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Herb library · Herb · Carica papaya

Papaya (pawpaw) leaf

The pawpaw of Caribbean yards, eaten as fruit and used green in cooking, whose leaf is now sold as an extract to raise low platelet counts. Small trials in dengue and in chemotherapy show platelet counts rising somewhat faster, but the largest trial is under an expression of concern and reviewers call for better studies.

Traditional use

Eaten ripe as fruit and cooked green throughout the Caribbean. Barham recorded in Jamaica in the early 1700s that the green peel made tarts and the inner flesh a sauce for pork, and that the milky latex was put on warts and ringworm. A 2015 survey in Trinidad found grated young pawpaw steeped for high blood pressure, the leaves chewed for diabetes, and the roots of the male tree used for "stoppage of water" and kidney stones.

What studies show

  • Limited

    Low platelets in dengue: a 2016 meta-analysis of four trials (439 people) found papaya leaf extract linked to higher platelet counts after the fourth day and fewer days in hospital, but no data on deaths or serious side effects, and called for large, high-quality trials before any decision on its use.

  • Limited

    Low platelets from chemotherapy: a 2025 meta-analysis (410 patients) found a benefit despite heterogeneity and risk of bias, and called for more rigorous research. A 2026 phase III trial in India (219 patients) reported more patients reaching a safe platelet count by day 4 than with placebo (59% vs 44%), but in July 2026 the journal published an expression of concern about that trial.

  • Insufficient

    High blood pressure, diabetes and kidney stones: these Trinidad uses have no trials in people in the sources read here.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • AllergyPapain, an enzyme from papaya, can cause allergy: a case of work-related asthma from papain is on record. If you are allergic to papaya, avoid papaya leaf products.
  • ConditionDengue with low platelets is a medical emergency. Papaya leaf extract was studied alongside hospital care, never in place of it.
  • PregnancyNo safety information for papaya leaf in pregnancy or breastfeeding was found in the sources used here. Talk with your clinician first.
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.

From the old books

What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.

“The outside peel, cut thin, makes fine green tarts; the inward part makes sauce for pork, so resembling in colour and taste apple-sauce, as not to be known to the contrary”
Henry Barham, Hortus Americanus (1794), p. 135. See the page of Hortus Americanus, p. 135 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from Hortus Americanus, p. 135

Sources

  1. Efficacy and safety of Carica papaya leaf extract in the dengue: a systematic review and meta-analysis (Int J Appl Basic Med Res, 2016) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Could Carica papaya leaf extract impact chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia? A systematic review and meta-analysis (Nutr Health, 2025) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. Carica papaya leaf extract to improve chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia: a phase III randomized, placebo-controlled trial (JCO Glob Oncol, 2026) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  4. Expression of concern for the phase III papaya leaf extract trial (JCO Glob Oncol, 2026) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  5. Papain-induced asthma: a man with dyspnea from dawn till dust (Acta Clin Belg, 2013) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  6. An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants in Trinidad (J Ethnobiol Ethnomed, 2015) — full text on PubMed Central (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.