Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is one of the important
fruits of the tropical and subtropical regions of our country.
It has gained commercial importance due to high productivity
and multipurpose use. Papaya is considered as the poor
man’s fruit. Aykroyd (1951) ranks it next to mango as a
source of precursor of Vitamin A. While this vitamin is
generally associated with carotene, the yellow pigment in
papaya is not carotene, but caricaxanthin. Cultivar
differences and geographic effects on carotenoid
composition and Vitamin A values have been reported in
papaya. Geographic effect had a greater influence than the
cultivar on Vitamin A content (Kimura et al, 1991). Physico-
chemical characters play a very important role in selection
of improved genotypes of papaya with superior quality.
These are useful as breeding material for further
improvement. The present investigation was undertaken to
assess physico- chemical characteristics in papaya under
Bengaluru conditions.

The experiment was conducted at Indian Institute of
Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, using ten varieties of
papaya (Carica papaya L.), viz., Coorg Honey Dew, Pink
Flesh Sweet, Sunrise Solo, Waimanalo, Pant-2, Washington,
Red Gold, Pusa Dwarf, PAU selection and CO-4, and, two
hybrids, H-39 and H-57, in the years 1997-2000. The
experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Block
Design, with three replications. Observations  were recorded
on plant height, stem circumference, plant spread (N-S &

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 8(2):234-235, 2013

Short communication

1College of Agriculture, Lembucherra, Tripura, India

Evaluation of varieties and hybrids for physico-chemical characters
in papaya (Carica papaya L.)

Sukhen Chandra Das1 and M.R. Dinesh
Department of Fruit Crops, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research

Hessaraghatta Lake Post, Bangalore - 560 089, India
 E-mail: sukhenchandra@rediffmail.com

 ABSTRACT
Papaya (Carica papaya L., Caricaceae) is a fruit crop of commercial significance in tropical and subtropical

regions of the world. The present investigation was carried out to assess physico-chemical characteristics of 10
genotypes of papaya under Bengaluru conditions. Results revealed that the varieties, Sunrise Solo, Waimanalo and
the hybrids, H-39 and H-57 had medium-sized fruits. Fruit cavity index was low in the varieties Sunrise Solo, Pink
Flesh Sweet and in hybrids H-39 and H-57. Further, Sunrise Solo recorded the highest plant height while the shortest
plants were observed in Pusa Dwarf. Weight of the fruits was found to vary from 486.67g in Sunrise Solo, to 1380.33g
in Pusa Dwarf. Pulp thickness, TSS and ascorbic acid were found to be maximum in hybrids H-39 and H-57. Lowest
titratable acidity too was observed in the hybrids H-39 and H-57.

Key words: Carica papaya, physico-chemical characteristics, varieties, hybrids

E-W), fruit weight, fruit length, fruit breadth, fruit volume,
fruit cavity index, pulp thickness, total soluble solids (TSS),
total carotenoid content, ascorbic acid, titrable acidity and
hundred seed weight. Data were statistically analyzed using
standard procedures of Ranganna (1994).

Marked variation in growth parameters in different
varieties and hybrids for various characters were observed.
Among the varieties and hybrids studied (Table 1), Sunrise
Solo recorded the highest plant height, while, the least was
seen in the variety, Pusa Dwarf. Hybrids H-39, H-57 and
varieties Washington, Pant-2, PAU-selection and CO-4,
showed medium plant height and plant spread. Least plant
spread was recorded in Pusa Dwarf. Fruit weight was found
to vary from 486.67g in Sunrise Solo, to 1380.33g in Pusa
Dwarf. Varieties Coorg Honey Dew, Waimanalo, Pant-2,
Washington, Red Gold and CO-4 had medium-sized fruits.
Small- sized fruits were noticed in the variety Sunrise Solo,
and in the hybrid H-39. Dinesh and Yadav (1998) reported
fruit weight to be 600-800g in the variety ‘Surya’. Cavity
index of the fruit was found to vary from 15.33% in Sunrise
Solo, to 39.70% in CO-4. Varieties Washington, Waimanalo,
Pusa Dwarf and Pink Flesh Sweet had medium cavity index,
whereas hybrids H-39 and H-57 had a low cavity index.
Similar observation was recorded in a previous study in
‘Surya’ (Anon., 1999). Highest pulp thickness was recorded
in H-39, followed by Pink Flesh Sweet. Dinesh and Yadav
(1998) reported pulp thickness of 3.0-3.5cm in ‘Surya’.



235

Physico-chemical characters of papaya varieties and hybrids

Ghanta (1994) recorded a pulp thickness of 3.10cm in the
variety ‘Ranchi’. Highest TSS was observed in the hybrid
H-39, and the lowest in the variety ‘Pusa Dwarf’. Dinesh
and Yadav (1997) recorded TSS of 13.5oBrix in H-39. Similar
observation was reported by Auxcilia and Sathiamoorthy
(1999). Highest total carotenoid content was observed in
H-39, and the least in ‘Pusa Dwarf’. Ahmad Shah and
Shanmugavelu (1975) reported high total carotenoids (1.250
to 2.558mg/100g) in the first generation hybrid (CO-1 X
Coorg Honey Dew). Auxcilia and Sathiamoorthy (1999) also
recorded similar observation. Highest titrable acidity was
observed in Waimanalo and the lowest in the hybrids H-39,
H-57 and in CO-4. Ghanta (1994) recorded titrable acidity
to be 0.003% in cv. Ranchi. Highest ascorbic acid content
was recorded in hybrid H-39 and in Red Gold, and lowest in
the variety ‘Waimanalo’. Therefore, it is seen that the season
and agro-climatic region in which plants grow influence
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) content of the fruit.  Auxcilia and
Sathiamoorthy (1999) observed a range (27.65 to 71.89mg/
100g) in cv. Ranchi. Similar observation was also reported
by Ahmed Shah and Shanmugavalu (1975) in their first
generation hybrids. Highest carotenoid content was found
in hybrid H-39, followed by Pink Flesh Sweet and Sunrise
Solo. Lowest titrable acidity was observed in the hybrids
H-39 and H-57, while, highest ascorbic acid content was
reported in hybrid H-39. The hybrids and varieties mentioned
above can be used as potential parents to breed for their
respective quality characters enumerated above.

