School Science Lessons
Papaya Project
2012-02-06 SP
Please send comments to: J.Elfick@uq.edu.au
Preface
Before teaching this project, discuss the content of the lessons with a
field officer of the Ministry of Agriculture and get advice on planting material,
planting distances, site for planting, approved mulch, composting, and control
of pests and diseases. Use only the procedures, agricultural chemicals and
insecticides recommended by the local field officer of the Ministry of Agriculture.
If you cannot control insects by hand-picking, ask the Ministry of Agriculture
to recommend a chemical spray. All insect sprays are dangerous. Show the
students how to use them safely. Do not get the spray onto your hands. Do
not breathe in the spray. Wash your hands well after using spray. Keep the
spray container in a safe place where students cannot get it. Spray on a
day of no wind but if you must spray when there is a wind, spray down wind.
Make sure the spray does not blow on other people.
Table of contents
Aim of the project
1.0 Introduction to a papaya project
2.0 Prepare to plant seed
3.0 Make a seed nursery
4.0 Care for young plants
5.0 Chose and prepare the land
6.0 Study the plant before transplanting
7.0 Prepare to transplant
8.0 Transplanting
9.0 Study the flowers
10.0 Study variation between plants
11.0 Care for the papaya garden
12.0 Culling and pollination
13.0 Pests and diseases
14.0 Harvest and profit
15.0 Papaya recipes
16.0 Understanding the records
17.0 Papaya varieties, "Paiola"
17.1 Papaya varieties, Babaco, mountain papaya
Aim of the project
The aim of this papaya project is to teach how to grow papayas as a managed
crop to provide a regular supply of fresh fruit or cooked vegetable in their
diet. These teaching notes tell you how to start a papaya project and how
to look after the papaya plants to get plenty of fruit to eat. Most people
have seen papayas growing and they may ask why they should study them at
school. There are three reasons:
1. The papaya is a useful addition to the diet because a ripe fresh papaya
contains lots of vitamin A and some vitamin C. If picked when hard and green
it can be cooked like marrow and pumpkin. It can be made into a tasty jam.
2. These teaching notes can be used to teach how to look after a papaya
crop in the modern way, i.e. to increase the yield by controlling energy
loss. You can do this by paying careful attention to selection of seed, where
and how you plant seed, plant nutrition, pests and
diseases, looking after the papaya garden, and harvesting the crop.
3. Although most people have seen papayas growing, they may not understand
the plant that has a very interesting structure and life history. Study of
this plant will broaden knowledge of their natural environment.
1.0 Introduction to the papaya project
See diagram 58.1: Papaya with fruit
The papaya (Australia: pawpaw), Carica
papaya, is a member of an unusual perennial dicotyledon plant family,
Caricaceae, that comes from South America. Papayas are grown in most tropical
countries. Also, Asimina triloba, American pawpaw, Eastern USA, Annonaceae.
Carica was the first fruit tree to have its genome recorded.
Planting Out
Decide whether to plant the papaya seeds into a seed bed or into containers
such as tins. Plants in a seed bed are easy to look after but the plants
may die after transplanting. Plants in tins can be easily transplanted but
they are harder to look after because they must be watered regularly for 10-12
weeks. Use both seed bed and tins to compare the results as in an experiment.
You will need the following:
1. Large ripe papayas for seed
2. About 20 kg of lime or dolomite if your soil is very acid, ask the agriculture
field staff. The soil pH should be 6.0-6.5.
If you wish to add fertilizer, you will need:
2.1 about 10 kg mixed fertilizer with a high content of phosphorus, e.g.
NPK 12-15-10 or NPK 9-25-25 or superphosphate.
2.2 About 10 kg of urea or ammonium sulfate.
3. Keep a crop diary and record the following:
3.1 When planting seed, germination, transplanting, culling, hand fertilizing,
picking
3.2 When and how much harvest, cost of seed, fertilizer, materials for a
nursery
3.3 Income from selling papayas
1. You need a ripe papaya fruit in the classroom.
Cut it in half lengthways. Also you need male and female papaya trees growing
near by.
