Update: went to order again. First bag was $21.00. Second bag was $26.00. Now price is $37.00!! Looking for a better price on same or similar product. This is my third time going to order this product. I eat a lot of steak, some not prime, haha, but this solved any toughness issues. The first bag lasted 2 years. I put powder in a shaker and sprinkle it on a few minutes prior to cooking. Do not marinate meat in this powder, will turn any meat to mush. Sprinkle on like salt and cook within 5 minutes or so. I did not detect any bad smell, seems tasteless to me but works great. I used to order a liquid from Amazon that worked great but is no longer available. After trying many others I will stick to this product for cost and convenience.

Papain has been used for centuries as a natural meat tenderizer.

It can also be used to kill worms and parasites. (According to the University of Maryland medical center, "Digestive enzymes will help restore your intestinal tract to its normal state, which makes it inhospitable to parasites. Papain is an enzyme from the papaya plant that may help kill worms when taken 30 minutes before or after meals.*") Many double blind studies have verified its efficacy for this purpose.

I bought it for this reason, not to use as a tenderizer. (Most of us have at least a few of those intruders in our bodies, which we've picked up from eating pork, eating sushi, or just from touching other people who have worms or parasites.... it's good to clean them out once in a while.)

COMMON WAYS TO TAKE PAPAIN:

1) You could eat pineapple or papaya every day (both contain papain) (I like both foods, but eating them both every day could be pricey and get a little monotonous.)

2) You could eat papaya and papaya seeds (also rich in papain) (again, great when it's in season, but it's not always available).

3) You could take papaya enzyme tablets. (Not always a good idea, for reasons described below.)

4) You could take pure papain, by taking this product.

MY EXPERIENCE:

After reading about the benefits of papain, I decided to try some.

I first bought a bottle of "chewable Papaya Enzyme" tablets from American Health. I was disappointed to realize that the tablets were mostly sugar and calcium carbonate, with a small amount of papain added. They were essentially sugar pills - not a good thing to take if you're wanting to kill parasites, which love sugar.

Then it occurred to me to try taking papain by the spoonful. (A pineapple might last a week if you stretch it; the amount of powder in this bag could well last a year.)

So I did a search on Amazon and found this product. Since ordering it, I've taken it several times, and can report that:

* It tastes okay... kind of nondescript... perhaps very slightly bitter. It's not sweet like pineapple or papaya. Most people would probably want to mix it in with some juice or yogurt. But you could also just take it by the spoonful and chase it with some water.

* It smells okay. (No smell at all that I can detect)

* It mixes smoothly.

* I feel like something good is happening when I take it. I've been using it as part of an anti-parasite regimen. Some antiparasiticals, like wormwood, can be dangerous, so it's nice to find one that has been vetted in scientific studies as being safe.

WARNINGS and CAUTIONS:

* Papain has been used for centuries as a form of male birth control. It does NOT reduce testosterone but appears to reduce sperm motility. So if you're trying to conceive, I would not recommend taking it. (Though if you're trying NOT to have a kid, it could come in handy.)

* My stomach growls sometimes when I take it. I assume that's a good sign actually, an enzyme's at work down there. But you might not want to take it before a date or important business meeting, if that happens to you.

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* To read a scientific study about using papaya to kill worms in Nigerian children, do a web search for these words:

"Effectiveness of dried Carica papaya seeds against human intestinal parasitosis: a pilot study."

According to the study, "(Papaya seeds) offers a cheap, natural, harmless, readily available monotherapy and preventive strategy against intestinal parasitosis."

The meat tenderizer I've used for years is about 90% salt and about 10% papain. I bought this product to reduce sodium intake. It works great. Because it is 100% papain enzyme (translation: a lot more concentrated than regular meat tenderizer), I mix it with a little bit of water (or red wine) and then use a pastry brush to put that solution on the meat. If you use the powder by itself, it would be very easy to use too much - and you'll end up with mushy meat instead of tender meat. For thick cuts of meat, such as a roast, I pierce the meat after brushing it with the tenderizer solution to help the tenderizer get inside the meat.

I've been looking for a good tenderizer that doesn't taste like candy to use on my proteins to make them a little more palatable and this is exactly what I want, and really like it!

This Papain works great for tenderizing steaks like top sirloin. it also works great tenderizing pork chops also.
My general mix is two Tablespoons to a quart of either water or your choice of marinade. Marinade for no more than an hour with thick cuts 1" to 1 1/2" and a half hour with thinner cuts 3/4" to 1/2".
You can re-use the marinade up to four maybe five times before you need to toss it and don't reload it with more papain. It just doesn't work.

If you over tenderize the surface of the meat gets mealy. If you really over do it the meat gets gooey on the surface. Papain adds no flavor to the meat whatsoever.

good luck