Can You Eat Papaya Seeds? Dry Papaya Seeds

The papaya – is an oval fruit that you can now find in our grocery stores all year round. It has a lot of cores inside. But can you eat these papaya seeds or are they poisonous? Scroll through our post and learn more.

Can you eat papaya seeds?

Are the papaya seeds edible or should you throw them away? First of all, you can eat papaya seeds. Whether you eat the kernels or end up in the trash can depend on the different stages of ripeness. The content of the ingredients changes depending on the age of the harvested fruit. For example, unripe papayas are green and hard and develop white to light green seeds that can lead to stomach cramps when eaten. Therefore, you should only eat ripe seeds. You can recognize ripe papaya by the following characteristics:

• yellow peel or turns yellow
• slightly reddish spots and stripes on the skin
• Shell yields slightly when pressed with a finger

Tip: You can let unripe fruit with yellow spots ripen at home in the fruit bowl or on a windowsill. Completely green fruits were harvested unripe and usually no longer ripen.

The small black pips at the heart of the papaya are just as healthy as the papaya pulp. Because it is precisely these seeds that contain the valuable enzyme papain, which helps you to better digest the proteins you have eaten. They can promote your digestion and accelerate slow wound healing. The intestinal flora can be sustainably strengthened if you integrate papaya seeds into your daily eating habits. In Africa, they are used to rid people of parasites and to prevent them without having to take chemical medicines.

Tip: The dried papaya seeds can even be offered in powder form as a dietary supplement or as an alternative treatment for intestinal diseases.

Recommended amount

To avoid health problems, make sure to follow the recommended daily amount of seeds. Excessive consumption can have a laxative effect.

• Approx. 5 – 6 kernels per day for adults
• Approx. 2 – 3 kernels per day for children

Tip: In the raw state, you can store the ripe papaya seeds in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days and if frozen, the shelf life increases to 10 to 12 months.

However, caution is advised if you consume too many of unripe papaya seeds. Because it can cause the following symptoms:

• stomach cramps
• circulatory problems
• Diarrhea

The enzyme papain contained in the unripe fruit hits the stomach too hard and causes unpleasant pain.

Papaya seeds and pregnancy

You should be careful if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Eating immature seeds can cause damage to the amniotic fluid of the fetus or the gastrointestinal tract of the newborn due to the action of the enzyme papain. Therefore, you should avoid papaya seeds during pregnancy or breastfeeding. The pulp of ripe fruit, on the other hand, can be eaten without any problems.

Already knew?

The seeds of the papaya have been used as a male contraceptive by the peoples of South America for many centuries. Sperm count can decrease drastically if the seeds are taken daily for at least 4 weeks. When the intake is stopped, the sperm count regulates itself again.

Drying papaya seeds: instructions

Now that you know that the pips of ripe papaya are edible, you should consume them the right way. The seeds can be eaten raw without any problems, but if you dry them in the oven beforehand they will last much longer. This makes the seeds harder and you can crush them, for example in a pepper mill, pour them directly over your dish and, by the way, promote your digestion. The advantage is that once they have dried, they do not have to be consumed immediately. The kernels are dried according to the following instructions:

1. Select ripe papaya
2. Cut open
3. Carefully remove the seeds with a spoon (save the flesh, of course)
4. Wash the seeds and then pat dry
5. Spread cores on a baking sheet
6. Dry papaya seeds in the oven at 50 °C for 3 hours (or longer if necessary)
7. Place kernels in an airtight container

You can eat the dried papaya seeds immediately or store them like spices. You can also store them in a pepper mill.

Tip: Do you love meat? Then rub your meat with the dried papaya seeds or with the ground papain. You get great flavor and tender meat. It is not for nothing that the kernels are also considered meat tenderizers.

As you can see, papaya seeds can have a positive effect on your health if you eat them ripe and in the right dose. Use the dried papaya seeds to spice up your dish. How about a healthy and delicious vegetable soup or a fine fillet steak to go with the barbecue?

So let’s go – try papaya seeds!