How papaya is useful: use and contraindications

Americans call the fruit papaya "fruta bomb." And for good reason.

These large yellow-green fruits with a pleasant melon aroma gradually conquered the whole world.

They can easily be seen in the markets in every corner of the globe, and the planting of ten-meter palm-like trees from native America has already reached the South Caucasus. It was there, on the Black Sea coast, experimental plantations were planted.

What kind of fruit is this - papaya, what makes it so attractive, what useful properties does it have, and why do beauties adore it?

Calorie and chemical composition of papaya

The secret of the popularity of huge edible fruits, whose length is about 35 cm, lies in their chemical composition.It turns out that the papaya pulp contains almost all the elements of the periodic table, which explains the American nickname of the fruit. Yes, yes, it is exactly the fruit bomb that I want to call it, more precisely, the vitamin one.

After all, eating such a fruit, a person receives not only taste pleasure, but also a charge of substances necessary for health. If we take into account that the weight of one smallest fruit is about 500 g, then it is quite possible to count on getting the daily rate of many elements. But on the tree there are 7-pound giants. In large quantities, papaya contains vitamin C (up to 68%), which is essential for oxidation-reduction reactions and the protective functions of the body. And also trace elements and amino acids. In terms of numbers, the contents of 100 g of the edible part of papaya look like this:

Vitamins:

• A - 47 µg;
• B1 - 0023 mg;
• B2 - 0,027 mg;
• B4 - 6.1 mg;
• B5 - 0.191 mg;
• B6 - 0.038 mg;
• B9 - 37 µg;
• C - 60.9 mg;
• E - 0.3 mg;
• Lycopene - 1828 mcg;
• lutein - 89 mcg;
• K - 2.6 mcg;
• PP - 0.357 mg.

Macronutrients and trace elements:

• potassium - 182 mg;
• copper - 45 mcg;
• magnesium - 21 mg;
• calcium - 20 mg;
• phosphorus - 10 mg;
• sodium - 8 mg;
• manganese - 0.04 mg;
• selenium - 0.6 mcg;
• iron 0.25 mg;
• Zinc - 0.08 mg.

Replaceable and essential amino acids:

• arginine - 0.01 g;
• valine - 0.01 g;
• histidine - 0.005 g;
• isoleucine - 0.008 g;
• leucine - 0.016 g;
• lysine - 0.025 g;
• methionine - 0.02 g;
• threonine, 0.011 g;
• tryptophan - 0.08 mg;
• phenylalanine - 0.009 g;
• alanine, 0.014 g;
• aspartic acid - 0.05 g;
• glycine, 0.018 g;
• glutamic acid - 0.033 g;
• proline - 0.01 g;
• serine - 0.015 g;
• tyrosine - 0.005 g.

Fatty acid:

• omega-3 - 0.047 g;
• omega-6 - 0.011 g;
• lauric acid - 0.002 g;
• myristic - 0.013 g;
• palmitic - 0.06 g;
• stearic - 0.004 g;
• palmitoleic - 0.038 g;
• oleic - 0.034 g;
• linoleic acid - 0.011 g;
• linolenic - 0.047 g.

Digestible carbohydrates:

• fructose - 3.73 g;
• glucose - 4.09 g;
• mono - and disaccharides - 7,82,

Nutrients also include dietary fiber (1.7 g), water (88 g), and ash (0.39 g). A total of papaya consists of 11 g of carbohydrates, 0.26 g of fat and 0.47 g of proteins with a caloric content of 43 kcal. Many consider the fruit dietary and prefer it as a source of vitamins necessary for the body during diets.

What is useful for papaya body

Sweet exotic fruits, strong wood and foliage of papaya have found their application in many spheres of human activity. For example, ropes are made from bark and leaves. Fruits (which, according to scientists, are berries) because of their nutritional value, are recommended for treating a number of ailments. The fruits are especially useful for people with eye diseases and pregnant.

For sight

The components of papaya allow you to work on the perspective of the eye, saving them from future blindness. In adulthood, due to the specific working conditions, retinal dystrophy often occurs in people, leading to loss of vision. The systematic use of fruit pulp prevents the development of these processes, and beta-carotene helps to improve the work of the eye muscles.

During pregnancy

The benefits of papaya for pregnant women can be talked about incessantly.

First, it is a real storehouse of essential vitamins and minerals.

Secondly, folic acid in the composition of the fruit prevents the development of anemia, normalizes blood circulation, which is especially important for the formation of a healthy fetus.

Third, besides stimulating vigilance,fruit cleanses the body of toxic substances, not allowing them to accumulate.

Fourth, the pulp is recommended for those who have stretch marks on the skin.

However, expectant mothers should be wary of choosing a useful berry. The fact is that in green fruits with hard skin there are large quantities of peptin, which provokes intensive uterine contractions, with the result that even a small fraction of the papaya eaten can lead to premature birth. If there are no ripe yellow-green specimens, and you really want to eat exotica, bake it in the oven or stew it.

