Content
- Dry the pulp and kernels of a papaya
- Select and dry ripe papayas
- Prepare and dry the seeds of the papaya
- Alternative preservative methods for papayas
- Tips & Tricks
Dry the pulp and kernels of a papaya
Papaya with the right degree of ripeness can be recognized by a completely yellow or slightly reddish peel. In this condition, the fruits can only be kept in the refrigerator for a few days if they are not preserved.
Select and dry ripe papayas
The pulp of papaya has a melon-like consistency and a relatively low perceived taste. Therefore, absolutely fully ripe papayas with a maximum flavor intensity must be selected for drying. These can only be successfully dried if their pulp is cut into slices of at most one centimeter thick. The pieces can then be dried in the oven at about 50 degrees Celsius within a few hours.Be sure to place the pieces in the containers for storage only with very low residual moisture. Otherwise, there is a risk of the dried papaya becoming moldy during storage.
Prepare and dry the seeds of the papaya
The seeds inside papayas are particularly suitable for drying. If they are dried as a whole, you can chew in small portions several times a day in the case of bowel problems and thus be used for intestinal regulation. Before drying, the papaya seeds must be completely cleaned of any pulp by rubbing them between two layers of kitchen paper. Only then can they be dried in the oven at around 50 degrees Celsius, without the risk of mold damage. The dried seeds can be stored for months in hermetically sealed containers and ground like pepper with a spice mill and used as a spicy spice for various foods.
Alternative preservative methods for papayas
The drying of the pulp is not a particularly promising method of storage in papayas, since the pulp does not have a very intense taste of its own and does not have such a refreshing effect in dried form. But there are other ways to keep the tasty fruits a bit longer:
For candying, the fruits cut into pieces are doused for several days in succession with a previously boiled, lukewarm sugar solution. Osmotic processes deprive the fruits of water and increase the sugar content to a conservative level.
Tips & Tricks
Papayas stored for too long are no longer really suitable for drying, because their pulp has too soft a consistency and often also deficits in taste.