Crops > Fruits & nuts > Papaya > Papaya fruit, whitish blemishes, St Lucia



Crops > Fruits & nuts > Papaya > Papaya fruit, whitish blemishes, St Lucia

Crops Fruits & nuts Papaya Papaya fruit, whitish blemishes, St Lucia

Papaya fruit, whitish blemishes, St Lucia

February 2012. Silvery-shiny spots that can be scraped off, randomly over the skim of still green fruits. What causes them? The photos were taken in Trinidad and Tobago.

There were several suggestions:

  • the result of mechanical damage as the fruits rubbed together in the wind when tehy were younger
  • slugs and snails were considered but rejected as the cause
  • latex from other fruit or damaged leaves have dripped on the fruit.

[Editer]: The last suggestion seems very likely as the marks can be scapred off, somewhat.