Food Dehydrator Adventures: Papaya Seeds

jsheffield

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I've got a food dehydrator that I alternately ignore and use like crazy....

Earlier this week, I dried about a cubic foot of dandelion greens for use in feeding my redfoot a more interesting/diverse menu this winter.

Today I cut up the last piece of frozen papaya for Darwin's brunch and made a note to get some at the market. They had some beautiful fresh ones, so I picked up two to cube and bag, mostly for freezing as he only eats a few tablespoons worth at a meal.

As I was scooping the seeds out of each half, I diverted them from the compost into a bowl for drying. I'd read something about their use in deworming and other anti-parasitic treatments here as well as in a few studies I'd pulled up with Google's help.

Effectiveness of Dried Carica papaya Seeds Against Human Intestinal Parasitosis

Papaya for Parasites

I was treated for parasites with papaya seeds while living in Ecuador, and they were effective (or at least I got better), but these articles seem to support my anecdotal experience... my plan is to dry the seeds in the food dehydrator, then freeze them, either against some future deworming needs, or as part of a plan to make a low dosage of the seeds mixed in with his food an annual or biannual treatment for Darwin.

I also found a similar article about pumpkin seeds but will have to wait until pumpkin season before I dry any of those...

Evaluation of Anthelmintic Activity and Composition of Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) Seed Extracts-In Vitro and in Vivo Studies.

I'm interested in avoiding the vet's office for Darwin whenever possible, as it seems as though all of the local ones know less than FB does about tortoises.

Jamie
 

Yvonne G

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Seeds are usually pooped out intact. In order for the tortoise to benefit from the seeds' anthelmintic properties the seeds need to be ground up.
 

jsheffield

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Thanks, I'll probably freeze them intact, then grind then just before use.

Jamie
 
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