2. Keep one half, then cut up the other half and eat it. Note the structure
of the half papaya fruit. The fruit can be eaten fresh when ripe, or boiled
when still green and eaten when unripe like a marrow. Some people eat the
young leaves and flowers as a vegetable and eat the seeds for medicine. The
white milky latex in the unripe fruit and leaves contains an enzyme call
papain that can digest meat. It is like the action of pepsin in your stomach,
so meat can be cooked in papaya leaves to make it more tender.
3. See the separate male and female papaya trees growing near by. See the
male or female flowers are on separate plants. Usually only the female plants
produce fruit. Sometimes the male flowers become bisexual and produce some
long thin fruit. There are some bisexual dwarf varieties, e.g. variety Solo
from Hawaii.
4. The plant has shallow roots, a soft stem and big leaves. It should be
grown in well drained moist soil. It should be sheltered from strong winds.
2.0 Prepare to plant seed
1. Select a papaya that has a good size and shape, growing in a group of
trees that all have good fruit. Leave this papaya on the tree until the day
before you want to use it,
2. The papaya garden planned in the Teaching Notes will have 20 mature trees
at 2 metres x 2 metres - a total area of 48 square metres. This will require
50 seeds planted at 15 cm and 50 seeds planted in 50 iron tins. If you think
that this is too big you cut the number of seeds planted and mature plants
by half to provide 2 rows, each with 5 trees.
3. If you want to add fertilizer, you will need five matchboxes of NPK 12-15-10
or 9-25-25 or 9-25-25 or phosphate sprinkled over the seed bed, and a teaspoon
of fertilizer in each tin.
4. Ask each student to bring to the lesson an opened clean tin with four
holes punched in the bottom and their name scratched on the outside. The
tins can be jam tins or fish tins or drink containers
1. Show the papaya you have selected for seed.
The best papaya seed comes from a large smooth fruit growing near by. Select
a papaya from group of trees that all have good fruit.
2. Papaya seed must be used fresh or cleaned then sealed in an airtight jar.
Put copper oxychloride in the jar to protect the seed from attack by fungus.
3. You can plant seed 1. in a seed bed 15 cm apart and 1 cm deep and 2.
in tins. Both need shade. Papayas are often attacked by nematode worms in
the soil, so planting seed in clean sand in tins may be the best method.
4. Line the tins with paper or leaves. Fill the tins with a mixture of clean
sand and dried crushed leaves or grass.
3.0 Make a seed nursery
See diagram 58.3: Papaya nursery
1. You will need: 1.1 Spades, forks, hoes, bush knife, rake, string, tape
measure. 1.2 Fresh papaya seeds. 1.3 Uprights, sticks and palm leaves for
a nursery.
2. If you want to use fertilizer, bring one fish tin of mixed fertilizer
or superphosphate, a matchbox and a spoon.
3. The papaya seeds will take 3-4 weeks to germinate, and be ready for transplanting
in 10 - 12 weeks.
4. See the arrangement of seeds planted in the seed bed.
1. Select a small piece of land about 2 x 1 metres,
with good topsoil in a well drained position.
2. Dig up the soil to make a fine even seed bed. You can improve the soil
of the seed bed by adding sand and crushed dry leaves. Water well.
3. Fill the tins with a mixture of clean sand and crushed dried leaves. Water
well. Scratch your name on the tin.
4. Plant the seeds in the seed bed 1 cm deep in rows 15 cm apart and cover
with sand and dried leaves. Water again. Press down with a flat board. Plant
one seed in each tin one cm deep. Water well.
5. Build four uprights, cross sticks and a light shade of palm leaves.
6. Water the seeds in the seed bed or tins every day. The plants will germinate
in 3-4 weeks. They will remain 10-12 weeks in the nursery before they are
big enough for transplanting when more than 10 cm high.
