Author Topic: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?  (Read 7118 times)

nighthawk0911@yahoo.com

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Papaya's should be arrested for false advertising.  They look tropical and delicious.  Logic says they should rate with mangoes for flavor, but I have yet to taste a papaya that didn't make want to gag.  Are there any varieties of Papaya that would change my mind?  Thanks.
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bsbullie

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2018, 08:22:13 PM »
If you are talking store bought, then no.

A homegrown Red Lady is really good.
- Rob

spaugh

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2018, 08:24:18 PM »
Do you not care for Hawaiian papaya?  They dont have the barf taste.
Brad Spaugh

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2018, 08:32:19 PM »
I've had red Papaya at ECHO in Ft. Myers.  Not sure if there is more than one variety of red, it looked beautiful & wanted to like it but it had the vomit taste. 
Blessed be the man who plants a tree knowing he will never live to enjoy it's fruit or shade.

roblack

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2018, 08:34:23 PM »
Red Lady and Kapoho Solo are good.

RodneyS

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2018, 08:50:37 PM »
Sunrise papaya (aka strawberry papaya).  Very sweet, with no musk smell.  I have a seedling tree and love the fully ripened fruit

https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/seed/seeds.asp


barath

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2018, 09:09:17 PM »
Sunrise papaya (aka strawberry papaya).  Very sweet, with no musk smell.  I have a seedling tree and love the fully ripened fruit

https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/seed/seeds.asp

I agree with Rodney -- strawberry papaya tastes great, especially with a bit of lime squeezed on it.

pineislander

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2018, 09:46:28 PM »
Red Lady and Kapoho Solo are good.
I agree about Red Lady. Good dwarf trees, best tasting papaya I've ever tried. .
You can buy very good quality seeds here, high quality perfect germination, easy to grow.
https://www.shop.alohaseed.com/product.sc?productId=17&categoryId=4
Out of 100 seeds planted so far none were male, all either female or hermaphrodite.
This one is on my table at the moment almost ready



Cookie Monster

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2018, 09:50:13 PM »
It's an acquired taste. Took me a few years of the missus encouraging me to eat them. Now I thoroughly enjoy, as long as they're sweet.
Jeff  :-)

Lory

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2018, 05:39:09 AM »
I've always hated all kind of papaya bought in the store.
At the best they were tasting like a BAD MELON (that i don't like)
But i've a variety i currently grow in my garden (it's unnamed probably a natural variation of the red lady) which is tasting AMAZING sweet with notes of VANILLA.
And you you squeeze on it some passionfruit then it's just heavenly.... :P

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=17272.msg218721#msg218721

Try a GOOD papaya and you will change your mind!

Lorenzo

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #10 on: July 14, 2018, 05:58:56 AM »
Store bought papaya are about as good as store bought carambola... for that matter just about ALL store bought fruit stinks nowadays I think because the growers are rushing fruit to market to be first on the shelves. Pluot/plumcots, apricot, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, grapes, pineapple in fact every fruit I buy in the store is lackluster and nothing like the fruit I ate in years gone by.

As far as papaya goes, I don't think it's the cultivar, I think it's more related to them being picked green rather than ripening on the plant because I grew seeds from the store and while the store bought fruit was terrible, mine have always been delicious. My dog agreed with me and would eat as much as I would give her :-)



Regards,

   Gary

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #11 on: July 14, 2018, 06:47:54 AM »
Good ones are usually bisex and red and preferably grown in the tropics. That disagreeable taint is called nasturtium and is in poor varieties especially female yellows and papaya grown in cooler climates and picked too early. All the solos are good and there are plenty of first class ones without that taint.

savemejebus

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #12 on: July 14, 2018, 08:29:53 AM »
I have always counted myself as a papaya hater unable to get over the vomit smell... until we went to Hawaii last year and had the local papayas there which were excellent (sunrise, rainbow, etc.).

We've been trying to grow the Hawaiian papayas here but I'm losing the battle to a group of iguanas that are climbing and eating the leaves/branches. Looks like I need to buy an air rifle to thin the herd because I can't get anything to grow more than 3 feet before it gets wiped out by the iguanas.

KarenRei

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #13 on: July 14, 2018, 03:37:13 PM »
I've always hated all kind of papaya bought in the store.
At the best they were tasting like a BAD MELON (that i don't like)

I think that's a great description of store papaya. They look like they should taste like a mango or something. Instead they taste like a cheap Chinese knock-off of a canteloupe. And dehydrating them makes them taste like a cheap knockoff of a summer squash.
Já, ég er að rækta suðrænar plöntur á Íslandi. Nei, ég er ekki klikkuð. Jæja, kannski...

Cookie Monster

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #14 on: July 14, 2018, 06:18:48 PM »
Hmm. I actually really like store papayas. What I don't like is paying for them :-). Brix on those is normally quite good. I think it's totally an acquired taste.
Jeff  :-)

KarenRei

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #15 on: July 14, 2018, 08:25:51 PM »
And this is why Brix - on its own - is a terrible measure of a fruit.  I could mix granulated sugar with mud and toenail clippings, and it'd have a great brix score.  ;)
Já, ég er að rækta suðrænar plöntur á Íslandi. Nei, ég er ekki klikkuð. Jæja, kannski...

bsbullie

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #16 on: July 14, 2018, 09:06:08 PM »
And this is why Brix - on its own - is a terrible measure of a fruit.  I could mix granulated sugar with mud and toenail clippings, and it'd have a great brix score.  ;)

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #17 on: July 14, 2018, 09:40:25 PM »
I am in your camp. I hate store bought papayas. It is the musky and/or vomit flavor combination that I really object to. I also don't like musk melons either, they have a similar flavor component.

I do like Hawaiian solos which we can get at the international market.

But my favorite is Tainung #2. I have grown it in my yard and I have had it grown off two of my friends trees. And the flavor is consistent between all 3 of our yards. And it is delicious! - http://desertvalleyorchard.blogspot.com/p/tainung-2-papaya.html
- Mark

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #18 on: July 14, 2018, 10:11:48 PM »
Yah, that's sorta like saying that salary is a poor measure of a job. Surely there are other factors that are important in a job, but salary makes or breaks the position. Would be pretty hard to find a software engineer for minimum wage (no matter how nice the perks), and on the flip side, you could probably entice quite a few individuals to do menial labor for 6 figures.

Brix is a key measure of a fruit's quality -- especially one that has been selected, such as the papaya sold at stores (which I think is Tainung). The papayas I've purchased at the store typically have brix readings higher than the ones I grow here. But "good brix" on a papaya is around 13 degrees, which would be very low for, say, a mango.

Interestingly, brix is actually quite important to fruit flavor. An otherwise great mango can taste like a vegetable if it's low on brix. And, if you read through some of the posts on this forum, you'll see threads extolling the Sugarloaf and White Jade pineapples or posters going bonkers over those large yellow dragon fruits imported from Central America -- both because they are extremely high in brix compared to other specimens.

And this is why Brix - on its own - is a terrible measure of a fruit.  I could mix granulated sugar with mud and toenail clippings, and it'd have a great brix score.  ;)
Jeff  :-)

sttmike

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Re: Is there any variety of Papaya that doesn't taste like Possum Pi$$?
« Reply #19 on: July 17, 2018, 08:36:50 PM »
speaking of tasting like a vegetable.  papaya that is just ripening (the flesh is orange, red) but still somewhat firm makes a great addition to a stir fry.  : >)