Dole Superkids
Papayas
How to Select & Store

It’s easy to select delicious papayas! To eat right away, look for fruit that’s mostly yellow in color and slightly soft to the touch. Papayas that are mostly green with a bit of yellow color, and firm, will be ready to eat in a few days. Most papayas at the supermarket need to be ripened at home. When choosing papayas, simply look for ones green to yellow in color to take home, ripen and enjoy!

At home, ripen your papayas at room temperature in a dark place for 2 to 3 days. As they ripen, the fruit turns from green to yellow. When papaya is half green and half yellow, it’s about half ripe. It’s fun watching your papayas ripen -- check em’ everyday.

PapayaAnimation.gif (96149 bytes) To speed up the ripening process, place papayas near fruits that produce ethlyene gas, like apples, bananas or pears. Place inside a paper bag, loosely closed for a day or two. The fruit is ripe and ready to eat when it’s mostly yellow and slightly soft to the touch. Enjoy eating it right away for the best flavor!

If you need to store ripe papaya, simply place it in a plastic or paper bag in the refrigerator. It can be stored for up to one week, but remember papaya tastes best when eaten within a few days of being ripe.