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Mountain papaya (Vasconcellea pubescens)

Dlium Mountain papaya (Vasconcellea pubescens)

Carica or Dieng papaya or mountain papaya or mountain pawpaw or Carica pubescens or Carica candamarcensis or Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis (Vasconcellea pubescens) is a species of plant in the Caricaceae, a small tree, not woody, 1-10 meters high and with many branches.

V. pubescens has palmate leaves with 5-7 lobes, thick pubescence on the underside of the leaf, 35 cm wide, peduncle 33 cm long. Male flowers have stalks up to 15 cm long, female flowers are larger with short, hard stalks.





The fruit is arranged in a spiral along the stem and one tree can produce 50-60 fruits per year. Fruit is 6-15 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, five corners extending from base to top, green or yellow to orange.

The fruit has a sour taste but is fragrant and around the cavity the seeds appear which are encased in a white and watery sarcotesta. The pulp can be eaten raw and is usually cooked as a vegetable.

This species grows at an elevation of 1500-3000 meters, temperature 10-28C, soil with good drainage, can tolerate prolonged periods of drought, pH 6.5-7 but can tolerate a pH range of 4.5-8.4.

This tree lives up to 20 years and is harvested after 1.5-2 years of age. Fruit is a source of calcium, sugar, vitamins A and C. Fruit contains many essential oils and derivatives of fatty acids. Most are 3-hydroxyester compounds.

This fruit is processed as syrup, juice, sweets, jam, canned drinks or cooked as a vegetable. It can also be processed into dodol, pudding and chips. Apart from that, this fruit is also used as a curry mixture.

Fruit is suitable for consumption by people who have weak stomachs because it has properties to improve digestion. The young fruit is dried and made into powder to make skin medicine or cosmetics. The leaves are used as a meat tenderizer because they contain papain for various food and pharmaceutical industries.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Brassicales
Family: Caricaceae
Genus: Vasconcellea A.St.-Hil. in Deux. Mém. Réséd.: 13 (1837)
Species: Vasconcellea pubescens A.DC. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 15(1): 419 (1864)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Carica candamarcensis Hook.f. in Bot. Mag. 101: t. 6198 (1875)
Carica cestriflora Solms in C.F.P.von Martius & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Bras. 13(3): 185 (1889)
Carica chiriquensis Woodson in Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45: 30 (1958)
Carica cundinamarcensis Linden in Cat. Gén. 87: 87 (1871)
Carica pubescens Lenné & K.Koch in Index Seminum (B, Berolinensis) 1854(App.): 12 (1855)
Carica pubescens Solms in C.F.P.von Martius & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Bras. 13(3): 185 (1889)
Papaya cestriflora (A.DC.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 253 (1891)
Papaya cundinamarcensis (Linden) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 253 (1891)
Papaya pubescens (Lenné & K.Koch) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 253 (1891)
Vasconcellea cestriflora A.DC. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 15(1): 418 (1864)
Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis V.M.Badillo in Ernstia, n.s., 10: 78 (2000)

PUBLICATIONS

Gosline, G., Bidault, E., van der Burgt, X., Cahen, D., Challen, G., Condé, N., Couch, C., Couvreur, T.L.P., Dagallier, L.M.J., Darbyshire, I., Dawson, S., Doré, T.S., Goyder, D., Grall, A., Haba, P., Haba, P., Harris, D., Hind, D.J.N., Jongkind, & al. (2023). A Taxonomically-verified and Vouchered Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea. Nature, scientific data 10, Article number: 327: [1]-[12].

Hammel, B.E., Grayum, M.H., Herrera, C. & Zamora, N. (eds.) (2020). Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 4(2): 1-524. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

Mao, A.A. & Dash, S.S. (2020). Flowering Plants of India an Annotated Checklist (Dicotyledons) 1: 1-970. Botanical Survey of India.

VERNACULAR NAME

English: Mountain papaya, Mountain pawpaw
Indonesian: Carica, Karika, Pepaya gunung, Pepaya dieng
Java: Lintang gantung
Central Java: Carica
Sunda: Gedang memedi

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