You need to know how to ripen papaya after cutting, suppose you want to make some papaya salad but bought green unripe papaya.
Suppose you bought papaya to eat as fruit. You want it to ripen faster. When ripe, the surrounding flesh should have a ripe flavor and texture.
We found some major ways you can get the papaya to ripen faster, even overnight, depending on how ripe you picked it.
How to ripen papaya after cutting
Do any of the following for your papaya to ripen after you cut it:
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Ripen papaya with paper
You need a paring knife and paper to cut and get your green papayas to ripen. Gently score the papaya skin with the knife vertically along the fruit body.
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You want to score it lightly to prevent piercing the flesh of your papaya. Scoring beyond the papaya skin will cause it to rot before it even becomes ripe to eat.
The point is to avoid penetrating the flesh of the papaya, making sure your cuts are no more than about 1/16 of an inch deep—keep it very shallow. Just make sure to carefully run the knife lengthwise across the fruit.
Scoring papaya helps it to release ethylene and ripen more quickly. Of course, you would get an exceptionally sweet fruit.
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Store papaya next to ripe apples
Apples produce ethylene, a natural plant hormone that causes papaya to ripen, even without cutting it. Just store the papaya fruits in close proximity to apples to ripen them more quickly.
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Bring the ripe bananas closer
Bananas also make other fruits ripen as they release ethylene gas (or ethene), according to Dr. Bebber.
The ethylene gas will cause papaya to ripen or soften by breaking down its cell walls, converting starches to sugars, and causing acids to disappear.
When is papaya ripe?
It can be intimidating to tell when papayas ripen if you are not familiar with them. You may also find it difficult to know what to look for when buying it from a store.
Color is the primary thing to use to tell when your papaya is ripe. You will notice that the papaya skin slowly turns from green to yellow.
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When papaya is almost fully yellow and softer to the touch, papaya is fully ripe and ready to eat. If you wait any longer, the fruit will overripe and get mushy. The flesh will become bland-tasting and mealy.
Final thoughts
Now, you have ripe papaya. If you do not intend to use it yet, just place it in the fridge until you need it to prevent spoilage.
Your ripe papayas will stay in the fridge for up to a week, but it is available to use within 2 days for optimal flavor.
