Taxon: Carica papaya L.

Summary

Genus:

Carica

Family:

Caricaceae

Nomen number:

9147

Place of publication:

Sp. pl. 2:1036. 1753

Typification:

View in Linnean Typification Project

Verified:

11/21/1986 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

552 (48 active, 27 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Carica peltata Hook. & Arn.
Carica posoposa L.
Papaya carica Gaertn.

Images (3 total. Click on image for more.)

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Angely, J. A. 1965. Flora analitica do Parana.
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Badillo, V. M. 1971. Monografia de la familia Caricaceae 63-76.
Carvalho, F. A. & S. S. Renner. 2012. A dated phylogeny of the papaya family (Caricaceae) reveals the crop's closest relatives and the family's biogeographic history. Molec. Phylogenet. Evol. 65:46-53.
Chávez-Pesqueira, M. & J. Núñez-Farfán. 2016. Genetic diversity and structure of wild populations of Carica papaya in Northern Mesoamerica inferred by nuclear microsatellites and chloroplast markers. Ann. Bot. (Oxford) DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcw183.
Chávez-Pesqueira, M. et al. 2014. Habitat fragmentation threatens wild populations of Carica papaya (Caricaceae) in a lowland rainforest. Amer. J. Bot. 101:1092-1101.
Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen 2:1279.
Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
Farnsworth, N. R. & D. D. Soejarto. 1988. Global importance of medicinal plants (unpublished draft manuscript rev. 23)
Fernández-Lucas, J. et al. 2017. New trends for a classical enzyme: Papain, a biotechnological success story in the food industry. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 68:91-101. DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2017.08.017. Note: this review recognizes the main role of papain in the food industry as meat tenderizer; it has also new and promising roles in the dairy industry, production of protein hydrolysates and bioactive peptides, food allergens removal, brewing and baking industry, animal feed and water treatment
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
Forzza, R. C. et al., coord. Lista de espécies da flora do Brasil (on-line resource).
Gómez-Pompa, A. & V. Sosa, eds. 1978-. Flora de Veracruz.
Gooding, E. G. et al. 1965. Flora of Barbados.
Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Hackett, C. & J. Carolane. 1982. Edible Horticultural Crops Academic Press.
Harling, G. & B. Sparre, eds. 1973-. Flora of Ecuador.
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
IPGRI. New World Fruits Database (on-line resource).
Killeen, T. J. et al. 1993. Guia de arboles de Bolivia
León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Liogier, H. A. & L. F. Martorell. 1982. Flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands: a systematic synopsis.
Little, E. L., Jr. 1979. Checklist of United States trees, Agric. Handb. 541
Long, R. W. & O. Lakela. 1971. A flora of tropical Florida.
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
McVaugh, R. 1983-. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
Mori, S. A. et al. 1997-. Guide to the vascular plants of Central French Guiana (Mem. New York Bot Gard. 76).
O'Brien, C. M. & R. A. Drew. 2009. Potential for using Vasconcellea parviflora as a bridging species in intergeneric hybridisation between V. pubescens and Carica papaya. Austral. J. Bot. 57:592-601.
Pennington, T. D. et al. 2004. Illustrated guide to the trees of Peru
Personal Care Products Council. International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Pulle, A. A. et al., eds. 1932-. Flora of Suriname.
Rehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Reichel, S. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. German common names
Rockinger, A. et al. 2016. Chromosome number reduction in the sister clade of Carica papaya with concomitant genome size doubling. Amer. J. Bot. 103:1-7. DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1600134. Note: 2n=18
Siar, S. V. et al. 2011. Papaya ringspot virus resistance in Carica papaya via introgression from Vasconcellea quercifolia. Euphytica 181:159-168. Note: Netherlands journal of plant breeding
St. John, H. 1973. List and summary of the flowering plants in the Hawaiian islands
Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946-1976. Flora of Guatemala.
Stevens, W. D. et al., eds. 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85(1-3).
Tacias-Pascacio, V. G. et al. 2021. Bioactive peptides from fisheries residues: a review of use of papain in proteolysis reactions. Int. J. Biolog. Macromolec. 184:415-428. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.06.076. Note: this review cites that papain and other proteases are used to produce antioxidant peptides from fish residues with applications in food industry
Troncoso, F. D. et al. 2022. Production of plant proteases and new biotechnological applications: an updated review. ChemistryOpen 11:e202200017. DOI: 10.1002/open.202200017. Note: source of papain of commercial use from fruits, roots and leaves
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Verheij, E. W. M. & R. E. Coronel, eds. 1991. Edible fruits and nuts. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 2:108.
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
Wickens, G. E. et al., eds. 1989. New crops for food and industry
Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama.
Wunderlin, R. & B. Hansen. Atlas of Florida vascular plants (on-line resource).

