How to tell if a papaya is bad and shouldn't be eaten is an important thing you need to know. It’s not that the papaya would harm your health or body once you eat the bad ones. But, here are the signs that the papaya might be bad so the taste might change.
How to Tell If a Papaya Is Bad? This is What You Need to Do!
Bruised Skin and Flesh
If you find any fruit with bruised skin, including papaya, then this means the fruit is quite bad to eat. It indeed can still be eaten by cutting away the bruised part of the skin and its flesh. However, the taste might be too different from and as delicious as the normal ripe papaya.
Every time you eat papaya, you should examine the skin first as recommended by Michigan State University Extension. Eating papaya with slight bruising on its skin is not that dangerous for your health. But when you leave the bruise too long, this definitely causes the growth of mold and bacteria later.Shriveled Skin and Flesh
Papaya with shriveled skin and flesh indicates that the fruit is not good enough even though it is still edible. Shriveled ones can mean the appearance of the papaya is no longer as attractive as a normal ripe papaya fruit. If your papaya looks shriveled, that means the fruit is wrinkled or dried out.
Such a condition might happen to any fruit, including papaya, especially if you didn’t water and grow the plants well. If a papaya has shriveled skin and flesh but followed by the foul odor and even extreme discoloration, it’s bad. Try to peel the fruit first to examine the overall condition if it most likely can be eaten.Soft Areas
How to tell if a papaya is bad to eat is by examining if the fruit has soft areas. You should know how to differentiate between normal ripe papayas, bad papayas but are still edible, and completely inedible papayas. A papaya that has some parts that are too soft or too mushy is not recommended to eat.
Some of you might still be fine eating the overly soft part as long as it tastes sweet. Papayas with a mushy appearance with sweet taste and no unpleasant odor is still generally considered safe. But some other people don't really like it, because the taste of the overly soft part might be pungent.Overwhelmingly Sweet Smell
The sign that papayas are in a normal ripe condition emits a sweet aroma unique to papaya fruit. The smell is sweet but pleasant for the ripe papayas with the firm flesh. However, overripe papayas will smell too strong and they tend to smell overwhelmingly sweet.
Sometimes papayas can smell bad more quickly when they are overripe. They can also easily rot because of the existence of papain and chymopapain – enzymes in its flesh. Papayas’ high water content might be another reason why they rot quicker as they’re more susceptible to attack by microorganisms.
In contrast to when papaya is ready to eat, you will know how to tell if a papaya is bad can be concluded by examining the condition of the skin and flesh. Papayas are probably bad because they are bruised and shriveled. Plus, if they have overly soft areas and emit a strong smell, you should not consider eating them.