papaya sprouts for salad.

[canhle]

Most people eat the papaya and throw the seed away. I was just wonder should we save the seed to make sprouts for salad, and what is the nutritional value of papaya sprouts. I have spent hours surfing on the net but could not find anything on the nutritional value of papaya sprout. Any help is greatly appreciated.

canhle

[mella l]

Hey Canhle I've looked also and haven't found much. The wikipedia page about papayas say their seeds are nutritious, taste peppery and there is folk medicine uses for all parts of the papaya. I didn't find anything about sprouts in particular. Have you tried any yet in stir fry or raw in salads? Parts have been used in soaps and shampoos and such, very versatile.

The Department of Agriculture in Hawaii might have some information and if I were there I'd give them a call or drop them an email. Good luck and

mella l

[canhle]

Hi Mella,
I have not started the sprouting project yet. Thanks for the info, and I will look into it.

canhle

[nmorata]

that sounds like a fun project, i'll have to toss a whole bunch on the ground and do a nice stir fry when the sprouts come out...watch out slugs....those are myyyyy sprouts.....

Noel
plantalohics check out
http://theplantwhore.blogspot.com/

[Blakeyboy1]

How very interesting! I am anxious to explore more about the many uses of the various parts of the papaya. ANd will be looking for others experiences. Canhle please do post your experiences with sprouts. Good stuff!

-Blake
http://www.theboysgreatescape.blogspot.com/

[Hazen]

The seeds, of course, make our famous local salad dressing. Also some people i know eat them one or two spoonfull as a laxative. Might be carefull how much you eat...

for the record i've never consumed them en mass so i can't speak to their affect on your digestive system, but some "gentle" experimentation might make sense. Maybe not papaya sprout salad with lots of dinner guests. Would be a neat adaptaion on the plant's part to have seeds that "worked" their way out in fertilizer, just imagine all those pigs filling fields with little pre-fertilized papaya seedlings.

[Hazen]

Also Blakeyboy,

The stems of the leaves are used as straws for coco's and impromptu ganja pipes for hippies who break their glass ones. They serve excellently for both uses.

Papayas wil grow in bare cinder or a'a unlike most stuff. So they're great for terraforming, i don't know how it affects crop production but many people hack the trunk at chest height and the plant will grow two tops, thus producing twice as much fruit, AND at picking height. Seems most people let them get eaten by bugs or rats b/c he're too high up to see or inconvenient to get. I know if i walked by head height papayas each day, i'd have each one picked and ripening.

[asly]

So, when you use papaya seeds in a dressing, do you just scrape them out of the papaya and rinse off then add to the dressing? Or do you dry them to sort of cure?

[Devany]

Asly,

All you have to do is wash and dry them. It does not take a lot for a batch of salad dressing though. They aer nice and peppery in flavor. I never thought of the sprouts, but I think that might be a good use if you only use a few or as in many sprouts discard the shell of the seed once it has sprouted. Papaya seeds (and flesh to a lesser degree) have an enzyme that is literally used for meat tenderizer... I am not sure you want a lot of that running through your system.

Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.eastbaypotters.blogspot.com

[Nalu]

Papaya Seed Dressing
1 teaspoon grated gingerroot
1 tablespoon minced onion
2 tablespoons papaya seeds from fresh papaya
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
Throw everything in the blender and blend until seeds look like ground up peppercorns.