How to eat papaya & are papaya seeds edible?

Papayas are melon-like fruits that are becoming more and more available at the supermarket. Find out how to eat papaya and how to tell if this exotic fruit is ripe.

The papaya (Carica papaya) is most likely native to Central America, where it was already cultivated by indigenous peoples. As a result of colonisation, the area of cultivation spread. Nowadays, papayas are grown in tropical regions worldwide. They are considered to be very healthy and are becoming more readily available at greengrocers and supermarkets. Read on to discover which parts of the papaya fruit are edible as well as how to cut and prepare a papaya.

How to identify a ripe papaya

The best way to judge the ripeness of a papaya is by looking at the colour of its skin. From completely green (unripe) to entirely yellow or with red spots (ripe), you can buy them in just about every stage of ripeness. As it takes a long time to get papayas from the area of cultivation over to us in Europe and because they do not ripen as well as bananas (Musa) or avocados (Persea), they are usually transported by air. You can also leave your papaya to ripen at home, but in this case at least a small part of it should be yellow already. Other ways of judging ripeness include testing how soft the fruit is by applying light pressure with your fingers and smelling it. A ripe papaya will have a slightly sweet scent and deep red-orange, juicy and soft flesh.

Tip: Although papayas only reach their maximum flavour when fully ripe, you can also eat unripe papayas. Unripe papayas are mostly used in salads.

Eating papaya: do papayas have to be peeled?

Peeling papayas is not strictly necessary. You can simply scoop out the flesh with a spoon, similar to how you would eat a kiwi. However, if you would like to grate the papaya and use it in a salad or another dish, it is best to peel it using a standard vegetable peeler.

How to cut a papaya

How to cut a papaya varies depending on how you would like to eat it. After peeling the papaya, cut it in half and remove the seeds. The best way to do this is with a spoon. You can either dispose of the papaya seeds in the food waste bin or put them aside to use later. You will learn more about how to eat papaya seeds later in this article.

Most papaya recipes require you to dice or cube the tropical fruit. However, a traditional Laotian papaya salad known as Som Tam salad calls for grated papaya.

Can papayas be eaten raw?

Papayas can be eaten both raw and cooked. The consistency of the raw flesh is similar to that of melons. Since the two fruits are very similar in taste, papaya makes a suitable substitute for any recipe that calls for melon.

Are papaya seeds edible?

Yes, apart from the skin, the entire papaya fruit is edible. This includes the seeds, which are very high in fibre. So, how do you eat papaya seeds? If you eat them straight from the fruit they will taste slightly spicy, similar to cress. You can either add them directly to salads or dry them beforehand. The seeds are the size of peppercorns and can be ground just like the seeds of the pepper plant (Piper) after drying. To dry papaya seeds, first remove any pulp residues and dry them in the oven at a low temperature for about three hours. After that, you can put the seeds in a spice or pepper mill and use them to season sweet or savoury dishes. The taste resembles the taste of pepper.

How to eat papaya seeds

• Raw: in salads or starters
• Dried: like pepper

Tip: If you do not want to eat the seeds, there are other ways to use them. Learn how to grow your own papaya plant in our article on how to plant papaya seeds.

What does papaya taste like?

Papaya flesh tastes similar to melons, very juicy, refreshing and sweet. The sweetness depends on how ripe the papaya is – the riper the fruit, the sweeter it tastes.

Papaya fruit benefits: Is papaya good for you?

Papayas are full of vitamins and are especially high in vitamin C. As little as 100 g of papaya covers 76% of your daily vitamin C requirement. In Thailand, young people like to eat raw papaya as a salad to stay slim. And this is not only due to its low fat and calorie content. The fruit (especially the green skin and the seeds) contains papain, an enzyme that helps to break down protein molecules and is sometimes used to tenderise tough meat. It is also said to help burn fat, which is why unripe papayas are often eaten by people trying to lose weight.