East Africa is currently the world’s largest supplier of papain. African nations, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo, are the major exporters of papain. Other suppliers are Zaire, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Israel, Phillippines, India and Sri Lanka. Total market size of papain in Europe is estimated at several 100 tonnes per year. (Exact volume figures are not reported in official government trade statistics.)

Papain-importing countries are the United States, Canada, Japan, England, Belgium, Australia, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Argentina, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Poland and New Zealand.

Papain is purchased and distributed by specialist food ingredient companies mainly in Europe and the United States and redistributed to many other countries. Several plantations that were established during the papain shortage in the early 1990s are just beginning to produce, which has created more available supply for the European and US markets. Demand for papain from breweries is declining as cheaper and more readily available substitutes are being used to emulate papain’s function. Papain’s use has however continued to expand in the food industry, supporting the increase in volume. The US market has been estimated at upto double the EU market or roughly 300–400 metric tonnes per year. The Japanese market is relatively small at under 50 metric tonnes per year. Many importing countries particularly Japan, several in Europe and the United States further process their papain imports and re-export the finished product amongst themselves and to others. Direct imports into the United States are mostly sourced from India with smaller supplies coming from China, the Congo and Indonesia.

Papain is sold in both liquid and powdered form. It is commonly imported in a raw form and processed according to the end-user’s specifications. The strength of papain is measured in Tyrosine Units (TU); 70–75 TU liquid papain is commonly used by breweries. The price of papain varies with grade and the TU measurement. It varies between US $10/kg and as high as US $80/kg for papain with a high TU measurement.

In India C. papaya is cultivated in Maharashtra, Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Papain-producing units are located at Nasik and Bangalore. Several heavy bearing dwarf varieties of C. papaya ideal for papain collection are under cultivation in India. There are three major commercial grades each differing in its method of preparation and end use. They are

• Papain BPC (as per British Pharmaceutical Codex, 1954 specifications) used for a variety of applications;
• Papain IP (Indian Pharmacoepia, 1966) used in preparations where a low mineral content is desirable;
• Purified Papain – Highly water soluble and free from colour and odour, it is used in special preparations where an odour-free product of high purity is required.

Total estimated production of papain in India is around 150 tonnes per year. Around 35% is BPC grade papain and the rest is purified papain; 55% of the BPC grade is consumed internally and the rest is exported and 90% purified papain is also exported. A number of industries are coming up to give a boost to the demand of this product.

The current price of BPC Papain is US $40/kg in the international market.