Mangos vs. Papayas

[pinenut]

I need some help and I hope someone here may know the answer or maybe have a link where I can find the answer....

I am very allergic to mangos. Mangos are related to the poisin ivy family (they like the evil, fruited cousin) and if I eat anything containing mango I litterly get the equivalent of poisin ivy rash on my lips, inside my mouth and even in my esophagus and sinuses! :eek: It's pretty brutal.

My question is: What are papayas related to? I found out thorugh an allergist years ago in the States about the mangos, but I've yet to find out about the papayas. I never thought about the papaya at the time.

Here in Cayman, I'm surrounded by papaya and would love to start eating them everyday, but I fear the allergic reaction.

Does anyone else here have the mango allergy or ever hear of it? Anyone here well versed on the papaya?

[ljannise]

OMGoodness!!! My dear heart! I bet you have to be sooo careful. Wish I knew about the papaya. It's one of those fruits I have yet to add to my diet. Honeydew melon too.

Isnt the papaya loade with fat like the avacado? It might be a wrong guess, but it's the reasoning behind never trying it. I'm so sensetive to all the other fat laden fruit/nuts/seeds.

[raeannasun]

I would think that a papaya is more related to melons - I don't know for sure but I would hate to not be able to eat either!!!! I love slicing papaya, scooping out the seeds and squeezing a fresh lemon over the top and eating!!! YUMMY!!!

[pinenut]

OMGoodness!!! My dear heart! I bet you have to be sooo careful. Wish I knew about the papaya. It's one of those fruits I have yet to add to my diet. Honeydew melon too.

Isnt the papaya loade with fat like the avacado? It might be a wrong guess, but it's the reasoning behind never trying it. I'm so sensetive to all the other fat laden fruit/nuts/seeds.

No, there's no fat in the papaya. I know that it's considered a "superfood" in that it is so good for you they actually started manufacturing it as a supplament. "Take your fruits it pill form!" Yea, that makes a lot of sense :rolleyes: It may be related to the mellon, but so is the mango....

[JMD]

I am pretty sure that papaya is not related to the mango family. Papaya is great for digestion too--very helpful. I too am sensitive to mango--not to your extent but it makes me lethargic and have some bathroom runs :eek: .

I think you can google and find the food families and classifications to clarify it for you...

I am sorry you have that sensitivity/allergy. I am deathly allergic to nuts--need an EPI-pen so I can relate.

By the way, papaya is not fat ladden at all --it is sort of sweet tasting but not full of fat like avocados.

JMD

[beelzebubble]

i have exactly the same problem with kiwi. it's called oral allergy syndrome and it's sooooo uncomfortable. you can google what you want to know. i found this at http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/Food/RelatedPlantList.html

Family Anacardiaceae Cashew

order: Sapindales
Almost all plants of this family produce saps which may be violently irritant. The family includes the Malayan Rengas trees and the American Poison Ivy. Cross-reactions among members of this family are common.

Anacardium occidentale Cashew, Cashew Nut, Cashew Apple
Feronia limonia, F. elephantum, Limonium acidissima, Schinus limonia Elephant's Apple - fruit and gum both used
Harpephyllum caffrum Kaffir Date - dunno what you do with it
Mangifera indica Mango
Melanorrhea usitata Burmese lacquer
Pistacia
P. vera Pistachio
P. lentiscus Mastic Tree, Lentisc - once used widely as an industrial resin and for dental fillings; used as a flavouring agent for food and drink in Greece and the eastern Mediterranean
Quebrachia lorentzii Quebracho Colorado Wood - dunno what you do with it
Rhus many of these species can cause severe skin irritation in susceptible people; the more irritant ones, like Poison Ivy, can lead to sensitization to the others
R. copallina Mountain Sumach - fruit used as a drink, root used to treat dysentery
R. coriaria Sumac, Sumach
R. glabra Smooth Sumach, Vinegar Tree
R. natalensis Kabudeida - East African fruit
R. ovata Sugar Bush - frequently sought out by honey bees
R. radicans Poison Oak
R. succedanea Japanese Tallow, Wax Tree - used as a beeswax substitute
R. trilobata Squaw Bush - used as a source of plant fibre
R. typhina Stag Horn Sumach, Indian Lemonade
R. verniciflua Chinese lacquer
R. vernix Poison Elder - common allergen
Schinus mollis Peruvian Mastic, Pepper Tree
Sclerocarya caffra Marula - fruit eaten in southern Africa
Spondias Hog Plums - unrelated to true plums
S. dulcis, S.cytherea Sweet Apple, Otaheite Apple, Ambarella, Vi Apple, Hog Apple, Venus Apple, (Fiji) Wi, Vi, (Indonesia) Kedondong - leaves and fruit both eaten
S. lutea, S. mombin Yellow Mombin, Golden Apple, Jamaica Plum, Hog Plum (also Pomme Cythère, I think)
S. pinnata Malayan Mombin
S. purpurea Purple Mombin, Spanish Mombin, Red Mombin
S. tuberosa Imbu

and this:

Family Caricaceae Papaya

order: Violales
Carica Papaya
C. candamarcensis Mountain Papaya
C. papaya, Papaya carica Pawpaw, Papaya, Papaw, Tree Melon - unrelated to the American Pawpaw, Asimina triloba
C. quercifolia Papaya
Guernsey Babaco

[nikilee1]

how do you pick out Papayas ? i must have got a rottin one cuz it was nasty tasting. it tasted like smelly feet smell like. not that ive licked a foot before :D

[rawpriestess]

I can't answer your question about papaya, but I wanted to share my story,

I used to have this same allergic reaction to oranges, lettuce, tomatoe and celery, I just couldn't eat them, my throat would close up, my eyes would tear so bad I couldn't see and I couldn't breath, used to have to go to the emergency room for a shot of benedryl I think, not sure.

anyway, the doctors said I had this allergy, just to not eat this stuff, so for years, I listened to them, and didn't eat any of this stuff.

