Features and Benefits of Papaya

Posted on September 3, 2013 by john in Benefits of fruit

Papayas are spherical or pear-shaped fruits that can be as long as 20 inches. The commonly found in the market usually average about 7 inches and weigh about one pound. Their flesh is a rich orange color with pink or yellow tones . Within the interior cavity of the fruit are black on a glazed seeds round gelatinous substance like. Papaya seeds are edible , although their peppery flavor is somewhat bitter . Fruit and other parts of the papaya tree , containing papaya , an enzyme that helps to digest proteins. This enzyme is concentrated especially in the fruit when immature. Papain is extracted that digestive enzyme supplements and also used as an ingredient in some gum rubber .

* Health Benefits
* Description
* History
* How to Select and Store
* How to enjoy
* Security
* Nutritional Profile
* References

Benefits and health properties

Papayas offer not only the luscious taste the sunny color of the tropics, but are rich sources of antioxidant nutrients such as carotenes , vitamin C and flavonoids , the B vitamins, folate and pantothenic acid , and the minerals , potassium and magnesium , and fiber. Together, these nutrients promote the health of the cardiovascular system and also provide protection against colon cancer . Moreover, papaya containing digestive enzyme , papain, bromelain is used as an enzyme found in pineapple similarly to treat sports injuries, trauma and other causes of allergies.

Protection against cardiovascular disease

Papayas may be very helpful for the prevention of atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease . Papayas are an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of vitamin E and vitamin A ( through its concentration of pro -vitamin A carotenoid phytonutrients ), three very powerful antioxidants.

These nutrients prevent oxidation of cholesterol. Only when cholesterol becomes oxidized is to stick to and build up in blood vessel walls , forming dangerous plaques that can eventually cause heart attacks or strokes . One way in which dietary vitamin E and vitamin C may exert this effect is through their suggested association a compound called paraoxonase , an enzyme that inhibits LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol oxidation.

Papayas are also a good source of fiber, which has been shown to lower high cholesterol . Folic acid found in papaya is needed for the conversion of a substance called homocysteine or cysteine amino benign and methionine. If unconverted , homocysteine can directly damage blood vessel walls and if levels get too high , is considered a significant risk factor for a heart attack or stroke.

Promotes digestive health

Nutrients in papaya have also proven useful in the prevention of colon cancer. Papaya fiber is able to bind to cancer-causing toxins in the colon and keep them away from the healthy colon cells . Moreover, papaya folate, vitamin C , beta-carotene and vitamin E are each associated with a lower risk of colon cancer.

These nutrients provide synergistic protection for colon cells from free radical damage DNA. Increase the intake of these nutrients enjoying papaya is an especially good idea for people at risk of colon cancer .

Anti-inflammatory effects

Papaya contains protein - digesting enzymes unique number , including papain and chymopapain . These enzymes have been shown to help lower inflammation and to promote healing of burns. Furthermore, the antioxidant nutrients found in papaya , including vitamin C , vitamin E and beta carotene are also very good at reducing inflammation. This may explain why people with diseases that are worsened by inflammation, such as asthma , osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, find that the severity of their condition is reduced when they get more of these nutrients.

immune Support

Both vitamin C and vitamin A, which is made in the body from the beta-carotene in papaya, are necessary for the proper function of a healthy immune system . Papaya therefore be a healthy fruit choice for preventing such illnesses as recurrent ear infections , colds and flu.

Protection against macular degeneration

Your mother may have told you carrots would keep your eyes bright as a child , but as an adult , it looks like fruit is even more important to keep sight. Data reported in a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower the risk of age-related macular degeneration ( ARMD ) , the leading cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36 % , compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily . In this study, which involved over 110,000 women and men, researchers evaluated the effect of study participants’ consumption of fruits, vegetables , antioxidant vitamins A, C and E, carotenoids in the development of early ARMD or neovascular ARMD , one most severe form of the illness associated with vision loss . While surprisingly vegetable intake , antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids were not closely related to incidence of any form of ARMD , was definitely Fruit protection severe form of this vision - destroying disease . Three servings of fruit may sound like a lot to eat each day , but papaya can help you achieve this goal. Add slices of fresh papaya to your morning cereal, lunch time yogurt or green salads. Cut a papaya in half and fill with cottage cheese , crab, shrimp or tuna salad . For an elegant meal , place slices of fresh papaya over any broiled fish .

