Short answer: in Australia, paw paw and papaya are two types of Carica papaya. Paw paw is the larger, football-shaped fruit with yellow flesh and a tangy, less sweet taste. Papaya is the narrower, rugby-ball-shaped fruit with red-orange, sweeter flesh. The American pawpaw is a different fruit again. Real paw paw is what goes into our cream. See the paw paw magnesium body cream, $54.95 · all products
Paw Paw vs Papaya: What’s the Difference?
Is paw paw the same as papaya?
It’s the question I get asked more than any other — at markets, in emails, on the phone. And I understand why. You walk into one shop and the sign says papaya. The shop next door calls the same-looking fruit a paw paw. Then you read an American gardening article about “pawpaw” and it describes something completely different again. No wonder people are confused.
I’m Darren McArthur. My father Tom was known to many Australians as the Paw Paw Man, and I carry on the family business today with his blessing. So let me give you the honest, plain-English answer — the same one I give across the market table.
The Aussie answer: same plant, different names
Here in Australia, paw paw and papaya are almost always the same plant: Carica papaya, the big soft tropical fruit that grows on that strange-looking tree with the umbrella of leaves up top.
The way Australians traditionally split the names is by colour. The yellow-fleshed variety gets called paw paw. The sweeter red or pink-fleshed variety gets called papaya. Same species — the difference is like Granny Smith and Pink Lady. Both are apples; they just taste and look a bit different.
Pawpaw vs papaya: the difference between pawpaw and papaya is mostly the name. In Australia both are usually Carica papaya, with the yellow-fleshed fruit called paw paw and the red or pink-fleshed fruit called papaya.
So if you’ve been standing in the fruit aisle wondering whether you’re buying the right one — relax. In Australia, you were never really choosing between two different fruits, just two varieties of the one.
The American mix-up
Here’s where the confusion really comes from. In North America there is a completely different fruit called the pawpaw — Asimina triloba. It’s not tropical at all. It grows wild in cool forests through the eastern United States, and the fruit looks like a small green mango with custardy flesh. It is no relation whatsoever to our paw paw.
So when you read an overseas article about “pawpaw”, check which plant they mean. If it’s American, it’s probably the forest fruit. When you see paw paw on an Australian product — including every one of ours — it means the tropical papaya, Carica papaya. That’s the fruit with the long history in Australian skincare.
Why this fruit ended up in skincare at all
Paw paw contains papain, a natural enzyme, along with vitamin C and antioxidants. Papain is the reason paw paw earned its place in Australian bathroom cabinets more than a century ago — it helps gently soften and condition the surface of the skin. Generations of Australian families have kept a tin of paw paw ointment (also spelled pawpaw or papaw, and known as papaya, popo, or botanically Carica papaya) in the drawer for rough elbows and cracked heels.
Paw paw as a food
Don’t forget the eating side of it, either. Ripe paw paw is a genuinely good food — low in calories, high in vitamin C, and lovely with a squeeze of lime for breakfast. Green (unripe) paw paw is a staple of Asian cooking — think of a Thai green papaya salad — and that’s when the papain content is at its highest. If you want the full rundown, I’ve written about the benefits of papaya for your skin separately.
Paw paw on your skin — and what we do differently
Most of the big-name paw paw ointments at the chemist have one thing in common: the tube is mostly petroleum jelly, with a small amount of paw paw in it. That never sat right with us. If the fruit is the hero, the fruit should be doing the work.
So our paw paw cream is made with no petroleum at all — fresh Australian paw paw in a plant-based, vegan and cruelty-free formula. We even combine it with magnesium in our Paw Paw Magnesium Cream.
Quick answers
In Australia, yes — both are Carica papaya. Paw paw is the yellow variety, papaya the red. The American “pawpaw” is an unrelated forest fruit.
Nutritionally they’re near enough identical. For skincare, the yellow paw paw is the traditional choice, and it’s what goes into our range.
As an everyday moisturiser for dry skin — elbows, heels, hands, anywhere skin needs softening and smoothing. Ours is petroleum-free.
Paw paw contains papain and vitamin C, which help condition and moisturise the skin’s surface. Australians have trusted it for over a hundred years — our family included.
The main difference is the flesh: paw paw is yellow-fleshed with a milder flavour, papaya is red-to-orange fleshed and sweeter. Botanically they are the same species grown in the same tropical regions of Australia.
As a food, paw paw is a source of vitamin C and fibre and is low in kilojoules – one of the reasons it has been an Australian favourite for generations.
Family made. Petroleum-free, always.
