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Papaya plants occur in one of three sexual forms male, female and hermaphrodite. Unlike our society The hermaphrodite is preferred since they can pollinate themselves, the male does not produce fruit and the female requires either a male or hermaphrodite to pollinate the flowers into fruit.Women in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other parts of the world have long used green papaya as a folk remedy for contraception and abortion. Medical research has confirmed this folklore.
The black seeds inside the papaya are edible and have a sharp taste. When ground up they can be used as a substitute for black pepper. The young leaves of the papaya can be steamed and eaten like spinach. In parts of the world papaya leaves are made into tea as a preventative for Malaria.Green papaya fruit and the tree's latex are both rich in an enzyme called papain which is useful in tenderizing meat and other proteins. Many hair conditioners and shampoo's are also made from papaya.
Frozen Papaya makes for a great ingredient in any fruit smoothie, every morning a half of papaya to keep the evil spirits away.
The branches of the Papaya are hollow and can be used as a straw to drink water from coconut or any other favorite drink. For people that require the use of medical marijuana the stem also makes for a great peace pipe.
Did I mention if you save the seeds from your favorite Papaya for future trees make sure and not refrigerate the fruit since refrigeration can retard the seeds. Many times I just throw the seeds out my back door into some turned soil and miraculously within a month a few small trees usually arrive.
Papaya's can also grow out of nowhere, many times the birds eat the ripe papaya's and when they go to the bathroom the seed is planted with natural fertilization.
Papaya is my favorite fruit, try a half of papaya with some low calorie cool whip, topped with fresh shredded coconut. No Lucky we live Kauai, rather Blessing, we live Kauai.
