CARICA PLANT

Mountain papaya (Carica written often, Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis, syn. Carica pubescens) is a relative of the papaya liked plateau wet state, 1500-3000 m above sea level. Region of origin is the high Andes, South America.

Plants like papaya tree though is actually a giant herb, because the stem does not form a network of wood (lignin). May reach a height of 10m with a few branches. Bullet-shaped fruit with a long and 6-15cm wide 3-8cm diameter, with five angles extending from the base to the tip; when they were young and green to yellow or orange when ripe. Fruit (mesocarp) can be eaten fresh but slightly Sepat, but usually preserved in liquid syrup or cooked as a vegetable. Such as papaya, the fruit contains a lot of papain, an enzyme that is able to degrade proteins ("proteolytic").