioactive compounds responsible for the biological activities and the underlying mechanism of action.