An emergence on potentialities and uniqueness of Carica papaya Plant

Abstract

Papaya plant known as Carica papaya belonging to the family Caricaceae, is an important climacteric fruit grown in lowland and conventionally bred through pedigree and backcross methods. In view of the pharmaceutical industries papaya fruit is the 5th important valued plant for the nutrition qualities as rich of provitamin A, calcium and proteolytic enzyme papain. It is only one of the plant with presence of huge phyto-constituents like; Alkaloids, Glycosides, specific glycosides like Saponin Glycosides, Anthraquinone Glycosides, Cardiac Glycosides, Cyanogenetic Glycosides, Tannins and Phenolic Compounds, Flavonoids, Proteins and Amino Acids, Sterols & Triterpenoids, Carbohydrates, Fats & Fixed Oils. Due to the presence of these phyto-constituents, it has several medicinal values including antiseptic, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, diuretic, antihyperlipidemic, antidiabetic, and contraceptive activity. Papaya is also well known for its exceptional nutritional and medicinal properties throughout the world. Traditionally, papaya is an herbal medicament in developing countries for burns, soft tissue wounds and skin infection. The whole papaya plant including its leaves, seeds, ripe and unripe fruits and their juice is used as a traditional medicine. Nowadays, papaya is considered as a nutraceutical fruit due to its multifarious medicinal properties. Hence extensive investigation on its pharmacodynamics, kinetics and proper standardization and clinical trials is needed to exploit their therapeutic activity to combat various diseases