The Tropical Papaya is the smaller of the two with a sweet flavor and a yellow exterior skin and yellow flesh. Tropical Papayas grow to be 1.1 to 2.2 pounds per unit.
The Tropical Papaya is also called the “Kapaho Papaya” in Hawaii and the “Yellow Papaw” in Australia grows in tropical climates such as Hawaii and Costa Rica.
The Tropical Papaya is one of two kinds of Papayas that are commonly grown for consumption in North America. The Mexican Papaya is the other.
Before buying a Tropical Papaya, visually inspect the fruit. Don’t buy Tropical Papaya that has visible mold or mildew growing on the base where the stem was. Smell the base. You should be able to smell the scent of the Tropical Papaya. If it smells bad or fermented, the fruit is bad. A few black spots on the skin won’t affect the taste of the Tropical Papaya but you should avoid overly bruised product.
Ripe Tropical Papayas should be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and used within 1 or 2 days. They will keep for a week but are best used early.
Smart Kitchen has more information on Papayas in our Papaya Resource and an exercise on properly Prepping Papaya for use in the kitchen in our lesson content.
Allow 1-2 oz of Tropical Papaya per person.
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