VARIOUS DIETS AND TREATMENTS – PAPAIN – ITS ORIGIN AND USES (PROTEIN)

Posted on Thursday, April 9th, 2009 at 5:27 am

In the lush woodlands of Florida there are found not only thousands of cabbage palms and many other tropical plants, but also a great number of wild papayas. The Indians living there have always enjoyed the juicy fruit because it is delicious and healthy. They also made use of the plant in cooking. Since time immemorial those primitive tribes have known that papaya leaves, stems and fruit contain a substance that breaks down protein. So, whenever the hunters happened to kill an old animal the cook would wrap the tough meat in papaya leaves and leave it overnight. On the following day it would be tender enough to be roasted over a fire. The substance which tenderises meat, called papain, causes a kind of predigestion process, one might say.

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