Does Papaya Go Bad？How Long Does It Last?

Do you love having the delicious papaya in your fruit salad, smoothie, yogurt, or just raw?

Well, if you have fallen in love with this tropical fruit, you can have it at any time of the year.  In that case, you need to know how to store it properly.

Do you find yourself wondering, ‘does papaya go bad’? Or how long does papaya last? Some people complain that the papaya skin becomes soft and the fruit loses its taste when refrigerated.

This blog will show you how to know when papaya goes bad and helpful freezing and storage tips to enjoy your favorite papaya recipes!

Does Papaya Go Bad?

Okay, so, does papaya go bad?

See, a Papaya doesn’t last for months. You can increase the shelf life of a Papaya by storing it correctly, but there comes the point of time when it does go bad.

This incredibly delicious and healthy tropical fruit can rapidly start degrading in quality if you leave in on your kitchen countertop or pantry. If you have unripe papaya, it may not go bad for about seven days at room temperature. A very ripe papaya will go bad after three days if left unrefrigerated.

How Long Does Papaya Last?

Raw Papayas take almost about five days to one week to become ripe. Do not forget to refrigerate the ripe papaya, whether cut or uncut; otherwise, it will start degrading in quality. Papaya might also catch pests because of improper storage and environmental conditions.

If you keep chopped pieces of papaya open for the entire day in a warm climate or humid atmosphere, it will become stale and taste sour. Grated or mashed papaya doesn’t last for more than 5 hours at room temperature. If you have mashed some papaya for some reason, try to store it inside a properly zipped pouch and refrigerate it in the freezer compartment.

If there are Papayas at home that are on the verge of becoming rotten because you don’t find time to consume them, you can have them first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. It works wonders with your digestion process and helps you lose weight!

Here, we have a chart explaining Unripe, Ripe, and Cut Papayas and how long they last under particular conditions. Any time you are storing it, make sure to remember these simple papaya keeping tips.

	Room Temperature	Refrigerator
Unripe Papaya	Seven days until ripe	Five days
Ripe Papaya	2-3 days	5 – 7 days
Cut Papaya	Less than 3 hours	2,3 days

5 Tips to Tell If Papaya Has Gone Bad

Have a Papaya in your fridge for a week? Before you start using your delicious recipes, make sure it’s suitable for consumption. Here are the top signs to know if your papaya has gone bad:

• Dark Stains and Spots: A few dark spots are okay, but if it takes over the entire Papaya Skin, you must know that it has gone bad
• Mold: Eating mold-covered papaya can lead to food poisoning. If you find mold developing inside a chopped piece of papaya, throw the fruit away. At times, mold is also formed on cut pieces of fruit stored inside the fridge
• Papaya with extraordinarily soft and sunken skin: A papaya with soft, melting cover means it’s time to throw away the papaya in the dustbin
• Fermented Smell: When the Papaya becomes entirely rotten, a fermented, weird kind of smell starts coming out of it. In case your papaya is exuding a foul odor, you must throw it away
• Bitter Taste: Very often, you’ll find that your papaya is tasting bitter. It means that the papaya has become stale and cannot be eaten. Do not try to eat it by sprinkling sugar

7 Tips to Store Papaya for Longer

Brought a couple of papayas on your trip to the supermarket? Here are seven easy ways to store papaya properly to extend its shelf life.

• When you are not in any hurry to eat your papaya, you can keep it lying on the counter. If the room temperature is favorable, your papaya will be safe. This storage trick is only for partially yellow vegetables.
• If you keep a completely raw, green papaya at room temperature, it will turn into a fiery yellowish-orange just within a few days.
• Another straightforward trick to make your papaya ripe is to pack it inside a straight, clean paper bag. This way, your papaya will turn ripe faster than you can imagine. Don’t forget to keep checking it from time to time; otherwise, it might become extra mature.
• One of the easiest ways to ripen your papaya is to store it along with a ripe banana. The banana will make the papaya mature as well. Bananas secrete a powerful enzyme that can quickly ripen raw fruits.
• Defrosted Papayas might not always taste good, so prefer choosing a partially defrosted or a thawed Papaya. Try not to freeze your papaya; you can refrigerate it and consume the thawed one.
• A significant thing about papaya is that it secretes a sort of enzyme called papain. Extra secretion of this enzyme can make your Papaya smell terrible. To avoid this situation, you can rub lime juice on your papaya. Rubbing lime juice prevents papain from causing a foul odor.

You can also make some delicious salad with papaya, nuts, berries, and some lime squeezed over it. Lime juice also increases the longevity of the papaya. You’ll be able to relish the papaya for almost a week. Doesn’t that sound interesting?

• Papayas can be stored like any other fruit and don’t require any extra special care. Be careful to check that your papaya doesn’t get overburdened or pressed over with any heavy vegetable or fruit; otherwise, it might get smashed and taste gooey.

The Risk of Consuming an Expired Papaya

Did you eat moldy or overripe papaya? Even if you did, don’t get too stressed over it. The majority of people who do end up eating bad or expired papaya don’t have any symptoms. Few people may have an adverse reaction, such as stomach pain or a rash on their body. If you see anything of the sort happening, it is best to consult your physician quickly.

In case you have sliced the papaya, and then the cut fruit became moldy, it’s best to throw it away. It’s not advisable to take any chances with your health for a piece of fruit. Stay away from expired fruit to avoid falling ill.

Many people think that papaya has an awful odor, and the fruit might be stale, but the smell is just a sweet tropical odor typical to a Papaya. Many times, you may notice the fruit having some black spots on them. We can easily remove it by peeling off the outer skin. The inside of the fruit doesn’t get affected in any way.

The yellowish part near the rind of a Papaya is hard and not edible. It doesn’t mean that the papaya has gone bad. It is natural, and that part should not be eaten. Papaya goes through various stages. It would help if you kept an eye on it irrespective of where you store it. It’s essential to consume it before it turns incredibly ripe.

Can you freeze papaya?

It is unnecessary to freeze raw papaya, but if the papaya is a ripe one and you have kept it outside for around 5 to 6 days, you need to think about freezing it; otherwise, it might get spoiled.

There are some downsides to freezing a Papaya. Even if you store ripe papaya in the refrigerator, it will become soft. If you keep it in the freezer and then defrost it, it will turn mushy and moist on the outside.

Papaya is already soft inside. If it becomes even more delicate, papaya may start tasting blander. In such a case, you’ll enjoy having a papaya smoothie or papaya milkshake, but you won’t enjoy it in fruit form.

Another thing to keep in mind is that never freeze raw papaya.

If you have cut the papaya in pieces, you must store it in an airtight container or an airtight zip pouch and then refrigerate it.

Check out this video to see how to freeze papaya:

If the papaya has not been cut, you can store the papaya in a plastic foam packaging net.

It can generally be stored at a temperature of 12° C to 14° C. You can also prepare fruit yogurt, smoothie, or shake with papaya and store it in your refrigerator. It lasts quite long.

Summary

So, I am sure you know how to identify if papaya has expired! Here are the top signs you need to check for:

• Dark spots over the entire papaya outer skin
• The appearance of molds inside or on the outer skin of papaya
• A sunken outer skin
• A bitter taste can also mean the papaya is bad
• Emits a rotten smell

You might notice some white marks on Papaya skin, which looks like fungus, but there is nothing to worry about. It can easily be wiped or peeled away. It happens even if you freeze it. Make sure that you are storing the papaya properly to enjoy yummy papaya recipes like never before!