Regular Product of Samoa
p. 31 · Read in the full issue
Papain
From Our Own Correspondent APIA, September 24.
TSHE suggestion in the recent article in the “PIM,” “Why Not Papain from Pacific Pawpaws?” that nothing of this sort is now being done in the Pacific Islands, is incorrect.
For nearly 40 years papain has been produced in Western Samoa, in fairly large quantities. In 1937, for instance, we exported 1,770 lb., of an estimated value of £37s—half to United States and half to Europe. The export is still going on, to United States and Canada.
The principal producer, during the whole of this period, has been Mr. K.
Meyer, of Siusega, who has trained some of his Chinese plantation workers to dry the papain on sheets of glass, in small dryers, heated by kerosene. The finished product is packed in ordinary 4-gallon kerosene or benzine tins, and soldered air tight.
The tapping of the pawpaws is done by Samoan women and girls, who are paid a fixed rate per pound for the raw juice.
As pawpaws grow wild and quickly, and in great profusion on any new land cleared for cultivation, the production of papain could be a useful by-product for any tropical planter.
On September 24, the Governor of American Samoa, Captain H. A. Hauser, USN, with a large party, arrived in Apia, Western Samoa, on his first official visit since the war. An official reception and dance took place at the Administrator’s residence at Vailima.