7. If fertilizer is to be used, add five matchboxes of mixed fertilizer or
superphosphate to the seed bed, or a teaspoon of fertilizer to each tin.
4.0 Care for young plants
1. Give this lesson near the nursery when the seeds have germinated.
2. Check that you can do the percentage germination calculation as follows:
If you plant 50 seeds in the seed bed and 42 germinate to form seedlings
then the percentage germination is as follows:
42 / 50 x 100 = 84% in seed bed
If you plant 50 seeds in the tins and 47 germinate to form seedlings then
the percentage germination is as follows:
47 / 50 x 100 = 94% in tins.
In this calculation the conclusion is that it is better to plant in tins
to get good germination.
1. Examine the germinated seeds in the nursery
and count them - number germinated in seed bed, number germinated in the tins.
Let them dig up germinated seeds from the seed bed (not from the tins). Keep
the dug up seedlings wet.
2. Number of seeds germinated seed bed, tins percentage germinated:
Number germinated in seed bed x 100 = (call this "percentage seed bed")
Number planted in seed bed
Number germinated in tins x 100 = (call this "percentage tins")
Number planted in tins
Is there any difference between percentage seed bed and percentage tins?
5.0 Chose and prepare the land
See 6.9.14 Composting
1. You will need bush knives, hoes, forks, spades, string, tape measure or
rule, sticks.
2. Go to a place where old papayas are growing; a second place where the
soil is badly drained or it is windy; and a third place that you have selected
as suitable for the papaya garden.
3. Dig a hole in the place you have selected to show the soil profile.
1. At the first place, ask them whether it is a
good place to grow papayas. At the second place, ask the same question. At
the third place, ask why it is a good place for a papaya garden. Examine
the soil profile. The soil must be well drained.
2. Mark out the land 6 metres x 8 metres, and mark the four corners with
sticks. Then clear the land and hoe and fork it lightly. Mark each 2 metres
x 2 metres position with a stick then dig a hole next to the stick.
3. Put wood ashes or 1 tin of mixed fertilizer or superphosphate in each
hole.
6.0 Study the plant before transplanting
See diagram 58.6: Transplanting
1. Dig up some smaller plants, wash the roots and bring them to the class.
2. Diagram F represents the general arrangement of parts of a plant before
transplanting. Be able to draw accurately from a living specimen using the
diagram as a guide to understanding the structure.
the shoot is the stem, buds and leaves
the axil is the angle between the stem and the leaf
the terminal bud may increase the length of the stem or form flowers
the axillary bud may remain quiet or it may form a lateral shoot (a branch
or
it may form flowers
the thickened parts of the stem called nodes produce leaves and axillary
buds
the smooth parts of the stem between the nodes are called the internodes
1. Draw Diagram IF on the chalkboard. Revise the
parts of a plant.
2. Draw the plants and label the drawing using your diagram.
3. Note length of plant in cm and number of nodes and internodes.
7.0 Prepare to transplant
See diagram 58.7: Positions of transplants
1. Plants are ready for transplanting when they are more than 10 cm high.
2. Transplanting experiment: seed bed or tins. You should plant around 10
holes in the papaya garden from plants in the seed bed and plant around 10
holes from plants in the container tins. Papayas may die after transplanting
and this experiment will show which is the best method.
3. Transplant on a dull wet afternoon.
1. Sequence for transplanting:
1. Dig four transplanting holes around each fertilizer hole and fill them
with water.
2. Water plants in nursery.
3. Select plants from nursery.
4. Do not damage roots when transplanting.
5. Level of soil up the stem in a papaya garden should be no higher than
in a nursery.
6. Remove one leaf from each transplant to reduce water loss through leaves.
Why do you transplant four plants quite close around each fertilizer hole?
(Because you will be keeping only 1 plant of each four when you select the
largest male or female plant.)
8.0 Transplanting
1. You will need: Trowels or spades, watering can. If you want to fertilize
you will need about 3 tins of ammonium sulfate or urea.