Common names

Language	Name	seq	Citation
English	papaya	1	Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
English (Australia)	pawpaw	2	Verheij, E. W. M. & R. E. Coronel, eds. 1991. Edible fruits and nuts. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 2:108.
French	papayer	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
German	Melonenbaum	2	Reichel, S. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. German common names
German	Papajabaum	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
German	Papajapflanze	2	Reichel, S. 1998. pers. comm. Note: re. German common names
Portuguese (Brazil)	mamão	2	Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Portuguese (Brazil)	papaia	2	Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Spanish	mamón	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish	papayero	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Swedish	papaja	2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Baja California Sur		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Chihuahua		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	San Luis Potosí		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Sinaloa		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Sonora		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Tamaulipas		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Zacatecas		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Aguascalientes		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Campeche		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Chiapas		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Colima		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Guerrero		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Hidalgo		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Jalisco		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	México		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Michoacán de Ocampo		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Morelos		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Nayarit		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Oaxaca		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Puebla		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Querétaro		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Quintana Roo		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Tabasco		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Yucatán		Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Belize			Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Costa Rica			Carvalho, F. A. & S. S. Renner. 2012. A dated phylogeny of the papaya family (Caricaceae) reveals the crop's closest relatives and the family's biogeographic history. Molec. Phylogenet. Evol. 65:46-53.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	El Salvador			Carvalho, F. A. & S. S. Renner. 2012. A dated phylogeny of the papaya family (Caricaceae) reveals the crop's closest relatives and the family's biogeographic history. Molec. Phylogenet. Evol. 65:46-53.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Guatemala			Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946-1976. Flora of Guatemala.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Honduras			Carvalho, F. A. & S. S. Renner. 2012. A dated phylogeny of the papaya family (Caricaceae) reveals the crop's closest relatives and the family's biogeographic history. Molec. Phylogenet. Evol. 65:46-53.
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Nicaragua			Stevens, W. D. et al., eds. 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85(1-3).
1	Native	Southern America	Central America	Panama			Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama.
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Malesia	Philippines			Siar, S. V. et al. 2011. Papaya ringspot virus resistance in Carica papaya via introgression from Vasconcellea quercifolia. Euphytica 181:159-168. Note: Netherlands journal of plant breeding
2	Cultivated	Australasia	Australia	Australia			O'Brien, C. M. & R. A. Drew. 2009. Potential for using Vasconcellea parviflora as a bridging species in intergeneric hybridisation between V. pubescens and Carica papaya. Austral. J. Bot. 57:592-601.
2	Cultivated	Pacific	North-Central Pacific	United States	Hawaii		St. John, H. 1973. List and summary of the flowering plants in the Hawaiian islands
4	Naturalized	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Tanzania			Long, R. W. & O. Lakela. 1971. A flora of tropical Florida.
4	Naturalized	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Malawi			Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southeastern U.S.A.	United States	Florida		Wunderlin, R. & B. Hansen. Atlas of Florida vascular plants (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil			Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Bahamas			Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Cuba			León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Dominican Republic			Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Grenada			Gooding, E. G. et al. 1965. Flora of Barbados.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Guadeloupe			Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Haiti			Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Jamaica			Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Martinique			Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	St. Vincent and Grenadines			Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	Trinidad and Tobago			Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Puerto Rico		Liogier, H. A. & L. F. Martorell. 1982. Flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands: a systematic synopsis.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Caribbean	United States	Virgin Islands, U.S.		Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Northern South America	French Guiana			Mori, S. A. et al. 1997-. Guide to the vascular plants of Central French Guiana (Mem. New York Bot Gard. 76).
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Northern South America	Guyana			Carvalho, F. A. & S. S. Renner. 2012. A dated phylogeny of the papaya family (Caricaceae) reveals the crop's closest relatives and the family's biogeographic history. Molec. Phylogenet. Evol. 65:46-53.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Northern South America	Suriname			Pulle, A. A. et al., eds. 1932-. Flora of Suriname.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Northern South America	Venezuela			Carvalho, F. A. & S. S. Renner. 2012. A dated phylogeny of the papaya family (Caricaceae) reveals the crop's closest relatives and the family's biogeographic history. Molec. Phylogenet. Evol. 65:46-53.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina		n.	Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Paraguay			Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Western South America	Bolivia			Killeen, T. J. et al. 1993. Guia de arboles de Bolivia
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Western South America	Colombia			Carvalho, F. A. & S. S. Renner. 2012. A dated phylogeny of the papaya family (Caricaceae) reveals the crop's closest relatives and the family's biogeographic history. Molec. Phylogenet. Evol. 65:46-53.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Western South America	Ecuador			Harling, G. & B. Sparre, eds. 1973-. Flora of Ecuador.
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Western South America	Peru			Pennington, T. D. et al. 2004. Illustrated guide to the trees of Peru

Native
Northern America

NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Chihuahua, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, Baja California Sur]
SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Aguascalientes, Campeche, Chiapas, Colima, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Michoacán de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Yucatán]

Southern America

CENTRAL AMERICA: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador

Cultivated
Asia-Tropical

MALESIA: Philippines

Australasia

AUSTRALIA: Australia

Pacific

NORTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: United States [Hawaii]

Naturalized
Africa

EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Tanzania
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Malawi

Northern America

SOUTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Florida]