Protection against rheumatoid arthritis

While one study suggests that high doses of supplemental vitamin C makes osteoarthritis, a type of degenerative arthritis that occurs with aging , worse in laboratory animals , another indicates that vitamin C -rich foods , such as papaya , provide the humans with protection against inflammatory polyarthritis , rheumatoid arthritis form with two or more joints.

The results, presented in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases were drawn from a study of over 20,000 subjects and focused on subjects who developed inflammatory polyarthritis and similar subjects who remained arthritis-free during the follow-up period . Subjects who consumed the lowest amounts of vitamin C -rich foods were more than three times more likely to develop arthritis than those who consumed the highest amounts .

Promote respiratory health

If you or someone you love is a smoker , or if you are frequently exposed to secondhand smoke , decisions, then vitamin A- rich foods , such as papaya, part of your healthy way of eating may save your life , suggests conducting research at the Kansas State University .

While studying the relationship between vitamin A, lung inflammation , and emphysema , Richard Baybutt , associate professor of nutrition at Kansas State , a startling discovery : A common carcinogen in cigarette smoke , benzo ( a) pyrene , induces deficiency vitamin A.

Baybutt from previous research had shown that laboratory animals fed a diet deficient in vitamin A developed emphysema. His latest animal studies indicate that not only does the benzo ( a) pyrene in cigarette vitamin deficiency because of smoke, but that a diet rich in vitamin A can help counter this effect help , greatly reducing emphysema.

Create Baybutt protective effects of vitamin A may help explain why some smokers do not develop emphysema. ” There are many people who live to 90 years and smokers ,” he said . ” For what? Probably due to their diet … The implications are that those who start smoking at an early age are more likely to become vitamin A deficiency and develop complications associated with cancer and emphysema. And if they have a poor diet, forget it . If you or someone you love smokes , or if your work necessitates exposure to second hand smoke , protect yourself by making sure that at least one of the healthiest foods in the world , which are rich in vitamin A, such like papaya , is a daily part of your healthy way of eating .

Papaya and Green Tea Team Up to Prevent Prostate Cancer

Choosing regularly eat lycopene - rich fruits such as papaya and drink green tea may greatly reduce a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer , suggests research published the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition ( Jian L , read AH , et al. )

In this case-control study of 130 prostate cancer patients and 274 hospital controls , drink green tea most men found that 86 % reduced risk of prostate cancer compared , to those drinking at least .

We found a similar inverse association between consumption of lycopene - rich men of fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes , apricots , pink grapefruit , watermelon , papaya and guava. Men who most frequently enjoyed these foods were 82 % less likely to have prostate cancer compared to those consuming the least lycopene - rich foods .

Regular consumption of green tea and foods rich in lycopene culminated in a synergistic protective effect , stronger than the protection offered by both , the researchers also observed .

Tips : get the habit of drinking green tea and eating foods rich in lycopene.

* Take a green tea ice cream room to work and sip throughout the day or consider the gym to provide prostate protection while replenishing fluids after your workout.
* Package a ziploc bag of apricots and almonds briefcase or gym bag for a snack useful .
* Start your breakfast with a half grapefruit or a glass of papaya or guava juice .
* Add papaya to any smoothie or fruit salad or use as a delicious garnish for fish.
* For a delicious summer lunch , cut a papaya in half scoop , seeds , sprinkle with lime juice and top with cottage cheese , fresh mint leaf and roasted almonds .
* Begin lunch or dinner with some spicy tomato juice on the rocks with a twist of CAL . Snack on tomato crostini : in the oven , give up all wheat bread crust , then top with tomato sauce , herbs , a little grated cheese and reheat until the cheese melts .
* Start all wheat pasta with olive oil , pine nuts, feta cheese and a rich tomato sauce for lunch or dinner .

description

Papayas are fruits that remind us of the tropics , the regions of the world in which they are grown . Once considered an exotic fruit , papayas increased popularity has available to them more.

Papaya has a wonderfully smooth consistency , similar to butter and deliciously sweet , musky flavor . Within the interior cavity of the fruit are black on a glazed seeds round gelatinous substance like. Papaya seeds are edible , although their peppery flavor is somewhat bitter .

Fruit and other parts of the papaya tree , containing papain , an enzyme that helps to digest proteins. This enzyme is concentrated especially in the fruit when immature. Papain is extracted that digestive enzyme supplements and also used as an ingredient in some gum rubber .

history

Papayas, native to Central America, have been long revered by the indigenous people of Latin America. Explorers from Spain and Portugal brought papayas to many other subtropical lands to which they traveled including India, the Philippines and parts of Africa .