REFERENCES
Ahmed Shah, H. and Shanmugavelu, K.G. 1975. Studies on

first generation hybrid in Papaya: chemical
constituents of the fruit (Carica papaya L.). South
Indian Hort., 23:109-113

Anonymous. 1999. Research activities: Fruits, IIHR, Annual
Report, Bangalore, p.17

Auxcilia, J. and Sathiamoorthy, S. 1999. Evaluation of
gynodioecious papaya for yield and quality. South
Indian Hort., 44:121-123

Aykroyd, W.R. 1951. The nutritive value of Indian foods
and the planning of satisfactory diets, Govt. of India
Res., New Delhi

Dinesh, M.R. and Yadav, I.S. 1997. Improvement of guava
and papaya by breeding. IIHR Annual Report,
Bangalore, p.30

Dinesh, M.R. and Yadav, I.S. 1998. Indian Hort., 43:21-33
Ghanta, P.K. 1994. Physico-chemical changes in papaya

cv. Ranchi during fruit development and maturity.
South Indian Hort., 42:231-235

Kimura, M., Rodriguez-Amayya, D.B. and Yokoama, S.M.
1991. Lebensmittel-Wissenschatt und Technologie,
24:415-418

Ranganna, S. 1994. Handbook of analysis and quality control
for fruit and vegetable production, 2nd Ed., Tata
McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd., New Delhi

Table 1. Physico-chemical characters of varieties and hybrids of papaya
Variety/ Hybrid X 1 X 2 X 3 X 4 X 5 X 6 X 7 X 8 X 9 X 1 0 X 1 1 X 1 2 X 1 3 X 1 4 X 1 5
Coorg Honey 198.83 32.67 191.00 192.00 1089.33 1071.67 22.05 28.33 13.00 2.73 11.83 2.00 0.17 67.13 1.37
Dew
Sunrise Solo 237.77 37.77 189.00 184.67 486.67 443.33 13.64 15.33 7.97 2.83 13.47 3.00 0.18 50.67 1.37
Waimanalo 180.00 32.47 167.00 170.67 803.33 656.67 12.33 25.60 10.17 2.10 11.73 2.00 0.33 36.27 1.40
Pant-2 166.67 33.47 207.67 207.67 1047.33 1028.00 20.20 36.33 13.13 2.77 11.69 2.00 0.17 56.47 1.47
Washington 181.67 30.70 236.67 231.67 827.33 796.67 15.59 27.90 10.12 2.13 12.30 2.57 0.22 61.77 1.20
Red Gold 206.67 35.67 213.00 213.00 1027.33 965.67 19.57 39.50 12.70 2.27 10.77 2.20 0.16 68.00 1.40
Pusa Dwarf 139.47 29.23 157.33 156.33 1380.33 1367.00 19.27 27.20 15.23 2.37 9.53 1.53 0.16 66.63 1.30
PAU Selection 159.22 31.57 189.00 191.00 1064.00 1056.33 18.43 37.23 14.17 2.70 10.87 2.20 0.15 65.93 1.40
Pink Flesh 192.22 34.33 200.00 199.67 1060.00 1041.33 23.80 25.17 12.10 3.20 13.41 3.03 0.18 52.77 1.43
Sweet
CO-4 191.67 34.57 194.33 193.00 901.00 825.67 16.00 39.70 11.40 2.23 9.87 2.93 0.14 51.30 1.47
H-39 206.13 33.97 198.00 195.67 703.33 857.67 16.57 15.43 10.65 3.27 14.83 3.27 0.13 69.00 1.30
H-57 212.77 36.20 166.67 169.00 943.33 716.67 13.50 23.53 10.65 2.57 10.77 2.70 0.13 59.93 1.40
Grand Mean 189.43 33.52 192.47 192.02 944.78 902.22 17.58 28.44 11.76 2.59 11.75 2.47 0.18 58.82 1.39
F-test * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
SEm+ 5.67 1.37 8.79 8.67 95.95 96.55 0.61 3.08 0.51 0.08 0.41 0.12 0.03 2.33 0.03
CD (P=0.05) 16.63 4.03 25.76 25.41 281.37 283.18 1.78 9.01 1.50 0.25 1.19 0.35 0.08 6.85 0.08
X1: Plant height (cm) X5: Fruit weight (g) X9: Fruit breadth (cm) X13: Titrable acidity (%)
X2: Stem diameter (cm) X6: Fruit volume (ml) X10: Pulp thickness (cm) X14: Ascorbic acid (mg/100g)
X3: Plant spread E-W (cm) X7: Fruit length (cm) X11: TSS (oBrix) X15: Hundred seed weight (g)
X4: Plant spread N-S (cm) X8: Fruit cavity index (%) X12: Total carotenoide content (mg/100g)

(MS Received 10 September 2012, Revised 09 May 2013, Accepted 25 June 2013)

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 8(2):234-235, 2013