Carica papaya Linn: an overview.

Abstract

Papaya (Carica papaya Linn) is commonly called as paw-paw and it belongs to the family Caricaceae. Papaya is commonly known for its food and nutritional values throughout the world. The properties of papaya fruit and other parts of the plant are also well known in traditional system of medicine. During the last few decades considerable progress has been achieved regarding the biological activity and medicinal application of papaya and now it is considered as valuable nutraceutical fruit plant. Papaya possess excellent medicinal properties for treatment of different ailments. The different parts of the Carica papaya plant including leaves, seeds, latex and fruit exhibited to have medicinal value. The stem, leaf and fruit of papaya contain plenty of latex. The latex from unripe papaya fruit contain enzymes papain and chymopapain. This review focuses on different properties of papaya as a multi-faceted plant.