The papaya is the fruit of the tree-like plant
Carica papaya, of the plant family Caricaceae.
C. papaya is native to the Americas and has a long history of its use in traditional medicines, for it's nutritional, digestive, and medicinal properties. Fresh, ripe papaya is one of the richest sources of vitamin C (even more than that found in oranges). It contains several unique protein-digesting proteolytic enzymes, including papain and chymopapain, and is also rich in iron and calcium; a good source of flavonoids (beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin and cryptoxanthin), and vitamins A, B and G. Studies conducted on broiler chickens by Kamaruzzaman M et al., 2005 show that up to 120 g/kg of dried papaya skin can be safely added to the diet of chickens.
Deworming: Papaya latex was shown to result in a 77.7% reduction in eggs per gram of droppings from chickens against
Ascaridia galli and
Cappilaria spp.
Antibacterial: Papaya seeds have been shown to be effective against
Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli,
Salmonella aureus, and
Pseudomonas aeuroginosa.
Anticoccidial: Papaya is used for control of coccidiosis by farmers in the Jinja district in eastern Uganda, and local poultry producers in the Katanga province of the Domocratic Republic of Congo. A study conducted on 25 broiler chickens with coccidiosis confirmed the addition of 0.1-0.2%
Azadirachta indica and
C. papaya in powder form, added to the chickens' feed for 6 weeks was beneficial.
Candidiasis (sour crop or thrush): Papaya leaves and seeds possess a certain degree of antifungal properties against
Candida albicans. Adding papaya extract to chickens diet is shown to be beneficial in the prevention of the overabundance of
Candida albicans, a yeast-like fungi known for causing
sour crop.
Antivirual:
C. papaya is used as an ethnobotanical treatment of chickens with Newcastle disease, by farmers in the Jinja district in eastern Uganda. A decoction/cold water extract is prepared using the root and seeds.
