Papaya fruit is well-known for how good it tastes and how good it is for you and your health. However, not many people know that papaya seeds, usually thrown away, are also perfect for you. These tiny round seeds can be eaten, and eating them in small amounts is good for our health.
Papaya seeds can be eaten raw, ground, or crushed in milk, honey, or salad dressings. It is important to note that pawpaw seeds have a strong, peppery, but bitter taste when eaten raw, which some say is the best way to eat them. Papaya seeds are black, shiny, and slimy on the outside. You can feel the rough black seeds when this covering is taken off. They taste a little bit peppery and a little bit bitter. You can eat them if you dry them out and grind them up.
How to Use Papaya Seeds?
When you cut into the buttery flesh of papaya, you’ll find a hollowed-out centre that runs the length of the fruit. There are a lot of black, round, shiny seeds inside this space. These tiny seeds are easy to pull out of the papaya’s centre and are wet and slippery. Roll a source between two fingers, and you’ll feel the gelatinous pouch around the hard seed. There is no smell except for the scent of papaya.
Keep rolling the source with your fingers, and soon the little gelatinous covering will burst and pull away, revealing the black seed. Now you can see the onyx-coloured ball better. It feels rough and looks like the top of a morel mushroom cap, with all the tiny holes. Even after you take it out of the jelly pouch, there isn’t much of a smell.
To start, use a spoon to take out the seeds from the papaya. Next, rinse them in a strainer with running water while rubbing and squeezing the roots with your hands to get the gelatinous sac off. Put them on a baking sheet and dry them with a paper towel. You can put them in a sunny spot in your kitchen so that the sun can dry them on its own.
Putting them in the oven on low heat is a faster way to dry them. Once the seeds are dehydrated, you can keep them whole or use a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to break them up. Keep the dried kernels or powder in a cool, dry place out of the sun.
Once the papaya seeds have been dried, they can be used like any other spice. The dried seeds don’t have the intense spiciness of the fresh ones. Instead, they taste like black peppercorns. Many times, dried papaya seed is used instead of ground black pepper. Papaya seeds are hard to use in recipes because they taste strongly of horseradish and black pepper. Papaya seeds are most often used in salad dressings but can also be used in place of black pepper.
Savour that Zesty Flavor
Put the seed in your mouth now. Chew it until you can’t taste papaya anymore. It might take you a second or two to determine what taste is on your tongue. First, it will taste a little bitter, then peppery, and finally, like mild horseradish. Even though it sounds crazy, papaya seeds taste like that firm root that goes well with pork sausages.
As soon as you realize the similar tastes, you’ll notice that papaya seeds don’t taste like horseradish for as long as real horseradish. You won’t feel tingly like you do when you eat horseradish, but you’ll love how spicy the papaya seeds are. Interestingly, the roots of each fruit taste different, and some say that the papaya’s size affects whether the sources are mild or spicy.
Save your Seeds
Next time you cut open papaya, you might want to save the seeds instead of throwing them away. Some people like to use the fresh, raw seeds in different recipes or eat them right along with the papaya flesh. Some people let the roots dry out and then use them as a spice. No matter how you try them, remember that fresh papaya seeds taste much more potent than dried ones.
Do Papaya Seeds help you Lose Weight?
The most important thing about papaya seeds is that they can stop your body from taking in fat. You can take eight to ten papaya seeds as pills or paste. But it would help if you did this first thing in the morning. You can mix them with a glass of grapefruits, which makes them even better. There is a lot of fibre in papaya seeds. They keep our digestion going well, which helps our bodies get rid of toxins. They also help keep our metabolism in check and keep our bodies from taking in fat. This helps keep people from getting fat.
What are the Possible Health Benefits and Side Effects?
The papaya itself is a very healthy fruit. The flesh contains antioxidants and Vitamin C and has a good amount of Vitamins B and A. It also includes a lot of folate, potassium, copper, magnesium, and fibre. What about the seeds, though? They, too, have a lot of antioxidants and can fight off bacteria and viruses.
In the tropical parts of the world where papaya is eaten, the seeds are precious because they can kill bugs in the gut. First, you must get them out of their sac so your stomach can digest them better and use their properties to fight parasites. But it would help if you never ate more than a teaspoon at a time. This benefit for the intestines is not just for people who live in the tropics. Anyone with parasites in their intestines will benefit, no matter where they live.
Papaya seeds are also suitable for many other things. People say they can fight cancer tumours, heal damaged skin, and do a great job of healing the liver. But maybe the strangest health claim is that it keeps men from getting pregnant. Studies on lab animals showed that papaya seeds significantly reduced the number of sperm in the animals, proving that the claim was valid. There is no evidence that the same thing happens to people.
The Pros and Cons of Papaya Seeds
| Benefits & Uses | Side Effects |
| Powerful Antioxidant effect | Potentially dangerous during pregnancy |
| Improves gut health | It may affect fertility in men |
| Help in lowering weight and cholesterol | It may affect infants who are breastfeeding |
| Helps in improving heart health | May cause an allergic reaction (rare) |
| Anti-inflammatory and antibacterial | None |
| It may help with menstrual pain | None |
| Good for skin | None |
What are the Recipes to Add Papaya Seed to your Diet?
To get the most out of the health benefits of papaya seeds, you need to eat them. Here are a few easy recipes that can help you do that:
- Scoop the raw grains and eat them fresh (1 teaspoon) or store them in the fridge for later
- Add it to a vinaigrette, salad dressing or smoothie. This may add a bitter taste, so cut the bitterness with other flavours.
- Make a marinade with papaya seeds, lemon zest, cream, lemon juice, chopped garlic and cilantro.
- Clean, dry and bake the papaya seeds, crush them into a powder and add to your favourite spice mix.
How Long do Papaya Seeds Last?
Keep the seeds in a sealed container in the fridge for up to three years or until you’re ready to plant. Even though you can keep the roots for up to three years, they will not grow as well as they did when they were younger. If you want to plant the seeds immediately, you don’t need to dry them. Generally, papaya seeds used in the next 3–4 days should be kept in the fridge. Otherwise, they should be frozen.
Do Papaya Seeds Make you Poop?
Healthline says that papaya seeds have a lot of polyphenols and flavonoids. These two compounds act as antioxidants and can stop or slow cell death. They also have healthy fats and a lot of fibre, which can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol and keep bowel movements healthy. There is a lot of fibre in papaya seeds. They control how often we go to the bathroom, eliminating waste and keeping our gut healthy. They help when you can’t go to the bathroom.
Papaya seeds contain a chemical called campaign, which kills bacteria and parasites in our intestines. This keeps our digestive system healthy. The most important thing about papaya seeds is that they can stop your body from taking in fat. You can take eight to ten papaya seeds as pills or paste. But it would help if you did this first thing in the morning. You can mix them with a glass of grapefruits, which makes them even better.
Conclusion
If you don’t eat too many of them, papaya seeds probably won’t hurt you. And they might even work to get rid of parasites in the gut. But if you think you might have it, the best thing to do is see a doctor. Some treatments work, and putting them off can lead to harmful side effects like diarrhea and vomiting.