2. To develop interest in these plants, make a transplanting map:
S John T Leah S Ben T Gaduna
S Raka T Mica S Dulci T Kori
S Mary T Judy S Uwa T Noris
S Esau T Lima S Poni T Hilton
S Boio T Odi S Rodi T Ulissiwaro
3. Have some mulch ready.
1. Dig four transplanting holes around each fertilizer
hole in the papaya garden and fill them with water.
2. Water plants in nursery
3. When planting around the S holes, select four plants each from the seed
bed, dig them up very carefully and transplant them no deeper than in the
nursery.
4. When planting around the T holes, select four tins with healthy plants.
Take the tins to the garden. Open the bottom of the tin. Plant no deeper
than in the tin.
5. Water all 80 transplants in the garden.
6. Place mulch around each plant, but not touching the plants.
7. If you want to use fertilizer, put 3 matchboxes of ammonium sulfate or
urea in each fertilizer hole.
9.0 Study the flowers
See diagram 58.9: Papaya flower
1. Papaya plants are unusual because most of them produce either male, female
or hermaphrodite flowers. You cannot tell which sort of flower will be formed
until the immature flowers have formed.
2. Female plants produce the large female flowers only, near the trunk close
to the base of the hollow leaf stalk. In the female flower each petal is
separate and there are no stamens.
3. Male plants produce only male flowers. Many small flowers are found hanging
down on long branches. Some plants, e.g. a variety from Hawaii called Solo,
are bisexual having male and female parts.
4. The genetics of sex are as follows:
M1 dominant for maleness, M2 dominant for hermaphrodite, m recessive for
female. All combinations of M1 and M2 are sterile. M1m are male, M2m are
hermaphrodite and mm are female. The cross mm X M2m give half plants
female with round fruits and half plans hermaphrodite with cylindrical fruits.
10.0 Study variation between plants
See diagram 58.10: Papaya stem and leaf
1. There are 3 reasons why plants are different from each other:
1.1 They may have different genes. These are messages carried in the pollen
and ovules (in the
ovary) which are combined when a seed is formed. The genes tell the plant
what
characters to have, e.g. tall or short, white flowers or red flowers, large
fruit or small fruit.
1.2 They may be growing in different environments that affect their growth,
e.g., different
climates, soils, methods of crop management.
1.3 They may be different ages or at different stages of maturity.
2. Plants that grow from seed that had unlike parents will be unlike. These
plants will have a mixture of the characters of the parents. Plants that
grow from seed that had like parents will be like each other and like the
parents. Plants that are like their parents and each other over many generations
are called a pure line.
3. In agriculture you look for good characters such as size of fruit, amount
of fruit, resistance to disease, consumer preference, and then try to produce
a pure line that will have all the good characters.
3.1 Old axillary buds above the leaf scars and axillary buds in the terminal
cluster.
3.2 A stem is not branching unless the terminal bud has been cut off.
3.3 Wood is spongy or hollow.
3.4 The lamina of the leaf has tooth shaped lobes
3.5 The petiole of leaf is long and hollow.
4. You can produce better papayas by controlling pollination. This can be
done by:
4.1 finding a group of healthy papaya trees producing good fruit,
4.2 deciding which male plants fertilized them,
4.3 cutting down all other male trees,
4.4 for the next generation cutting down all male and female trees not grown
from the seed of good papayas.
5. Imported seeds in packets are pure lines but they may not be suitable
for tropical countries. Locally produced seed will probably not be pure lines
but they will have good characters for tropical countries.
6. Study of variation means looking at the different characters of plants
and deciding which are good and which are bad characters.
7. If you can find plants with good characters and use them only as parents
you can start producing pure lines for tropical countries. Do not let plants
with good characters be fertilized by pollen from plants with bad characters.
8. Studying variation in plants is important to allow us to describe accurately
the different characters of plants and to decide which are good and which
are bad characters.
