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Papayas Delivery or Pickup
The Instacart guide to papayas
Feel like you're on a tropical vacation when you eat sweet, juicy papayas. Papayas come in several varieties and are one of the world's most widely produced tropical fruits. The majority of papayas, also known as pawpaw in Australia and the Caribbean islands, are grown in Mexico, Hawaii, South America, Central America, India, and other subtropical regions of the world. This delicious fruit is best eaten as is, with a splash of lime juice, added to salads, or blended into fruit smoothies.
About papayas
Papaya, Carica papaya, is a fruit grown on a tree from the Caricaceae tree. Papayas are a rather large fruit weighing between 1-10lbs depending on the variety and where they're grown. Papayas that are grown in Hawaii tend to have a pear shape, while popular papayas grown in Mexico or South America have a cylindrical shape and grow between 3 -20in in length.
Papaya fruit has a relatively thick skin that starts out green and then turns orange as it ripens. When ripe, the flesh has a lovely salmon or peach color, is sweet and juicy. Inside of the cavity of the fruit are numerous black seeds often used in the making of papaya seed salad dressing.
Unripe or green papayas have a protein-digesting enzyme called papain, which may help with the digestion of proteins, and is often used to make meat tenderizers. Papaya trees are grown from seed, and depending on the variety and their care, each tree can last up to 5 years and produce hundreds of papaya fruit during its life span.
How to pick out papayas
While most papayas are eaten when they're ripe, they can also be eaten green in salads. In Thailand, chefs grate the green papaya fruit and mix it with other ingredients to create a Som Tam salad. The green papaya gets mixed with fish sauce, lime juice, bean sprouts, and fresh local herbs to make this exotic Thai delicacy.
When looking for papaya to eat fresh, look for ones that have a bright orange and yellow hue with a touch of green at the top of the stem. When you press the papaya, it should give slightly but not push through the flesh. Try and avoid any papayas that have bruises, moldy spots, or open cuts. When looking for green papayas for a salad, pick ones that are firm and that have a slight yellow hue to the skin.
How to store papaya
Once you bring your papaya home, you can let it further ripen on the counter, or if it's fully ripe, place it in the refrigerator. When you're ready to have slices of papaya for breakfast or a mid-morning snack, simply cut how much you want, peel the fruit, remove the seeds, and squeeze a bit of lime juice on the fruit for a sweet and tart delight.
If you'd like to freeze some papayas for future use, peel them, remove the seeds, cube the fruit, place them in freezer bags or containers, and store the papaya for up to a month in the freezer.
Papayas Near Me
Buy your favorite Papayas online with Instacart. Order Maradol Papayas, Red Papayas, Strawberry Papayas, and more from local and national retailers near you and enjoy on-demand, contactless delivery or pickup within 2 hours.
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FAQs about papayas
There are numerous varieties of papayas, and each one has a slightly different flavor, texture, and unique characteristics. The most common varieties you can find in the market include:
- Hawaiian Sunrise Papaya: This popular papaya has beautiful orange flesh with a delightful flavor. The flavors are a mixture of peaches, melons, and berries.
- Hawaiian Sunset Papaya: Like its larger cousin, the Hawaiian Sunset is a much smaller dwarf variety, with a star-shaped interior and a longer shelf life.
- Golden Papaya: This is the common papaya you'll find in most supermarkets. The flesh is sweet, juicy, versatile, and great as a breakfast treat, in salads, and in smoothies.
- Tainung Papaya: One of the most common papayas you'll find is the Tainung papaya. This fruit has yellow skin with lots of green mottling. This flesh is salmon-colored with a sweet and mild flavor. The large black seeds are ideal for making papaya seed salad dressing.
- Maradol Papaya: Grown primarily in Mexico, this common papaya has bright orange flesh with a slight, distinct, musky scent. Slice or cube the fruit and squeeze a bit of lime juice and a pinch of cayenne pepper for the ultimate flavor experience.
- Strawberry Papaya: This small-sized papaya has one of the sweetest flavors of all the other papaya varieties. The fruit taste like a combination of peach and melon and a little squeeze of lime will add a touch of acid to enhance the flavor of this papaya fruit.
Enjoy the convenience of having your papayas delivered to you when you use Instacart. Download the Instacart app today, order your favorite variety of papaya, and an Instacart shopper will deliver this tasty fruit to your home!