Papaya Varieties

United States

• According to Purdue University, the round cantaloupe-sized "Califlora" papaya -- a disease-resistant cultivar -- was developed at the University of Florida. Prior to this, in the 1950s, the papaya industry was declining because fruits were affected by disease and therefore would become bitter tasting. "Califlora" has a dark yellow or pale orange flesh, much like a cantaloupe, and thrives in southern Florida. In Hawaii, three types of the Solo variety of papaya are grown: "Kapoho," "Sunrise" and "Waimanalo." The yellow-orange flesh of "Waimanolo" is firm -- good for export -- but the fruit is considered to be too large for export, and it's eaten widely in Hawaii. According to the University of Hawaii, the yellow-orange-fleshed "Kapoho" is ideal for export market because it weighs 12 ounces to 20 ounces. The "Sunrise" or "Sunup" variety of papaya also originates in Hawaii, and it's commonly known by its sweet moniker -- strawberry papaya -- named for its pink flesh and berrylike flavor.

India

• India has a 30 year history of papaya cultivation, breeding these fruits to ensure that cultivars are sweet tasting and disease resistant. Various cultivars thrive throughout India, such as the behemoth yellow-fleshed Coorg Honey Dew which tips the scale at over 7 pounds and stores well, making it a high-quality fruit that has excellent market value. In comparison, the "Washington" papaya is much smaller, weighing in at 1 to 2 pounds. It bears few seeds, and its yellow flesh is prized in Bombay for its sweetness. "Ranchi," which is cultivated in Jharkhand and the West Bengal regions of India, is oblong and has a sweet dark yellow flesh.

Australia

• According to Australia's Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, the first papaya was brought to Australia in 1875, not for its juicy flesh, but for its medicinal benefits. In Australia, the term "paw paw" is applied to yellow-fleshed papayas, which are rounder and larger than red papayas, but less sweet. Its pear-shaped orange-red-fleshed counterparts are simply called papayas. Cultivars include "Bettina," which bear round fruits weighing a hefty 3 to 5 pounds, and the yellow-fleshed "Guinea Gold" and "Sunnybank" papayas, averaging 2.5 and 1.4 pounds, respectively. These cultivars are considered commercially viable because the trees have a good yield of the tasty fruit.

South Africa

• In the early 1950s, South Africa's golden-yellow-flesh "Hortus Gold," weighing 2 to 3 pounds, was cultivated from the hardiest of 200 seedlings that exhibited a high yield of fruit. And in 1976, the variety (which was known for getting a bit mushy if left to ripen for too long) that yielded the most sugar and was the most disease-resistant was cloned by the University of Natal. The outcome is the sweet "Honey Gold" papaya, the only papaya clone worldwide. "Honey Gold" averages 2.2 pounds, and both "Hortus Gold" and Honey Gold" are twice the size of the Hawaiian "Solo" varieties.