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Vasconcellea pubescens
Also called Mountain Pawpaw
Mountain papaya is a fast-growing, evergreen, papaya-like shrub or small tree from the high Andes, valued for its edible fruit. The key to growing it is cool temperatures, good drainage and protection from frost.
The mountain papaya (Vasconcellea pubescens) also known as mountain pawpaw, papayuelo, chamburo, or simply "papaya" is a species of the genus Vasconcellea, native to the Andes of northwestern South America from Colombia south to central Chile, typically growing at altitudes of 1,500–3,000 metres (4,900–9,800 ft).
It has also been known as Carica pubescens.
This plant grows in a temperature range of 10–28 °C (50–82 °F) but an average temperature of 17 °C (63 °F) is preferred. V. pubescens is sensitive to cold: the stem and leaves could be affected leading to complete plant death when temperatures fall below 2 °C (36 °F). However, it is more cold tolerant than the common papaya. The mountain papaya requires a well drained soil and well established plants can tolerate prolonged drought periods. However, younger/smaller plants are not tolerant to drought. The preferable soil pH range is 6.5–7, but can tolerate a pH range of 4.5–8.4.
The fruit is rich in many important nutritional compounds, such as vitamins A, B, and C, antioxidants, flavonols, carotenoids, and papain. The high contents of antioxidant polyphenols such as the flavonols, flavonoids, and carotenoids are present in the fruits and leaves, although only the fruits are commonly consumed. There are particularly high concentrations of quercetin glycosides, rutin, and manghaslin, which are not produced by the common papaya. The proteolytic enzyme papain is produced in 5-8 times the quantity than the common papaya, and serves as a valuable digestive enzyme in human consumption.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Mountain papaya by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
