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 properties
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 properties
Papaya seeds have been shown to be effective against
Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli,
Salmonella aureus, and
Pseudomonas aeuroginosa.
Anticoccidial properties
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.
Antifungal properties
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.
Newcastle Disease
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.