9. Select some papaya plants outside the project for study in this lesson.
9.1. Draw and label a stem.
9.2. Draw and label a leaf.
9.3. Draw the root of a small plant. Label: primary root, lateral roots,
note depth of roots, note depth of roots in the soil, note any damage by pests
or disease.
9.4. Draw and describe some characters of the plants selected for study in
the classroom. They should be different from the plants in your project.
The characters could be:
10.1 Fruit, diameter of middle fruit in bunch, diameter of largest fruit,
number of fruit on tree, taste, colour, diseases
10.2 Habit, size of tree after 3 years, any branching
10.3 Stem, colour, diameter, any diseases
10.4 Leaves, shape, number in spiral, number in terminal cluster, diseases
10.5 Flowers, shape, colour, size and number of parts of male / female /
bisexual flowers.
10.6 Root, depth, diseases.
10.7 Consumer preference, which fruits do people like and why.
11. Are there are other kinds of papayas growing near by or in the villages?
What are the characters of these papayas and why do people like them?
11.0 Care for the papaya garden
1. Make regular visits to the papaya garden to see how the plants they transplanted
are growing. Record anything unusual.
2. Give an extra lesson on the need for careful observations. Give a prize
for the first report of flowers forming.
1. Always keep the garden free of weeds and rubbish.
2. When the first flowers appear cut down excess male plants and female plants
leaving 2 male and 18 females, each 2 metres apart. Two males should be on
a windy side of the garden. Extra female plants can be cut back to height
of 60 cm and left for a reserve if bigger ones die.
3. You can pollinate female flowers if you open the buds of male flowers
and brush pollen on to the stigmas. This is called hand pollination. When
stigmas go brown and die, pollination is successful and fruit will form.
4. First harvest when the plants 9-12 months old. Then can harvest for 4-6
years. If tree grows too tall, cut the top off in the dry season and it will
form branches. You will need to prop up the branches.
5. Harvest by cutting stalk with a sharp knife. Do not bruise fruit or get
white latex on the skin.
12.0 Culling and pollination
1. Culling refers to cutting down the unwanted male and female plants. Unwanted
plants should not be pulled out unless diseased. They should either be cut
across at ground level if no longer wanted or cut across 60 cm above the
ground to be kept as replacement plants.
2. First select two male plants on the windy side of the papaya garden so
that the pollen can blow over all the female plants. Later you can pollinate
by hand to make sure that all the female flowers will produce fruit.
3. Then cut across at ground level all the remaining male plants. Leave
only the tallest female next to each fertilizer hole. Cut the other females
down to 60 cm.
4. Cut down all the other male plants in the school grounds.
5. You will need axes or bush knives.
1. Check the wind direction. Cut down all male
trees except two so that wind can blow pollen from the two towards the female
plants.
2. Cut down excess female trees to height of 60 cm.
3. Pick some male flowers still in the bud - peel back the petals and brush
the pollen on to the female flowers.
4. Draw a plan of the 20 plants left in the papaya garden in their notebooks
and show where the male and female plants are.
13.0 Pests and diseases
See: Fungi, bacteria, viruses
1. Pests and diseases may include:
1.1. Virus infection of leaves
1.2. Mildew fungus on fruit and leaves
1.3. Fungus rotting roots
1.4. Nematodes attacking roots
1.5. Fungus rotting fruit
1.6. Little red spiders
1.7 Fruit spotting bug
2. Plants that are well looked after and healthy can withstand most of these
pests and diseases. Do not allow any diseased tree to remain in the school
grounds.
3. Viruses are so small that nobody knows whether they are living or non-living
things. When a virus causes a disease there is usually no cure for it except
for the plant to be very healthy and be stronger than the virus.
There are two forms of virus disease:
3.1 Dieback. When starting from the top the leaves become shrivelled and
fall off.
