The papaya is a popular exotic fruit that is available in supermarkets all year round. You can also simply grow a papaya tree from the seeds. Regardless of whether you harvest fruit yourself or buy it commercially, you should only use ripe fruit. Most people face problems when recognizing ripened papaya, so if you consider yourself in them, then don’t worry. In this article, we will give you every minor detail of how to tell if papaya is ripe.
How To Tell If A Papaya Is Ripe?
You can tell when the papaya is ripe by looking at the color of the skin. As soon as the skin turns from green to yellow, the papaya can be eaten. Depending on the variety, the skin can even turn completely yellow. The papaya, which belongs to the melon family but is not related to melons, can also be cooked when it is unripe.
Here, too, the boundary is fluid as to whether the papaya rather a fruit or vegetable, because how it is classified or used depends on the degree of maturity.
Hardly any post-ripening
The papaya is grown worldwide in tropical to subtropical regions, and when it is offered in the supermarket, it usually has a long journey behind it. The papaya does not have a thick skin and is correspondingly delicate when it is harvested and packaged. Therefore, when buying, you should not only pay attention to the color of the skin but also whether the fruit yields slightly under pressure.
If you want to eat the papaya as a sweet fruit, it should be at an optimal degree of ripeness, because it hardly matures. However, you still have the option of processing the papaya into different vegetable dishes if you have caught a fruit that is unripe. In their countries of origin, the fruits are often deliberately harvested unripe in order to be able to use them that way.
Discard overripe fruit
However, if the papaya is overripe, it is no longer edible. You can tell this by the fact that the shell gives way too easily under pressure. Sometimes there are even dark spots on overripe fruit, which are a sign of the onset of spoilage.
Don’t eat too much fruit. Inside, the fruit may already have started to ferment and has an unpleasant taste. Overripe fruit can even lead to digestive problems. You should also pay attention to this if you have already stored the papaya for a few days.
Store papaya
The papaya usually only keeps for a few days if it is not refrigerated appropriately. As soon as it reaches the supermarket, the temperature is already so high that its shelf life is severely limited. Therefore, even fruit from the supermarket can only be stored for a short time.
The papaya fruits are very sensitive to pressure and should therefore only be stored on a soft surface. Ideal for storing at home lay it on crumpled newspaper. The storage place for the fruit should be cool, but not cold. Storage in the refrigerator is only possible for freshly harvested fruit, which should be left at room temperature for at least half a day before consumption.