Southern America

CARIBBEAN: Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago, United States [Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, U.S.], St. Vincent and Grenadines
NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
BRAZIL: Brazil
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina (n.), Paraguay

Reference(s)

Adams, C. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica
Carvalho, F. A. & S. S. Renner. 2012. A dated phylogeny of the papaya family (Caricaceae) reveals the crop's closest relatives and the family's biogeographic history. Molec. Phylogenet. Evol. 65:46-53.
Correll, D. S. & H. B. Correll. 1982. Flora of the Bahama archipelago.
Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
Gooding, E. G. et al. 1965. Flora of Barbados.
Harling, G. & B. Sparre, eds. 1973-. Flora of Ecuador.
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
Killeen, T. J. et al. 1993. Guia de arboles de Bolivia
León (J. S. Sauget) & Alain (E. E. Liogier). 1946-1969. Flora de Cuba
Liogier, H. A. & L. F. Martorell. 1982. Flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands: a systematic synopsis.
Long, R. W. & O. Lakela. 1971. A flora of tropical Florida.
Mori, S. A. et al. 1997-. Guide to the vascular plants of Central French Guiana (Mem. New York Bot Gard. 76).
O'Brien, C. M. & R. A. Drew. 2009. Potential for using Vasconcellea parviflora as a bridging species in intergeneric hybridisation between V. pubescens and Carica papaya. Austral. J. Bot. 57:592-601.
Pennington, T. D. et al. 2004. Illustrated guide to the trees of Peru
Pulle, A. A. et al., eds. 1932-. Flora of Suriname.
Siar, S. V. et al. 2011. Papaya ringspot virus resistance in Carica papaya via introgression from Vasconcellea quercifolia. Euphytica 181:159-168. Note: Netherlands journal of plant breeding
St. John, H. 1973. List and summary of the flowering plants in the Hawaiian islands
Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946-1976. Flora of Guatemala.
Stevens, W. D. et al., eds. 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85(1-3).
Villaseñor, J. L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Biodivers. 87:694.
Woodson, R. E. & R. W. Schery, eds. 1943-1980. Flora of Panama.
Wunderlin, R. & B. Hansen. Atlas of Florida vascular plants (on-line resource).

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Food additives	clarifier	potential	Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Food additives	fermentation retarder	for brewery industry	Fernández-Lucas, J. et al. 2017. New trends for a classical enzyme: Papain, a biotechnological success story in the food industry. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 68:91-101. DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2017.08.017. Note: this review recognizes the main role of papain in the food industry as meat tenderizer; it has also new and promising roles in the dairy industry, production of protein hydrolysates and bioactive peptides, food allergens removal, brewing and baking industry, animal feed and water treatment
Food additives	fermentation retarder	potential	Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Food additives	gelling agent	for dairy industry (cheese texture)	Fernández-Lucas, J. et al. 2017. New trends for a classical enzyme: Papain, a biotechnological success story in the food industry. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 68:91-101. DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2017.08.017. Note: this review recognizes the main role of papain in the food industry as meat tenderizer; it has also new and promising roles in the dairy industry, production of protein hydrolysates and bioactive peptides, food allergens removal, brewing and baking industry, animal feed and water treatment
Food additives	stabilizer		Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Food additives	stabilizer	for brewery industry	Fernández-Lucas, J. et al. 2017. New trends for a classical enzyme: Papain, a biotechnological success story in the food industry. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 68:91-101. DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2017.08.017. Note: this review recognizes the main role of papain in the food industry as meat tenderizer; it has also new and promising roles in the dairy industry, production of protein hydrolysates and bioactive peptides, food allergens removal, brewing and baking industry, animal feed and water treatment
Food additives	tenderizer		Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Food additives	tenderizer		Fernández-Lucas, J. et al. 2017. New trends for a classical enzyme: Papain, a biotechnological success story in the food industry. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 68:91-101. DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2017.08.017. Note: this review recognizes the main role of papain in the food industry as meat tenderizer; it has also new and promising roles in the dairy industry, production of protein hydrolysates and bioactive peptides, food allergens removal, brewing and baking industry, animal feed and water treatment
Human food	beverage base		Rehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics
Human food	fruit		Rehm, S. & G. Espig. 1991. The cultivated plants of the tropics and subtropics
Materials	chemicals	source of papain used in food, feed, biochemistry industries	Troncoso, F. D. et al. 2022. Production of plant proteases and new biotechnological applications: an updated review. ChemistryOpen 11:e202200017. DOI: 10.1002/open.202200017. Note: source of papain of commercial use from fruits, roots and leaves
Materials	chemicals	source of papain used in pharmacy & perfumery	Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. 1996. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2
Medicines	source of pharmaceutical agent	chymopapin & papain	Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Medicines	source of pharmaceutical agent	chymopapin & papain	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Medicines	source of pharmaceutical agent	chymopapin & papain	Farnsworth, N. R. & D. D. Soejarto. 1988. Global importance of medicinal plants (unpublished draft manuscript rev. 23)

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=9147. Accessed 17 April 2026.