Is unripe green papaya safe during pregnancy

What does the evidence say about unripe or green papaya during pregnancy?

1. Papain and chymopapain, the enzymes concentrated in papaya's latex, are present in the fruit before it ripens and are no longer present once the fruit is ripe, which is the core reason ripe and unripe papaya carry such different guidance. 1
2. Papaya's latex is most concentrated in the peel of unripe fruit and gradually declines as the fruit ripens, so a green, unripe papaya carries far more of the compound in question than the same fruit does once it ripens. 2
3. In a survey of pregnant women using medicinal plants, papaya was most often used specifically to prepare for or induce labor, and researchers classified it as use with caution, noting that normal amounts of ripe papaya may not carry the same signal as the effect seen with the concentrated, higher-dose exposure tied to trying to induce labor. 3
4. A review of herbal abortifacients still lists papaya among the botanicals people use while trying to bring on labor or end a pregnancy, even though it groups papaya with the milder options rather than higher-risk herbs like pennyroyal or blue cohosh. 4
5. Papaya latex has documented cross-reactivity with natural rubber latex and kiwi allergy, so anyone with a latex allergy has one more reason for caution with unripe papaya specifically, since that's where the latex concentration is highest. 1

Is unripe or green papaya safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. Green papaya salad and other unripe-papaya dishes are worth skipping from the start, especially since some cultures traditionally use unripe papaya specifically to try to end an early pregnancy. Stick with ripe, orange-fleshed papaya instead.
• Second trimester. The same caution carries through the second trimester. Unripe papaya's latex hasn't been shown to become safer at any point in pregnancy, so the swap to ripe papaya is a permanent one, not a first-trimester-only rule.
• Third trimester. Unripe or green papaya, including green papaya salad, is still worth avoiding this late in pregnancy. If you're craving papaya, ripe fruit delivers the same fiber, vitamin C, and folate without the latex concern.