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.

Effect of pawpaw (<em>Carica papaya</em>) leaf meal and dietary enzymes on broiler performance, digestibility, carcass and blood composition

“…There were slight variations in the chemical composition of PLM in this study compared to values obtained by other authors. For instance in our study, the CP value of PLM (26.14%) was lower than that of 27.50% reported by Kadiri et al (2016). The crude fiber value (16.05%) recorded for PLM was also higher than that of 5.60% reported by…”

“…Effect of pawpaw leaf meal and enzyme supplementation on the performance of broiler chickens Kadiri et al (2016). These various reports may arise from the natural variability of plant secondary metabolite and chemical compositions (Nahak, 2014;Valenzuela-Grijalva et al, 2017).…”

“…In addition, the enzyme (papain) present in PLM has been involved in enhancement of protein digestion and utilization, and as digestive tract cleanser (Oloruntola et al, 2018). According to Kadiri et al (2016), papain also plays a crucial role in biological processes because of its ability to break down organic molecules made of amino acids (crucial nutrients for growth). This may explain the reasons behind the numeric increase in BW gain of broiler chicks with the 50 g/kg PLM diet.…”

“…The antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, neuroprotective and antifertility activities of papaya have also been documented (Kadiri et al, 2016). It is conceivable that the nutritive and phytogenic potentials of the papaya leaf could be used as a growth promoter in broiler chicken feed.…”

A review on the status of the phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of the flour: Effects of cereal processing

“…[2] Extracts of cereals have also been linked to the prevention of chronic diseases associated with oxidative stress such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, parkinson disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, monogolism, and dementia. [9][10][11] Flavonoids, tannins, and phenolic acids are major compounds present in cereal grains which have been correlated to their antioxidative properties and invariably health benefits. Phenolic acids have been shown to modulate cellular oxidative status and prevent oxidative damage to biological molecules such as DNA, proteins, and membrane lipids.…”