Well, a few years later, in 1985, I went to a naturopath, and he said, naw, you're not allergic to any of that stuff, you are just reacting to it, you are allergic to lactose, (milk products). that day I quit drinking milk, eating cheese, and tossed out all my packaged and prepared foods, even frozen hash browns have whey in them (milk product), and no more allergies, all of a sudden I could eat salads, tomatoes, oranges, orange juice, grapefruit, lemons lemon aid, limeade, celery sticks, etc.

I loved these foods.

so, just because you react to something, doesn't mean you are allergic to it, I never had any reaction to milk.

And I'll tell you HOW I KNOW I'm allergic to milk, it's difficult for me to stay away from it, again, I don't react tothe milk, just everything else.

[pinenut]

how do you pick out Papayas ? i must have got a rottin one cuz it was nasty tasting. it tasted like smelly feet smell like. not that ive licked a foot before :D

The papayas here are locally grown so they always come to the store green. and unripe. Get a totally green one and let it ripen for about 3 days on the counter. Once you start to see yellow on the skin it's ripe. A good papaya will always be firm. If it's soft at all, no matter what color or if you start to see dark spots, it's rotten. Oftentimes a really big papaya will rot before it ripens! They're a very fickle fruit :mad: .

They rot super fast once they ripen because they have such a high sugar content. You have about a 3 day window to eat them, otherwise freeze them or they're no good.

[sport]

The papayas here are locally grown so they always come to the store green. and unripe. Get a totally green one and let it ripen for about 3 days on the counter. Once you start to see yellow on the skin it's ripe. A good papaya will always be firm. If it's soft at all, no matter what color or if you start to see dark spots, it's rotten. Oftentimes a really big papaya will rot before it ripens! They're a very fickle fruit :mad: .

They rot super fast once they ripen because they have such a high sugar content. You have about a 3 day window to eat them, otherwise freeze them or they're no good.
I think that the ones that I get must be treated with something because I find that there is no way that I can eat them until they are completly yellow and soft. If it feels firm I will wait a few more days. They are not my favourite fruit so I just add them to fruit salad or smoothies. I would not pick one up and just eat.

[Shivananda]

The papayas here are locally grown so they always come to the store green. and unripe. Get a totally green one and let it ripen for about 3 days on the counter.

The papayas here (Northeastern US) are of several very different varieties, and seem to have a different ripening pattern than you experience. First, they are NOT locally grown (unless you live in tropical climes, like Hawaii) and second they are rarely green when we get them. Third, they usually are not fully ripe until the skin begins to look rotten.

This last is the most shocking thing to most people... I learned this when I was in Mexico, near Playa Del Carmen and Cancun, and the vegan chef at the villa where I I stayed would go out in the back yard with a machete to cut huge yellow papayas, sometimes 3 feet long, from the stumpy little papaya trees there, and then leave them out on the counter in the kitchen for days (in 90 degree heat!) until the skin was covered with huge black icky spots. But they were spectacular when opened, juicy and soft and fragrant. So when Wild Oats here gets the big ones, that's exactly what I do with them. It can take a week sometimes.

But they also get small ones, maybe 9 - 12 inches long, called strawberry papayas, and they seem best when eaten a little sooner, after a few days, when the the yellow skin gets just a bit spotty. They get very soft and custardy, like a fully ripe avocado, and have a sweet, luscious taste. Yum!

Another type are called Green Papayas, and are eaten while they still firm, before they are fully ripe, most commonly sliced thin in Thai Green Papaya salad.

Dried spears of papaya are also sold in bulk at many health food stores here, and it's almosty like candy. I like to buy it when I need to take nonperishable food to, say, a weekend retreat. And papaya is a digestive aid, yes, and is used in many organic supplements for digestion and also for joint pain.

[pinenut]

We have our own local version of the papaya here: the Cayman Papaya (real original name, huh?) They get to be about at big as watermellons, but ripen and rot very quickly. This is because all of our tropical fruits grow out of a heavy mineral based coral/iron shore/salt flats type ground. Lots of heavy minerals make them rot really quickly. They taste pretty good if you can get them cut up and eaten at the right time, but it's kind of like a game of beat the clock! I've had the little stawberry papayas from Panama, but they weren't very good...I don't think they respond well to shipping and storage.

[Sheryl]

I'd tried Papaya in Canada many many times and always thought it smelled like body odour. I disliked them immensely. Then I moved to Australia where we can grow our own and buy local organic. They are DELICIOUS!!!

My opinion is that when picked very very greenm treated and transported around the world the magic is often lost, replaced by the taste of feet!

Try one on a tropical holiday and see what you think.

To see the different between papaya and pawpaw see here (my husband did some research): Papaya vs Pawpaw (http://www.raw-pleasure.com/raw-food-news/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,62/topic,561.msg2108#msg2108)

Cheers,
Sheryl