Shop our paw paw range →
Keep reading: what is Kakadu plum · what belongs in a good paw paw cream
From the Fruit to a Paw Paw Cream
People lump the two together, but they do not eat the same. Australian yellow paw paw is tarter and far less sweet; red papaya is the sweet one. That tarter yellow paw paw is the fruit that goes into a paw paw cream. Search pawpaw cream as one word or two and you will find the same shelf — sold as a paw paw salve or a paw paw ointment as well. The difference that matters is what carries the fruit: petroleum jelly, or an organic aloe vera base.
Paw Paw vs Papaya: the difference at a glance
| Papaya (red) | Paw Paw (yellow) | |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Pear-shaped or long | Rounder |
| Flesh | Bright orange to red | Soft yellow |
| Taste | Sweet, musky, melon-like | Milder, tarter, far less sweet |
| Usually used for | Fruit platters and desserts | Eaten fresh, or green in savoury dishes |
Is the paw paw tree the same as papaya?
Same family, Carica papaya — but not the same fruit. What you buy as red papaya and what you buy as yellow paw paw are two different varieties, and they do not eat the same. The yellow paw paw is tarter and much less sweet.
What is papaya called in Australia?
In Australia the yellow-fleshed variety is called paw paw (or pawpaw, one word), and the sweeter red-fleshed variety is sold as papaya or red papaya. Elsewhere in the world both are simply called papaya.
Which is healthier, paw paw or papaya?
Both are the same species, so the difference is mostly sweetness. Red papaya is the sweeter of the two. Yellow paw paw is tarter and less sweet, which is why it is often used green in savoury cooking. Neither is a medicine — they are fruit.
Why do people get paw paw and papaya confused?
Two reasons. First, Australia is one of the few places that uses the word paw paw at all for this fruit. Second, North America has a completely unrelated fruit called the pawpaw (Asimina triloba) which grows in cold climates and tastes like banana and mango. It has nothing to do with the tropical fruit in our paw paw cream.
Papain: the difference most people never hear about
Shape and sweetness are the easy differences. The one that actually matters is papain — the natural enzyme the fruit makes. Papain levels are not the same across varieties, and they are not the same at every stage of ripeness. Papain is at its highest in green papaya — the unripe fruit — and falls away as the fruit sweetens and ripens.
You can see it with your own eyes. Cut a green paw paw open and watch the sap that runs from the skin. Thick, white, milky sap, and plenty of it, is the mark of a fruit rich in papain. Thin, clear, watery sap means there is very little there. That same white sap runs in the stem and in the paw paw leaf.
It is why a sweet, fully ripe red papaya off a fruit platter is a different proposition to the green, tart paw paw picked for its enzyme. Same family. Different fruit. Different sap.
Paw paw vs papaya vs pawpaw: the botanical table
| Australian paw paw / papaya | North American pawpaw | |
|---|---|---|
| Botanical name | Carica papaya | Asimina triloba |
| Plant family | Caricaceae | Annonaceae (custard apple family) |
| Where it grows | Tropics: Queensland, Northern Territory, Asia, Africa, the Americas | Eastern USA and Canada, in woodland |
| The fruit | Large, yellow-orange or red flesh, black seeds | Small, green skin, custard-like yellow flesh, big brown seeds |
| In the shops | Everywhere in Australia, all year | Almost never sold; it bruises and spoils within days |
| Papain enzyme | Yes, in the fruit and latex | No |
| In our cream | Yes, real Australian paw paw | No |
Paw paw vs papaya: the questions people ask Google
Why do Australians call papaya paw paw?
Habit, and a real difference. In Australia the yellow-fleshed, less sweet type has been called paw paw for generations, and the red or pink-fleshed, sweeter type is sold as papaya. Both are the same species, Carica papaya.
Which is healthier, pawpaw or papaya?
Nutritionally they are close: both bring vitamin C, folate and the enzyme papain. Red papaya has a little more beta-carotene, which gives it the colour. For skin care it makes no difference, which is why we simply use real Australian paw paw.
Why is pawpaw fruit not popular, and why isn't it sold in stores?
That question is usually about the North American pawpaw, Asimina triloba, a different plant altogether. Its fruit bruises easily and spoils within days of picking, so it never made it into supermarkets. Australian paw paw has no such problem.
Why do Africans call papaya pawpaw?
Same reason as Australians: the word paw paw travelled with the fruit through the tropics in the 1500s and stuck in many English-speaking countries, from Ghana to Queensland.
Looking for Australian native fruit with far more vitamin C? Our Kakadu plum capsules are lab tested at 240 times the vitamin C of a fresh orange, gram for gram.