Nutraceutical and Antioxidant Properties of the Seeds, Leaves and Fruits of Carica papaya: Potential Relevance to Humans Diet, the Food Industry and the Pharmaceutical Industry - A Review

Abstract

Pawpaw (Carica papaya Linn) seeds, peels and leaves are well known for their medicinal and potent pharmacological values. The plant belongs to the family Caricaceae and its fruit is commonly known for its food and nutritional values. Though the roots, bark, peel, pulp and the seeds had been shown to have medicinal properties, little is known about their nutritional properties. During the last few years, there had been series of research to explore further pharmacological and medicinal properties as well as it nutritional qualities of these plants parts, thus giving rise to it nutraceutical abilities. Scientific attempts have also been made over the decades to authenticate its nutraceutical properties. While nutritional constituents such as oil, proteins, and minerals haven been characterised from its seeds, little is known about other parts of the plant. Though the nutraceutical properties of papaya as drug or quasi-food product are not well understood or value, still it is an important gift of nature that is readily available in our eco-world and worth exploring. This review focuses on previous studies by various researchers on the medicinal, nutraceutical properties as well as the antioxidant potential of these plant parts and suggestions for further studies as regarding the optimisation of the potential of this plant.