DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PAWPAW AND PAPAYA
Pawpaw(asimina) and papaya are terms that are often used interchangeably and, in many cases, assumed to be references to the same type of fruit — a yellow, melon-like fruit that grows in many tropical climates. Despite the confusion, pawpaw and papaya are two separate species of plants, with the dominant papaya species called Carica papaya being grown in the West Indies, South America, and Hawaii, as well as India and other countries. There are roughly 45 well-cultivated species of papaya and these are sometimes also referred to loosely as paw paw. True pawpaw, however, is a member of the Asimina genus of eight species that are native to the North American countries of the US and Canada, and are much less widely cultivated and eaten there. One of the major differences between pawpaw and papaya is in the size of the native plants from which the fruits are harvested. While papaya trees are true trees that can grow to a height of 33 feet (10 meters), pawpaw are considered ...