Week 2 Friday 30 th January 2009 Mystery Fruit Answers

Fruit 1 – Papaya Common Names:Papaya, Papaw or Paw Paw (Australia), Mamao (Brazil), Tree Melon. Origin: The papaya is believed to be native to southern Mexico and neighboring Central America. It is now present in every tropical and subtropical country. The papaya you have tried today came from Brazil. Fruit: There are two types of papayas, Hawaiian and Mexican. The Hawaiian varieties are the papayas commonly found in supermarkets. These pear-shaped fruit generally weigh about 1 pound and have yellow skin when ripe. The flesh is bright orange or pinkish, depending on variety, with small black seeds clustered in the centre. Hawaiian papayas are easier to harvest because the plants seldom grow taller than 8 feet. Mexican papayas are much larger the the Hawaiian types and may weigh up to 10 pounds and be more than 15 inches long. The flesh may be yellow, orange or pink. The flavour is less intense than that the Hawaiian papaya but still is delicious and extremely enjoyable. They are slightly easier to grow than Hawaiian papayas. A properly ripened papaya is juicy, sweetish and somewhat like a cantaloupe in flavour, although musky in some types. The fruit (and leaves) contain papain which helps digestion and is used to tenderize meat. The edible seeds have a spicy flavour somewhat reminiscent of black pepper.

Fruit 2 – Lychee Common Names :Lychee, Litchi, Leechee, Lichee, Lichi. Fruits: The fruit is covered by a leathery rind or pedicarp which is pink to strawberry-red in color and rough in texture. Fruit shape is oval, heart- shaped or nearly round, 1 to 1-1/2 inches in length. The edible portion or aril is white, translucent, firm and juicy. The flavour is sweet, fragrant and delicious. Inside the aril is a seed that varies considerably in size.

Will you be able to guess the fruits next week? The answers will be online from break time on Friday.