3.2 Yellow crinkle caused by Mycoplasma spp. At first, clear spots
appear on the leaves. Then the younger leaves at the top become yellow and
curled. This disease is probably carried from infected tomato plants by sucking
insects. The only cure for these virus diseases is to cut the tree down at
soil level, burn it, and let one of reserve trees grow up. Also pull up and
burn any tomatoes affected with yellow crinkled young leaves.
4. Fungi are the fur-like growths found in most rotting things. They can
digest plants like animals can and they can reproduce themselves by letting
lots of powdery spores blow into the air. A fungus can usually be killed
by a special chemical called fungicide. There are three forms of fungus disease.
4.1 Root rot fungus can attack the roots in wet soils. The leaves from the
older leaves will collapse down and wilt and the plant dies. This fungus
can enter the roots easily when nematode worms attack the roots. Nematode
worms are the small white S-shaped worms pointed at both ends. There is no
treatment for this disease except to drain the soil. If the plant dies, pull
it out with the roots and burn it but do not replant.
4.2 Powdery mildew fungus attacks the leaves when cold winds are blowing.
The name of this fungus is Sphaerotheca.
It first appears as little dots under the leaves which turn into yellow patches
and then the leaf looks burnt and dried out. This can be treated with sulfur
dust.
4.3 Fruit rots are difficult to control because the fruit is usually infected
when green and the rot develops when the fruit ripens. Watch the fruit closely
for signs of fruit rot and pick the fruit immediately any sign of rot appears.
Rotten fruit should be burned. Some types of papayas are more easily attacked
by fruit rot than others so when visiting village gardens look out for papayas
not affected by disease.
4.4 There are various insects and mites, tiny spiders, which may attack a
papaya. If little red spider mites are found under the leaves, you can treat
with sulfur spray. The fruit spotting bug attacks the leaf stalks and young
fruit causing the fruit to drop. This can be treated with insecticide.
1. Visit the papaya garden and look for any signs
of disease. Take notebooks to the garden and write reports there.
2. When some pests or diseases are found, draw and describe the disease.
14.0 Harvest and Profit
1. In modern agriculture you are very interested in measuring the yield of
your crop so that you can know how to increase the yield and make more profit.
2. Harvest the crop in a regular way, e.g. every Tuesday afternoon. Do the
harvesting properly by cutting the fruit stalks with a short knife and throwing
away and burning any bad fruit.
3. The harvested fruit should be counted, measured and weighed. Sell some
papaya so that you can estimate the returns for the whole crop.
1. Show how to harvest papayas correctly and what
to do with bad fruit.
2. Record:
2.1. Number of papayas harvested.
2.2. Weight of papayas harvested.
2.3. Estimated returns (money that could be received from selling harvest).
(If you do not actually sell the papaya you can still calculate or estimate
the returns as if all were sold.)
3. Returns - production costs - establishment costs = Profit.
Calculate the value of estimated returns
What is the value of establishment costs, e.g. tools?
What is the value of production costs, e.g. seed, fertilizer, insecticide,
razor blades?
What is the estimated profit?
4. In some countries the average commercial papaya plant produces 15-20
fruits each year weighing 75 kg. What do your papaya plants produce?
15.0 Papaya recipes
1. Papaya is usually eaten when ripe as fresh fruit. Sometimes people wrap
meat in papaya leaves and cook by steaming over hot stones underground. The
papaya can also be cooked as a vegetable and you should try out some of these
recipes to show new ways of using this fruit.
2. The white juice in the skin of unripe papayas contains the enzyme papain
that irritates the skin of some people. Be careful to wash your hands after
touching the white juice.
3. Boiled papaya. Cut a green papaya into pieces and cook with salt in the
same way as cooking pumpkin or marrow.
4. Baked papaya with filling
1 large green papaya, cut in halves and seeds taken out to leave 2 shells
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
½ cup finely chopped onions
½ kg minced beef or I tin of fish
four tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon of finely chopped fresh hot chillies
1 teaspoon salt
pepper
Heat oven to temperature for baking
Heat cooking oil in large frying pan, drop in onions and cook for 5 minutes
until soft but not
brown. Stir in beef or fish and cook lightly until pink colour gone. Stir
in tomatoes, chillies, salt, pepper and cook quickly until mixture is about
solid.
