The elongated oval hollow fruits weigh about 1–1.5 kg and are dark green. The smooth, firm, juicy and fragile flesh is white to slightly greenish or pinkish, with small round white seeds, concentrated in the middle in the cavity of the fruit. The taste of green papaya is very delicate to dull, so it can be combined with almost any ingredients.

The fruits of green papaya are firm and hard to the touch, without spots and with a shiny skin. It is eaten without skin and without seeds. After halving the fruit, the seeds are hollowed out, the skin is peeled and the flesh is cut or, more often, grated into long thin strips (similar to julienne strips).

Green papaya is eaten raw and cooked, but heat treatment is more common, especially in Thai cuisine, where it is often used in stews, various curry variants and salads. Thanks to the content of papain – a digestive enzyme – it is used in marinades, in which even very tough meat is perfectly tender. On the other hand, the pectin contained allows papaya to be used to prepare various jellies.

Papaya is one of the healthiest fruits, containing vitamins A, B and C and a large amount of calcium. Thanks to the high content of the digestive enzyme papain, it promotes healthy digestion. It is grown in most countries with tropical climates – in South America, India, South Africa, Southeast Asia and Central America. Women in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and other parts of the world have used green papaya in large doses as a contraceptive or means of inducing abortion.