Papaya, a tropical fruit, native to Mexico, is also called as ‘Pawpaw’ or ‘Papaws’. It is a common man’s fruit, economical, available around the year and definitely on the hit list of superfoods because of its impressive nutritional values.

Raw papaya is green in colour and has different culinary uses as compared to the ripe papaya. Ripe papaya is bright orange in colour, is sweet in taste and has a soft fleshy texture.

Papaya is an excellent source of vitamin C, a small serving of papaya can fulfill more than your daily requirement of this vitamin. It is also a good source of antioxidants like Vitamin A (consisting of beta-carotene, cryptoxanthin and lycopene), vitamin E, vitamin K, folate, fibre, potassium and is low in calories.

Health Benefits:

• Papaya is a potent immune booster that stimulates white blood cells and helps fight infections.
• It has excellent antioxidant properties, which helps prevent cell damage caused by oxidative stress and also keeps skin and eyes healthy.
• It helps to decrease the risk of cancer.
• The digestive enzymes papain, chymopapain (used medically) are unique to papaya, which help in the digestion of protein and for tenderizing meats.
• Papaya has natural laxative abilities, which helps to keep up the gut health and aids in digestion.
• It also helps regulate blood sugar levels in diabetics and blood pressure in hypertensives.
• Papaya is nutrient-dense but with a low-calorie count, will surely help weight watchers to achieve their goals.

This wonderful fruit can be enjoyed as a part of breakfast or relished as a dessert. It can be eaten in its ripe or raw form or used to make some delicious side dishes, salads, chutneys, pickles, and smoothies.

As a word of caution, avoid eating papaya during pregnancy as some of its compounds may act as a contraceptive.

So just like you see it as a part of most of the health food images let it actually feature in your daily diets as well.

Let us appreciate this local humble fruit, which is not less than a natural nutrient supplement and doesn’t care to be in the exotic fruit category, to gain a Superfood status.