Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An enzyme obtained from the unripe fruit of the papaya that catalyzes the lysis of proteins, used especially as a meat tenderizer and digestive aid and formerly in medicine as a topical treatment for wounds.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A proteolytic ferment obtained from the half-ripe fruit of the papaw-tree, Carica papaya.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Physiol. Chem.) A proteolytic ferment, like trypsin, present in the juice of the green fruit of the papaw (Carica Papaya) of tropical America.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A proteolytic enzyme in papaya fruit. May aid in digestion and have other health benefits.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a proteolytic enzyme obtained from the unripe papaya; used as a meat tenderizer

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[papa(ya) + –in.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Circa 19th century, from papaya

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Examples

  • Papaya contains a substance called papain, which is chemically similar to pepsin, an enzyme that helps digest protein in the body.

    Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008

  • Papaya contains a substance called papain, which is chemically similar to pepsin, an enzyme that helps digest protein in the body.

    Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008

  • Papaya contains a substance called papain, which is chemically similar to pepsin, an enzyme that helps digest protein in the body.

    Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008

  • Papaya contains a substance called papain, which is chemically similar to pepsin, an enzyme that helps digest protein in the body.

    Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible Earl Mindell 2008

  • Coz I still don't know what chemical substances are both present in papain and fabric softener which is responsible in softening the cloths.

    Archive 2006-10-01 2006

  • Both the seeds and the fruit contain an active principle called papain, which is really a vegetable pepsin, that has the effect of greatly assisting in the assimilation of all food with which it is eaten, hence it is a valuable remedy in the case of dyspepsia, and persons who take the fruit regularly are never subject to this exceedingly troublesome disease.

    Fruits of Queensland Albert H. Benson

  • The skin cream contains an enzyme called papain, derived from the tropical papaya plant.

    Market News 2008

  • The skin cream contains an enzyme called papain, derived from the tropical papaya plant.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2008

  • The skin cream contains an enzyme called papain, derived from the tropical papaya plant.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2008

  • The skin cream contains an enzyme called papain, derived from the tropical papaya plant, and is used to treat skin ulcers from diabetes and other causes.

    KWCH - KWCH.com RSS 2008

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