Tropical Fruits - From Cultivation to Consumption and Health Benefits (eBook)

Within the tropical fruits, the papaya, Carica papaya L. (family Caricaceae Dumort.), is presented as the main representative being cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical areas mostly in developing countries. Papaya's nutritional value, beneficial to health, as well as various industrial applications of their products, led to be economically important for both developing and developed countries. Within this broad field of knowledge, this book aims to contribute to better understanding of the topic. The organization of the chapters and sections is also straightforward; Chapter One presents what papaya is (Carica papaya L.), its taxonomy, distribution, origin and morphology. Closing the first part, Chapters Three and Four show the nutritional and medical values, discussing vitamins, minerals and dietary fibers, the industrial applications of using papaya and various parts of the plant, as a source of proteolytic enzymes and some active compounds reported to antimicrobial, anticancer, amongst other properties, illustrating the fatty acid composition, triacylglycerol profile and papaya seed oil of malaysian papaya fruits. In the second part of the book, the readers should find the relevant aspects of papaya microbiology related to fresh fruits quality and safety and the beneficial effects of microorganisms isolated from papaya, such as some Latic Acid Bacteria strains that have been proposed to be potentially probiotics, as shown in Chapters Five and Six. Finally the book addresses the importance of Integrated Management of the Papaya Ringspot Virus, which is transmitted by several aphid species and could commit 100% of the crop as described in Chapter Seven and the biotechnological strategies for control of papaya virus diseases as show in Chapter Eight.