Indian Wildlife Club Forum

Came across two Greater Racket-tailed drongos taking turns to rub their beaks on the trunk of a papaya tree seemingly trying to consume something. Turns out the trunks of papaya trees secrete a milky, white liquid called latex, which is also the source of the enzyme papain. The latex oozes out when the tree is cut or damaged and when a raw papaya is cut but not when a ripe papaya is cut. Papain has wound healing properties which helps papaya trees and raw papayas to heal but is not required in ripe ones. Fruits are for protecting its seeds and fruits becomes ripe when their seeds are mature enough to reproduce. Ripe fruits emanate sweet smells attracting birds and animals to eat them and in the process the seeds get dispersed. So there will be no latex in ripe papayas.

I didn't know about this before and though I have seen latex oozing out of raw papayas innumerable times I never asked or tried to understand what it is. Those birds knew and were ingesting it to improve their immune system. Most humans don't and this is baffling because we are also believed to have evolved from animals.