Mountain Papaya - Carica pubescens

[jez251]

Has anyone tasted mountin ppaya and can compare the flavor to regular papaya? I'll know soon as my play has a few untie fruit at the moment.

I believe it has a tart flavor when ripe that needs to be sweetened.

Jaime

[siafu]

I have something that is at least 50% C. pubescens.

The fruits are small (smaller than a fist), turn yellow at this time of year (winter) when they are ready to eat.
They have almost no sweetness, but do smell great. Chopped to pieces and with some sugar they are rather tasty.
The taste, however, is nothing like regular papaya. I can't really describe it,..., maybe a bit like pineapple.

I was kind of surprised to find out that miracle fruit works on this fruit, making it sweet. The high papain content
is supposed to denature proteins, but the miraculin still manages to produce its effect.

[jez251]

Thanks, Sergio. Sounds interesting nonetheless. You really intrigued by saying it reminded you of pineapple.

I'll try to post pictures of mine tomorrow. From what I remember they are about the size of a grapefruit.

Thanks again,
Jaime

[jez251]

Here is a pic of my tree!



Jaime

[siafu]

Hi,

Maybe you should forget what I said.
What I have has a different growth pattern.

The trunk is shorter and thicker. The internodes are short
and it produces lots of clustered flowers and fruits.
 
I'll try to take a photo tomorrow.

[Tim]

I'm no expert, far from it, but Jaime's plant growth & fruits look like a normal papaya?  Are you certain the plant wasn't mislabeled? 

[jez251]

Hi Tim,

While you may be right, I am pretty sure that I ordered Mountain Papaya seeds, and I am pretty sure that they were planted at their current location. I also looked at other pics of Mountain Papaya online, and while mine don't have such pronounced ridges, they do look a lot like the ones online.

Jaime

[Tim]

Can't wait to find out, how far removed are you from a ripe fruit?  You may have gotten a hybrid that may turn out to be a real winner

[jez251]

Not sure how far removed as this is the first fruiting. But I would estimate about 2 more weeks before the color changes...

What I am hoping for is that they have good flavor even if I have to sweeten them up a little.

jaime

[siafu]

Hi Tim,

While you may be right, I am pretty sure that I ordered Mountain Papaya seeds, and I am pretty sure that they were planted at their current location. I also looked at other pics of Mountain Papaya online, and while mine don't have such pronounced ridges, they do look a lot like the ones online.

Jaime

Jaime. I'm not doubting you have Mountain Papaya, C. pubescens. Just that what I have is too different, after all,
so my comment regarding  taste, most likely does not apply.
 

[jez251]

Hi Sergio,

No worries. that reply was to Tim anyway.

I will know soon enough what I have as they ripen up. I would say that I have regular papaya trees, as well, and these do not look at all like those.

jaime