Papayas are a tropical fruit that contain Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, folate, potassium and unique enzymes. Papaya enzymes are widely available as supplements and are an active ingredient in some meat tenderizers. One of the papaya's most useful and most-studied enzymes is papain, which is most bountiful in green, unripe fruit.
Digestion
Papaya enzymes can be helpful for digestion, in part because they support the body in producing its own digestive enzymes. Papaya enzymes seem to be particularly useful in promoting the digestion of proteins.
People over the age of 50 secrete fewer digestive enzymes and may benefit more than younger people. However, papaya enzymes may also increase the risk of bleeding. People with bleeding ulcers or other bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract should avoid papaya enzymes, because they could worsen these conditions.
Arthritis
Papaya enzymes may be useful for treating the inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. However, there is currently little research to support its usefulness for these conditions.
One papaya enzyme, chemopapain, has been used in treating the swelling in degenerative spine conditions. In these treatments, chemopapain is injected directly into the disc. This once-popular treatment is not frequently practiced today.
More recently, papain has been used in medical research to induce arthritis and cartilage damage in animals, as reported in Nature and elsewhere. In these studies, papain was injected directly into tissues.
Inflammation and Injury
Papaya enzyme supplements are sometimes used to treat sports injuries. The topical application of papaya fruit is also a traditional treatment used for burns, insect bites and stings and wound healing. Its effectiveness for such purposes is likely due to enzyme activity.
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