RT Journal
A1 Lund MH, Royer RR
T1 CArica papaya in head and neck surgery
JF Archives of Surgery
JO Archives of Surgery
YR 1969
FD February 1
VO 98
IS 2
SP 180
OP 182
DO 10.1001/archsurg.1969.01340080072013
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.1969.01340080072013
AB Papain has been used for hundreds of years in the Far East for a variety of diseases and indications. It has been extracted in the pure crystalline form and its structure and mechanism of action have been studied extensively. Papain is composed of 17 different amino acids; these contribute a total number of 185 to the composition of the papain molecule, which has a molecular weight of 20,900. One Warner-Chilcott unit is that quantity of proteolytic enzymes extracted from Carica papaya which, under the conditions specified in the method of assay, will clot 2.64μl of milk substrate in two minutes at 40 C.During the past five or six years that orally administered enzymes have been available for general use, there has been some controversy regarding mechanism of action and efficacy. Because of the size of the molecule, there has been a reluctance to believe that it can be absorbed