Papaya in cooking: how to clean, how to eat and with what

Berries of the so-called melon tree are often eaten raw, because during heat treatments of any type some of the nutrients are lost. Sweet orange pink pulp is used to make salads and juices.

Also, jams, preserves, compotes, marinades and even ice cream are made from it.A few drops of juice are added to the broth so that the fibers of the meat become tender and melt in the mouth.

But when you hold such a miracle in your hands for the first time, it is not clear how to clean, and even more so there is this papaya. To begin with, we note that only the pulp is related to the edible parts of the fruit. Skin and seed are thrown away. Cooks use different ways to clean the berries. In most cases, this process is like cutting a melon: the fruit is cut in half, the grains are removed with a spoon, the parts are divided into slices and removed from each skin.

Other mistresses share the experience of cutting the inside of the squares right on the skin of the cloves. After the manipulations with a sharp movement, the bottom is cut off right on the plate. And in the resulting sweet figures for convenience stick skewers.

If you do not have a knife or a spoon, which, by the way, you can also choose the pulp on a plate, then the removal of the skin and bones is done by hand.

Now let's figure out how to eat papaya. The uniqueness of an exotic fruit lies in the ease of combining it with meat dishes, desserts and vegetables.Moreover, the fruit is tasty, both raw and braised, roasted or baked. For example, green exotics are cut in such a way that juice is drained from them, and later the pulp is used as zucchini. In this case, the pulp is suitable for frying, stewing and boiling. Moreover, this wonderful fruit can be baked like shish kebab on the fire.

The use of papaya in traditional medicine

Folk healers recommend infusions of papaya inflorescences for the treatment of colds and as an expectorant.

The antimicrobial properties of the milky juice of green fruits are used to treat deep and poorly healing wounds. For example, African peoples harvest unripe papayas to obtain this medicinal drug. On average, from one such berry you can get about 10 g of liquid, for long-term storage it is dried in the sun to brown. And Peruvian healers talk about the unique abilities of the leaves to tighten the scars on the skin right in front of your eyes. There are many methods of losing weight with the help of these fruits. Also, traditional medicine advises with their help to get rid of heart ailments, ulcers of the digestive tract, colitis, asthma,burns, dermatitis; use them to improve the functions of the liver and normalize blood sugar, cleanse the intestines, stimulate the immune system.

Juice treats the skin for insect bites, eczema, relieves pain, and in some countries it is prescribed for diseases of the spine, hernias, osteochondrosis. From the seeds of the national doctors prepare anthelmintic agents.

How to use in cosmetology

Globally, papaya is an essential ingredient in facial and hair cosmetics. There are many masks and creams with exfoliating effect from the extract of these fruits. Also extracts from the seed are used in cosmetology to improve the condition of the epidermis, skin regeneration, removal of pigmentation, warts, scars and freckles.

Nowadays, a popular enzyme peel is also performed with the participation of acids produced by the melon tree. The procedure has a beneficial effect on the skin, tightens pores, removes acne and stimulates collagen production.After several sessions, the face noticeably rejuvenates, becomes clean, and becomes healthy. But this is not a complete list of the amazing properties of the miracle berries. No wonder that the aborigines called papaya "health trees." In high-quality cosmetics with a whitening effect, you will also definitely find an extract from their pulp. It is present in shampoos, and hair balms, and even in shaving products and toothpastes.

Papain has a destructive effect on keratin, thus slowing down unwanted vegetation. These properties of fruits are used in a series of cosmetic products for skin care after epilation.

Among the ladies' society, papaya oil has deserved special respect, which has a moisturizing, cleansing and anti-bacterial effect. It is easily absorbed into the layers of the epidermis and in conjunction with papain normalizes the sebaceous glands. Beauticians recommend it for the care of normal and oily skin.

Women who regularly make masks for hair oil of these fruits, can boast a magnificent, breathing health shock.The liquid heals damaged split ends, strengthens hair follicles and nourishes them. To get the effect, just a few drops are added to the basic care products.

Contraindications

Exotic papaya can also harm, especially those who do not know how to choose ripe high-quality fruits and are prone to allergic reactions, there are no other contraindications. Especially beware of green berries - their juice and pulp are poisonous. Once in the body, they provoke a strong poisoning, cramps in the lower abdomen, indigestion and allergies. In large quantities, the substance turns into a potent poison.

Therefore, only ripe fruit with soft or elastic skin should be placed on the table, necessarily yellow-green or orange and with a pink delicate inside. Juice - white and homogeneous consistency.If it is watery and has lost color, it is better not to eat such papaya. If you have any doubts about the maturity of the exotic, cook a fried, steamed or boiled dish out of it.