This revered tropical fruit was reputably called the “fruit of the angels ” by Christopher Columbus. In the twentieth century , papayas were brought to the United States and have been grown in Hawaii , the largest U.S. producer since the 1920s . Today, the largest commercial producers of papayas include the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico .

How to Select and Store

If you want to eat them within a day of purchase, choose papayas that reddish -orange skin and are slightly soft to the touch. Those with yellow spots will have a few more days to ripen.

Should not be purchased papayas that are totally green or too hard , unless you are planning on cooking them , or unless you want to use green papayas in a cold dish like a salad of Asia , as the meat will not develop their characteristic sweet juicy flavor .

Although some black spots on the surface does not affect the taste of papaya, avoid those that are crushed or too soft . Papayas are available during the summer and fall , but you can usually buy them year round .

Papayas that are partially yellow should be left at room temperature where they mature in a few days. To accelerate this process , place them in a paper bag with a banana . Ripe papayas should be stored in the refrigerator and consumed within one or two days , so you can enjoy its full flavor.

For the most antioxidants, eat fully ripened papaya :

Research at the University of Innsbruck in Austria suggests that as fruits fully ripen , almost to the point of damage , antioxidant levels actually increase .

The key process is the color shift that occurs when fruits ripen , a process similar to that seen in the fall as sheets pass from green to red to yellow to brown - a color change caused by the breakdown and loss of chlorophyll , which gives leaves and fruits their green color.

Until now , no one really knew what happened to chlorophyll during this process , but lead researcher , Bernard Kräutler , and his team , working together with botanists over the past years , has identified the first decomposition products in leaves : colorless , polar NCCs ( catabolytes nonfluorescing chlorophyll ) containing four rings Pyrrole - like chlorophyll and heme .

After examining apples and pears, the scientists discovered that NCCs replace the chlorophyll not only in the leaves of fruit trees, but in their very ripe fruits , especially in the peel and flesh immediately below it .

” Upon release of its chlorophyll -protein complexes in the decomposition process , it has a phototoxic effect : when irradiated with light, which can absorb energy and transfer it to other substances. For example , be transformed into a highly reactive oxygen , destructive ” researchers report . However, NCCs are just the opposite effect. Extremely powerful antioxidants , they play an important role in protecting the plant and when consumed as part of the human diet , NCCs publish them the same protection as potent antioxidants in our bodies. . Angew Chem Int Ed Chernobyl. 2007 Nov 19; 46 ( 45 ) : 8699-8702 .

How to enjoy

Tips for preparing papaya :

Papaya can be used in many different ways . They can be eaten as is , added to a fruit salad or a host of different recipes .

One of the easiest ways (and more beautiful) to eat papaya is to eat like a melon . After washing the fruit , cut lengthwise , remove the seeds and then eat it with a spoon. For a little additional zest , you can squeeze lemon or lime juice on top .

To cut papaya into smaller pieces for fruit salad or recipes , first it peel with paring knife and then cut to the desire size and shape. You can also use a melon baller to take out the fruit of a papaya half . If you are adding to a fruit salad , you should do just before serving as it tends to cause the nuts to be very smooth .

While most people discard large black seeds , are edible and have actually pepper flavor precious . They can be chewed whole or blended into a creamy salad dressing , give it a peppery flavor .

A few quick serving ideas :

Mix diced papaya, cilantro , peppers and ginger tree together to make a unique salsa that goes great with shrimp and halibut - Scallop .

Sprinkle papaya with fresh lime juice and enjoy as is .

Cut a small papaya lengthwise and fill with fruit salad .

In a blender , combine papaya , strawberries and yogurt to treat a cold soup .

Safety and properties

Papayas and Latex Allergy

As avocados and bananas, papayas contain substances called chitinases that are associated syndrome latex - fruit allergy . There is strong evidence of cross -reaction between latex and these foods . If you have a latex allergy , chances are you can be allergic to these foods as well . Fruit processing with ethylene gas increases these enzymes , organic products untreated gas will be less allergenic compounds . In addition , cooking the food may deactivate the enzymes .

nutritional Profile

Papaya is an excellent source of vitamin C . It is a very good source of folate and potassium. It is also a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin E, vitamin A and vitamin k .