Skip to main content

Mountain papaya (Vasconcellea pubescens)

Carica or Dieng papaya or diamond papaya or mountain papaya or mountain pawpaw or Carica pubescens or Carica candamarcensis or Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis (Vasconcellea pubescens) is a species of papaya in Caricaceae and grows in wet areas at 1,500-3,000 m above sea level.

V. pubescens is also called a dwarf papaya tree in the form of a non-woody shrub, but has more branches, the size of all plant parts is smaller and the average height is 1-2 meters. The stems are dark green but with thin brown skin.

Dlium Mountain papaya (Vasconcellea pubescens)

Single leaves are large size, rough, dark green and wavy sides facing outward with long stems growing circularly along the stem. Male flowers have stems that are up to 15 cm long, while female flowers are larger in size with short and hard stems.

The fruit is ovoid for 6-15 cm long and 3-8 cm in diameter. Young fruits are dark green and contain sap papain which is proteolytic. The ripe fruit becomes hard, yellow-orange or brown, has a sour but fragrant taste and around the cavity appear seeds wrapped in sarkotesta which are white and runny.

Mountain papaya is a source of calcium, sugar, vitamins A and C. Fruit contains a lot of essential oils and derivatives of fatty acids, most of which are 3-hydroxyester compounds which are also found in several other tropical plants including pineapple, mango, gooseberry, tamarillo, and sapodilla.

Mountain pawpaw is more resistant to cold air and viruses that commonly attack other papaya. Trees have ages up to 20 years and harvest after 1.5-2 years. Generally, every tree produces 4-8 kg of fruit every year.





This fruit is processed as syrup, juice, sweets, jam, canned drinks or cooked as vegetables. It can also be processed into lunkhead, pudding and chips. Besides this fruit is also used as a curry mixture.

Carica is suitable for consumption by people who have a weak stomach because it has properties to improve digestion. Young fruits are usually dried and made into powder for the manufacture of skin or cosmetic medicine. Leaves are used as ingredients for various food and pharmaceutical industries.

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Caricaceae
Genus: Vasconcellea
Species: V. pubescens

Popular Posts

Pohpohan (Pilea melastomoides)

Pohpohan clearweed ( Pilea melastomoides ) is a species of plant in the Urticaceae, herbaceous perennial, erect stems, up to 100 cm tall, succulent, square or cylindrical, enlarged in the middle of the internodes, bright green in color and forming colonies in the shade. P. melastomoides has stipules that are immediately deciduous or subpersistent, green or brownish and oblong. The stalk is 2-9 cm long. The leaf blade is ovate or ovate-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate. The surface is wavy, pale green on the underside, dark green on the top. The three main veins are central and linear. Rounded base, tapered ends and serrated edges. The inflorescences are paired, the male is a dense cyme paniculata. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Urticaceae Genus: Pilea Species: Pilea melastomoides

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Petai (Parkia speciosa)

Stink bean or bitter bean or pete or petai ( Parkia speciosa ) is a tropical tree species in Fabaceae, 5-25 m high and branched, reddish brown bark, always green, compound and pinnate leaves, young seeds are harvested as fresh or boiled food . P. speciosa has a hump-shaped flower that hangs with a long stalk, usually appearing near the tips of the branches. Flowers that are young and not yet blooming are green, mature flowers have stamens and pistils, old flowers turn yellow and are large in size. Dozens of long, flat pod-shaped fruits emerge from a flower hump hanging from a tree. Each pod has up to 10-20 seeds that are neatly arranged, green when young and wrapped in a rather thick membrane of light brown. The fruit dries and becomes harder as it ripens and releases the seeds. Petai grows well in wet and slightly wet climates, low land to mountains with an altitude of 1,500 m, open spaces and lots of sun throughout the day with fine-tinted soil and Ph 5.5-6.5. Trees start bea...