Pawpaw: a food for everyone
Pawpaws, also known as papaya, maoli, tebabaia, esi, vininita, paipai, es, olesi, lesi, popo, mummy apple and many other names, grow on almost every island in the Pacific. The fruit of the pawpaw is one of the tastiest and healthiest foods found in the islands. People eat pawpaw almost every day and it is a popular breakfast fruit in many countries. But in some islands, people let the pawpaw rot, leave it for the birds, or feed it to the pigs. These people are not making full use of the good taste and food value of the pawpaw. Pawpaw is not just a food for animals - people should enjoy it too, either ripe as a fruit or green as a vegetable.

The pawpaw tree...
The pawpaw tree has the scientific name Carica papaya. There are three kinds of pawpaw trees.
Female and hermaphrodite trees bear fruits at the base of their crowns.
Female pawpaw trees have fruit and flowers that grow on short stalks at the base of the leaves. To bear fruit, female trees need pollen from nearby male trees.
Male pawpaw trees have flowers that grow on long hanging stalks. Although male trees may sometimes bear fruit, it is not good to eat. Usually one male tree is planted for every eight to ten female trees.
Hermaphrodite pawpaw trees have both male and female flowers. The male flowers supply the pollen the female flowers need to produce fruit, so a single tree can bear fruit alone.
Pawpaws are usually grown from seeds. The seeds can either be sown in a nursery, then transplanted, or planted directly in the soil If planted directly, they should be spaced 6 - 8 feet apart and then thinned to ensure healthy growth.

... and its delicious fruit
Less than a year after planting, pawpaw trees begin bearing fruit. When the fruit turns yellow, it is ripe. The ripe fruit is very soft and must be handled carefully so that the skin will not bruise.
When the ripe pawpaw is picked, the stalks should be cut close to the trunk of the tree. If this is not done, the other fruits still on the tree may be hurt by the sharp end of the stalk.
Every island home should have at least one pawpaw tree growing nearby. A family can enjoy 15 to 30 pawpaw fruit a year from a fully grown tree. The shape, size, colour and flavour vary between varieties, but all are tasty and full of vitamins.
Half a slice (approximately ¼ cup) of ripe pawpaw supplies 21% of the Vitamin A and 178% of the Vitamin C needed by a child (1 - 10 yrs.) each day. One small apple supplies only 1% of the Vitamin A and 20% of the Vitamin C needed.

An excellent source of vitamins
Ripe pawpaw contains plenty of Vitamin A, which is needed for proper growth, healthy eyes and protection from disease. Green pawpaws do not contain as much Vitamin A.
Pawpaw is also a good source of Vitamin C, which keeps the body tissues strong, helps the body use iron and assists chemical actions in the body.
The amount of Vitamin C in pawpaw increases as the fruit ripens. A pawpaw that still has green skin has only 60 to 70 per cent of the Vitamin C that a fully ripe one has.
Pawpaw contains more Vitamin A and Vitamin C than many other fruits, especially imported fruits. As the bar graph shows, a young child would have to eat about 10 apples to get as much Vitamin C as she or he can get from half a slice of pawpaw. So why buy expensive imported apples when you can eat delicious, tasty and readily available pawpaw instead?

A fruit for all the family
Because pawpaw is high in vitamins and easy to digest, it is an excellent food for babies. When babies are 4 - 6 months old, they need to be given soft foods as well as breast milk. Pawpaw juice or mashed ripe pawpaw makes an excellent first food for babies.
To make pawpaw juice: press a little ripe pawpaw flesh through a clean wire strainer or a clean cloth, then add some cooled boiled water. Do not add sugar.
As children grow up, they should continue to eat lots of pawpaw. This fruit is much healthier for children than sweets or snacks bought at the store.
Pawpaw is also good for sick people, especially those whose stomachs get upset when they eat meat, chicken or eggs. Eating pawpaw with these foods sometimes makes them easier to digest.
But pawpaw is not only for babies, children, and sick people. Plain, or with a little lemon or lime juice, a slice of pawpaw is a good way for anyone to start the day. A slice of pawpaw has more Vitamin C than an adult needs in one day. Eating just bread, rice or hard biscuits in the morning does not provide any Vitamin C.

A special ingredient
The pawpaw is not only delicious and full of vitamins and flavour, but also has a special useful substance. The leaves and green fruit of the pawpaw tree contain a chemical called papain. Papain can be used in some special ways. For example:
To make meat or octopus tender, wrap in pawpaw leaves and leave overnight, or rub the juice of the green pawpaw into the meat or octopus. (To get the juice, score or cut the skin of a green pawpaw with a knife and let the juice drip onto a clean plate.) Papain is also used commercially for the manufacture of meat tenderizers.
To treat insect stings, rub with the juice of a green pawpaw to lessen the pain. But be careful! Pawpaw juice in the eye will hurt.
To kill intestinal worms or as a treatment for indigestion, mix three to four teaspoons of the milky juice of the green pawpaw with the same amount of honey, stir into a cup of hot water, and drink.
To wash clothes and remove stains, use young pawpaw leaves instead of soap. First rub clothes with crushed pawpaw leaves, then rub the clothes against each other during washing.
Pawpaw leaves contain papain, a chemical with many uses.

Preparation and preservation
The most nutritious way of eating pawpaw is to eat it fresh when it is ripe. Green fruit can be used in salads. It can also be cooked to give variety to meals. Firm ripe or green pawpaw is good baked or stewed with other foods.
Pawpaw should never be cooked longer than necessary. Important vitamins can be lost by overcooking. Covering the pot with a lid while cooking helps to save the vitamins.
Drying is a good way to preserve pawpaw. To dry pawpaw: cut fresh ripe pawpaw into cubes. Lay the cubes on clean trays or clean banana leaves and leave them in the sun for two or three days. Turn the pawpaw cubes over two or three times a day so that they dry evenly. If flies are a problem, cover the pawpaw with netting. A solar drier can be used to dry pawpaw more quickly.
Dried pawpaw will keep for several months when stored in a tightly sealed jar, tin or plastic bag. It makes an excellent snack for children.