| Mountain papaya | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Brassicales |
| Family: | Caricaceae |
| Genus: | Vasconcellea |
| Species: | V. cundinamarcensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Vasconcellea pubescens A. DC. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Carica pubescens Lenné & Koch Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis V.M.Badillo |
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The Mountain Papaya (Vasconcellea pubescens, also known as mountain paw paw), is a species of the genus Vasconcellea, native to the Andes of northwestern South America from Colombia south to central Chile, typically growing at altitudes of 1,500-3,000 m. It is an evergreen pachycaul shrub or small tree growing to 10 m tall.
The fruit is 6-15 cm long and 3-8 cm broad, with five broad longitudinal ribs from base to apex; it is green, maturing yellow to orange. The fruit pulp is edible, similar to Papaya, and is usually cooked as a vegetable, but is also eaten raw; like Papaya, it is rich in the digestive enzyme papain.
It is one of the parents of the hybrid cultivar 'Babaco', widely grown for fruit production in South America.
References
- Germplasm Resources Information Network: Vasconcellea pubescens
- University of Ghent: Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis
- Tradewinds Fruit Database
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