Is papaya high in histamine?
Papaya is mostly low in histamine: six papayas tested in Spain had none, but one study found putrescine just over the level we flag, and papaya is often called a "histamine liberator".
- Histamine
- Not detected
- Other amines
- Notable levels
- Liberator
- Claimed, unproven
- DAO blocker
- No evidence
What each source says
| Source | Verdict | What it says, in our words |
|---|---|---|
| Lab measurements, Spain 1 | Measured | No detectable histamine in 6 papayas; putrescine averaged 7.25 mg/kg. |
| Another study in the 2018 review 2 | Measured | Twenty-one papayas averaged 11 mg/kg of putrescine; histamine was not reported. |
| 10 published low-histamine diets 1 | 2 of 10 exclude papaya. | |
| Review of low-histamine diets, 2020 3 | Papaya has been reported to release the body's own histamine; the mechanism has not been shown. | |
| Review of plant foods, 2018 2 | Amine levels in papaya are too low to justify excluding it. | |
| SIGHI food list 4 | See source | See SIGHI's own list for its rating. |
Measured histamine
| Food tested | Samples | Histamine | Other amines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Papayas sold in Spain 1 (Table 1) | 6 | not detected | putrescine mean 7.25 mg/kg (not detected to 12.48); cadaverine and tyramine not detected |
mg/kg = milligrams of histamine per kilogram of food. "Not detected" means below the laboratory's detection limit.
How freshness and processing change it
The papayas tested were fresh, shop-bought fruit, and we found no study that followed amines as papaya ripens or is stored. Dried and candied papaya and papaya juice were not measured. Cut fruit left standing gives bacteria time to act, so cut papaya close to when you eat it.
No histamine in 6 samples; putrescine averaged 7.25 mg/kg here and 11 mg/kg in another study. (measured)
Why we rate papaya 1
Papaya appears on most lists of "histamine liberators", foods said to make the body release its own histamine, and that reputation is the main reason it gets left out of low-histamine diets. The measurements do not find histamine in it. A University of Barcelona team tested six papayas sold in Spain and detected no histamine, cadaverine or tyramine.
What papaya does contain is some putrescine, the amine that some researchers think competes with histamine for DAO, the gut enzyme that breaks histamine down. The Spanish papayas averaged 7.25 mg/kg, with the highest at 12.48 mg/kg. Another study, collected in the team's 2018 review, tested 21 papayas and found an average of 11 mg/kg, ranging from 5.3 to 19.3 mg/kg; it did not report histamine. That is a fraction of the putrescine in oranges (91.24 mg/kg) or bananas (37.94 mg/kg), but it is just over the 10 mg/kg average we use as the line for a notable level.
On the liberator question, the sources are direct. A 2020 review from the same group lists papaya with kiwi, strawberries, pineapple and plums as fruits reported to release histamine, and says the mechanism has not been worked out. The 2021 review adds that no clinical studies in humans support the idea. The 2018 review goes further and concludes that the amine levels in papaya are too low to justify excluding it. Two of the ten published diets in the 2021 review exclude papaya, the same number as kiwi and plums.
We rate papaya 1, "mostly low". On histamine alone it would be a 0. The one step up is for the putrescine in the larger study, not for the liberator claim, which our method does not count. If papaya suits you, there is no measured reason to drop it. If you react to it, note it in a food diary and take it to your dietitian, since the cause may not be histamine at all.
Questions about papaya and histamine
Is papaya a histamine liberator?
It is often listed as one. A 2020 review says papaya has been reported to release the body's own histamine but that the mechanism has not been shown, and a 2021 review found no human studies supporting the idea.
Is papaya low histamine?
Six papayas tested in Spain had no detectable histamine. We rate it 1 rather than 0 because one study of 21 papayas found putrescine averaging 11 mg/kg. Only two of ten published diets exclude it.
Evidence behind this page
- Six papayas sold in Spain had no detectable histamine, cadaverine or tyramine; putrescine averaged 7.25 mg/kg, up to 12.48 mg/kg. 1
- In another study of 21 papayas, putrescine averaged 11 mg/kg (5.3–19.3); histamine was not reported (2018 review, Table 2). 2
- Papaya is among the fruits reported to trigger release of the body's own histamine, although the mechanism has not been elucidated. 3
- There are no clinical studies in humans supporting the idea that foods release the body's own histamine. 1
- The 2018 review concludes that amine levels in kiwi, papaya, strawberry, pineapple and plum are too low to justify excluding them. 2
- Two of ten published low-histamine diets exclude papaya. 1
Sources
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Low-Histamine Diets: Is the Exclusion of Foods Justified by Their Histamine Content? Nutrients 13(5):1395, 2021. doi:10.3390/nu13051395 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2021)
- Sánchez-Pérez S, Comas-Basté O, Rabell-González J, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla ML, Vidal-Carou MC. Biogenic Amines in Plant-Origin Foods: Are They Frequently Underestimated in Low-Histamine Diets? Foods 7(12):205, 2018. doi:10.3390/foods7120205 (Sánchez-Pérez S et al. 2018)
- Comas-Basté O, Sánchez-Pérez S, Veciana-Nogués MT, Latorre-Moratalla M, Vidal-Carou MDC. Histamine Intolerance: The Current State of the Art. Biomolecules 10(8):1181, 2020. doi:10.3390/biom10081181 (Comas-Basté O et al. 2020)
- Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI). Food compatibility list for histamine intolerance. histaminintoleranz.ch (accessed November 2026), 2026. Link (Swiss Interest Group Histamine Intolerance (SIGHI) 2026)