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Origin of papaya

The first written mention about papaya is in "Historia Natural y General de las Indias" by Oviedo. In 1535, this writer sent a letter to his Royal Highness telling about the presence of this fruit in the south of Mexico and Central America. According to Oviedo, Alonso de Valverde brought seeds to Panama and Dominican Republic, where native peoples used to call it papaya. During the first stages of conquest, papaya was spreaded to all over the Antilles and South America. At the end of XIV and at the beginning of XV century, papaya growing was spreaded by Spanish and Portuguese sailors or navigators.

Currently, it is considered that papaya has American origin from Tropical America, but according to some authors its origin is from Central America (between Mexico and Costa Rica). Papaya has been grown in tropical and subtropical zones in the world.

Botanic Classification

Kingdom	Vegetable
Phylum	Cormophyta
Division	Antophyta
Subdivision	Angiosperma
Class	Dicotiledonea
Subclass	Chrisopetala
Second evolutive degree	Dialipetala
Order	Parietales
Family	Caricacea
Genus	Carica
Species	Carica papaya

 

This family only includes four kinds: three are from tropical America (Carica, Jacoratia and Jarilla) and one from Central Africa (Cylicomorpha).

 

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