DEAS 47: 2021 
ICS 67.080 
 
© EAC 2017                                                                                                                               Second  Edition 
2021 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Fresh papaya  (pawpaw)  — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 DEAS 47: 2021  
ii © EAC  2021– All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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Violators may be pr osecuted . DEAS 47: 2021  
© EAC 2021– All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  1 
4.1 Minimum requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........................  1 
4.2 Maturity requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
5 Classification  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
5.1 “Extra” class  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  2 
5.2 Class I  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  2 
5.3 Class II  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  3 
6 Sizing  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  3 
7 Tolerances  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  3 
7.1 Quality tolerances  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 3 
7.2 Size tolerances  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 4 
8 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  4 
8.1 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  4 
8.2 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 4 
9 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  4 
10 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
11 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
12 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  5 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  7 
 DEAS 47: 2021  
iv © EAC  2021– All rights reserved  
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East Afr ican Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EAS C) mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the commun ity.  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to  stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner States. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for develop ment of East African Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee resp onsible for this docu ment is Technical Committee  EASC/TC 016 Fresh Fruits, vegetables 
and Tuber  
 
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (EAS 47:2000 ), which has been technically revised.  
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some o f the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  DEAS 47: 2021  
© EAC 2021– All rights reserved  v 
  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 47: 2021  
 
© EAC 2017  – All rights reserved  1 
 Fresh papaya  (pawpaw)  — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Standard specifies the requirements for commercial varieties of papaya  (pawpaw)  
grown from Carica papaya  L., of the Caricaceae  family, to be supplied fresh to the consumer.  
This standard does not apply to papaya for industrial processing . 
2 Normative references   
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes 
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any am endments) applies.  
CAC/RCP 44, Recommended international code of practice for packaging and transport   
CAC/RCP 53, Code of hygienic practice for fresh fruits and vegetables   
CODEX STAN 193,  General standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed  
EAS 38, Labeling of pre -packaged foods — General requirements   
ISO 874; Fresh fruits and vegetables — Sampling  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1  
disease  
any unhealthy condition caused by any organism such as fungus, bacteria, virus o r insect  
3.2  
injury  
any defect which slightly affects the appearance or edible quality of the papaya  
4 Requirements   
4.1 Minimum requirements  
In all classes, subject to the special provisions for each class and the tolerances allowed, papaya shall be:   
2 © EAC  2021– All rights reserved  
 a) intact;  
b) sound; produce affected by rotting or deterioration such as to make it unfit for consumption is 
excluded;  
c) clean, practically free of any visible foreign matter;  
d) practically free of damage caused by pests  
e) practically free of pests affecting the general appearance of the produce;  
f) free of abnormal external moisture, excluding condensation following removal from cold storage;  
g) free of any foreign smell and/or taste
 .  
h) firm;  
i) fresh in appearance; and  
j) free of damage caused by low and/or high tempera tures.  
The peduncle, if present, should not exceed a length of 1 cm.   
4.2 Maturity requirement s  
4.2.1   Papaya shall have been carefully picked and have reached an appropriate degree of physiological 
maturity and ripeness account being taken of the chara cteristics of the variety and/or commercial type and the 
area in which they are grown.  
4.2.2  The development and condition of papaya shall be such as to enable them to withstand transport ation  
and handling; and to arrive in satisfactory condition at the pl ace of destination.  
5 Classification  
5.1 “Extra” class  
Papaya in this class shall be of superior quality. They shall be characteristic of the variety and/or commercial 
type. They shall be free of defects, with the exception of very slight superficial def ects, provided these do not 
affect the general appearance of the papaya , the quality, the keeping quality and presentation in the package.  
5.2 Class I  
Papaya in this class shall be of good quality. They shall be characteristic of the variety and/or comme rcial 
type.  
The following slight defects, however, may be allowed, provided these do not affect the general appearance of 
the p apaya , the quality, the keeping quality and presentation in the package:  
a) slight defects in shape; and  
b) slight skin defect s (that is, mechanical bruising, sun spots and/or latex burns). The total area affected 
shall not exceed 10 % of the total surface.  
The defects shall not, in any case, affect the flesh of the fruit.   
© EAC 2021– All rights reserved  3 
 5.3 Class II  
This class includes fresh papaya which do not qualify for inclusion in the higher classes, but satisfy the 
minimum requirements specified in 4.1. The following defects, however, may be allowed, provided the 
papayas retain their essential characteristics as regards the quality, the keeping quality and presentation:  
a) defects in shape;  
b) defects in colouring;  
c) skin defects (that is, mechanical bruising, sun spots and latex burns). The total area affected should not 
exceed 15 % of the total surface; and  
d) slight marks caused by pests.  
The def ects shall not, in any case, affect the flesh  of the fruit.  
6 Sizing  
Determination of the  papaya fruit size shall be done in accordance to Table 1.  
Table 1 — Determination of papaya fruit size  
Size code  Weight,  
g 
A  200 – 300 
B  301 – 400 
C  401 – 500 
D  501 – 600 
E  601 – 700 
F  701 – 800 
G  801 – 1 100  
H  1 101 – 1 500  
I  1 501 – 2 000  
J  > 2 001  
 
