Babaco

Mountain papaya ( Carica × heilbornii var pentagona )

The mountain papaya ( Carica × heilbornii var pentagona ), also called Babaco, is a natural hybrid ( hybrid ) of the two species Carica pubescens and Carica stipulata from the kind of melon trees ( Carica ) in the family of melon tree plants ( Caricaceae ). The genus Carica includes the papaya.

Description

The mountain papaya grows as a shrub with an up to 1.5 m high trunk. Put your fruit parthenocarpic (ie by parthenogenesis without pollination ) to. They are green, seedless, cucumber -shaped berries that reach up to 2 kg.

Occurrence

The mountain papaya is native to the rainforests of Ecuador and Colombia. It is frost sensitive and can tolerate only short-term temperatures close to zero degrees Celsius. Today it is grown in New Zealand. In the greenhouse, it is also grown in Israel and other regions of the Middle East.

Use

The fruit is edible, both the flesh as their shell. The mountain papaya was cultivated before the arrival of Europeans in the southern highlands of the Andes.

Ingredients

The fruits have a high content of vitamin C and contain the digestive enzyme papain.