Spoon mixture into papaya shells. Place shells in an oven in roasting tin.
Put some boiling water into roasting tin. Bake for 1-1½ hours until
the papaya is soft.
5. Green papaya salad
3 cloves peeled garlic, pinch of salt, 4 deseeded chillies, 1 tbsp roasted
peanuts, 4 cherry tomatoes cut in halves, 1 cup of shredded green papaya,
2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp tamarind paste, 1 tbsp fish
sauce. Mix together in a mortar and pestle the garlic, salt and chillies,
add peanuts and pound into a coarse paste. Add cherry tomatoes and mash the
mixture, Add green papaya. Eat with wedges of cabbage, or coconut rice.
5. Papaya jam
2 small ripe papayas
1 kg sugar
Cut papaya into 2 cm cubes. Place in a heavy saucepan and add 3 tablespoons
of water or lime
juice. Heat to boiling quickly then reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes
until most of the liquid is gone. Stir frequently with a large spoon. When
it is like a jelly pour into jars and seal.
6. Papaya chutney
1 green papaya
½ litre malt vinegar
1/4 kg sugar
½ cup raisins
1 teaspoon chopped ginger root
1 teaspoon chopped fresh chillies
5 teaspoons salt
Peel the papaya, discard seeds, cut into 2 cm cubes. Place papaya and vinegar
into a heavy saucepan. Bring to boil and cook briskly for 10 minutes, stir
occasionally. Now stir in sugar, raisins, ginger, chillies and salt. Simmer
for 45 minutes until the papaya is tender. When thick enough pour into jars
and seal.
7. Papaya and pepper sauce
½ cup of fresh chopped chillies
5 tablespoons chopped onions
2 tablespoons peeled finely chopped unripe papaya
1 teaspoon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vinegar
Put chillies, onion, papaya, mustard, salt and vinegar into small saucepan.
Boil quickly and stir constantly. Cool before using.
(h) Pickled papaya
1 small green papaya, pealed and cut into 2 cm cubes
½ cup of chopped chillies
1 piece of ginger 21
1 tablespoon of salt
4 cups vinegar
Place all ingredients into cold vinegar and leave in a jar with a tight cap
for some days before eating.
8. Papaya and fish soup
(Some people say that this soup is very good for mothers breast feeding their
children)
1 whole fish
1 green papaya, peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes
1 small piece of ginger
Place in large saucepan, bring to boil and simmer for up to ½ hour.
17.0 Papaya varieties,
"Paiola"
Paiola is a papaya hybrid developed and promoted by the Malaysian Agrifood
Corporation (MAFC). "Paiola" is the commercial name for the hybrid from the
word papaya and the expression of "oo la la" meaning "nutritional" in Polynesian.
Paiola variety is small, like the size of a palm, with golden yellow skin
and sweet and deep crimson flesh. It can also be kept a week longer than
ordinary papayas.
17.1 Babaco, mountain
papaya
Babaco, Carica pentagona, a naturally
occurring hybrid of C. stipulata
and C. pubescens from Ecuador is
grown commercially in New Zealand, Israel and southern California. It grows
in a cool frost-free subtropical climate. The five-sided, rounded at the
stem end and pointed at the apex fruit sets parthenocarpically so it has
no seeds. However, The fruit is juicy, slightly acidic, low in sugar and
with its own special flavour Even the skin is edible. It keeps well and the
plants are very productive and easy to grow. It is so compact that it can
be grown in a greenhouse. The mountain papaya Carica pubescens has many seeds and is
regarded as an inferior fruit so is better cooked than fresh. It is more
cold tolerant than
papaya.
History
These teaching materials were written by Dr J. Elfick in the Solomon Islands
for the Australian Development Assistance Bureau.