7 Tolerances  
Tolerances in respect of quality and size shall be allowed in each package (or in each lot for papaya  
presented in bulk) for papaya  not satisfying the requirements of the class indicated.  
7.1 Quality tolerances  
7.1.1 “Extra” Class  
A total tolerance of 5 %, by number or weight , of papaya not satisfying the requirements of the class, but 
meeting those of Class I is allowed. Within this  tolerance, not more than 0.5 % in total may consist of p apaya  
satisfying the requirements of Class II quality.  
7.1.2 Class I  
A total tolerance of 10  %, by number or weight, of papaya not satisfying the requirements of the class, but 
meeting those of Cla ss II is allowed. Within t his tolerance, not more than 1  % in total may consist of produce 
satisfying the requirements of Class II quality nor the minimum requirements, or of papaya affected by decay.   
4 © EAC  2021– All rights reserved  
 7.1.3 Class II  
A total tolerance of 10 %, by number or weight, of papaya satisfying  neither of the requirements of the class  
nor the minimum requirements  is allowed. Within  this tolerance, not more than 2  % in total may consist of 
papaya  affected by decay  
7.2 Size tolerances  
For all classes, 10 % by number or  weight of papayas corresponding to the size immediately above and/or 
below that indicated on the package, with a minimum of 190 g for fresh papaya packed in the smallest size 
range  
8 Contaminants  
8.1 Heavy metals  
Papaya shall comply with those maximum levels for heavy metals established by the Co dex Alimentarius 
Commission  in accordance with CODEX STAN 193 .  
8.2 Pesticide residues  
Papaya shall comply with those maximum pesticide residue limits established by the Codex Alimentariu s 
Commission   
9 Hygiene   
9.1 Papaya shall be prepared and handled in accordance with CAC/RCP 53.  
9.2 Papaya  shall be free from parasites, microorganisms or substances originating from them in amounts 
which may present a hazard to human health . 
10 Packaging   
10.1 Papaya shall be packaged in food grade packaging material that will safeguard the hygienic, safety, 
nutritional, technological and organoleptic qualities of the p apaya  in accordance with CAC/RCP 44 to avoid 
causing any external or internal damage to the p apaya . 
10.2 The contents of each package shall be uniform and contain only  papaya of the same origin, variety or 
commercial type, quality and size. . The visible part of the contents of the package shall be representative of 
the entire contents  
10.3 The containers sha ll ensure suitable handling, shipping and preser vation of the fresh papaya  
11 Labelling  
11.1 The following specific labelling requirements shall apply and shall be legibly and indelibly labelled  in 
accordance with the requirements of EAS 38  
a) name of produce a s “ Fresh  Papaya” ;. 
b) name and physical address of the exporter, packer and/or dispatcher;  
c) country of origin;    
© EAC 2021– All rights reserved  5 
 d) class;  
e) size (recognised size code or average weight in grams);  
f) net weight; and  
g) packaging date.  
NOTE  The number of fruits, storage temperature an d variety of the papaya may also be included on the labelling.  
11.2 For non -retail containers, each package shall bear the particulars outlined below in letters grouped on 
the same side, legibly and indelibly marked, and visible from the outside, or in the  documents accompanying 
the shipment:   
12 Sampling  
Sampling of fresh papaya shall be done in accordance with ISO 874   
6 © EAC  2021– All rights reserved  
   
© EAC 2021– All rights reserved  7 
 Bibliography  
[1] US 1613:2015, Fresh papaya — Specification  
[2] EAS 47:2000, Fresh papaya — Specification  
 DEAS 47: 2021   
 
© EAC 2021 – All rights reserved