Unidentified > Plant conditions > Papaya fruit, whitish blemishes, St Lucia

February 2012. Silvery-shiny spots that can be scraped off, randomly over the skim of still green fruits. What causes them? The photos were taken in Trinidad and Tobago.

There were several suggestions:

• the result of mechanical damage as the fruits rubbed together in the wind when they were younger
• slugs and snails were considered but rejected as the cause
• latex from other fruit or damaged leaves have dripped on the fruit.

[Editor]: The last suggestion seems very likely as the marks can be scrapped off, somewhat.