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Pawpaws in the21st Century
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Why have people turned away from
pawpaws?
Lumpy
Banana, peanut or potato shaped
Greenish-yellow skin
Brown to black spots
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No doubt, the first Native American to
sample the Indian banana was both verycourageous and very hungry.
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Well rewarded
Orange-colored flesh
Feels like egg custard on the palate
Flavors blend nuances Mango
Banana
Papaya
Peach
With an after taste of melon
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Faded into obscurity
Shift of population from rural to urban
areas in the late 19th
and 20th
centuries
Known to many only through the lyrics of
Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch
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What is a pawpaw?
Asimina triloba
North Americas largest edible fruit
Typically small tress 20 to 30 feet
Forest under story near a river
flood plain
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Flowers open in April & May
Hang upside down
Resemble a bell
May be up to 2 inches across
Dark maroon-colored petals
Three petals triloba
Self-incompatible
Require cross pollination
Need 2 unrelated trees to set
fruit
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Whether wild or cultivated
Variation for fruit size average is 8 oz
Variation for flavor Variation for skin thickness
Variation for skin color when ripening
Variation for flesh color at ripeness Variation in number of seeds
Variation in seed size
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Fruit
Short shelf life tree-ripened fruit will spoil in several days at room
temperature
refrigerated fruit will last for up to three weeks
Can be picked slightly green to extend shelflife
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Pawpaws have a large number of synonyms
Possumhaw
Dog-banana
Indian-banana
False banana
Custard-apple Michigan banana
Hoosier banana
Ozark banana
Poor-mans banana
Wild banana
Prairie banana
Nebraska banana
Indiana banana
Woodland banana
Midwest banana
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15 Ohios forgotten fruit
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Fossil records:
New Jersey15 million years
Mississippi45 to 55 million years
History of the pawpaw
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In Blue Jacket, Warrior of the
Shawnees, the author states, The
Eastern Native American tribes
cultivated the pawpaw for its fruit,
spreading the tree from the Ohio
River Valley south to Florida by
planting seeds as they traveled
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Inner bark Cord to string fish
Weaving baskets Cloth
Fruit
Cakes
Seeds Lice control
Uses by Native American Indians
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For early settlers, pawpaws served as
an emergency food source
Several American towns, townships,
creeks, and rivers were named after the
pawpaw
Pawpaw, West Virginia
Pawpaw, Michigan
Assimilated into fabric of rural life
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Hernando De Soto 1541
A verie good smell and an excellent taste
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Hernando de Sotos journal
Recorded finding Native Americans
growing and eating pawpaws in the
valley of the Mississippi
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Lewis & Clark
1806
There were plenty of ripe
plums, which the men called
pawpaws. Gathering a few
bushels was the work of a
few minutes only. The men
told the captains they could
live very well on the
pawpaws. The captainswere even more anxious
than the men to get on, so
there were no halts to hunt.
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Hatfield & McCoy feud
1882
Three sons of
Randolph McCoywere tied to pawpaw
bushes and
executed by the
Hatfield family
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American Genetic Associations
Journal of Heredity 1916
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Best Pawpaw Contest
Ohio had three of the top seven entries
The best fruit received by the contest
was from Ironton, Ohio
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Little documentation regarding the
development of the pawpaw industry after
the 1916 contest. In fact, pawpaws weregrown commercially in the United States
until around WWII, when the advent of
refrigeration enabled shipment of more
exotic fruit from many hundred of miles
away.
After the 1916 contest
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Current interest
Began in 1990 KSU
Regional Variety Trials
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Regional variety Trials
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Landscape use
Year 2000
Landscape Tree of the Yearby
Better Homes and Gardens
Magazine
Year 2005
Ohio Nursery and Landscape
Association as one of its
Landscape Trees of the year
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The pawpaw plants naturalresistance to bugs and predators
such as grazing whitetail deermake it a perfect choice for anylandscape
Plant more pawpaws
ONLA
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Recognition by Slow Food USA
Pawpaw was accepted for the Ark of Taste in2004
The Ark of Taste identifies gastronomicallydesirable regional foods that are disappearing
The job of designated members of Slow Food todevise a way to increase an awareness of theproduct and to help create markets for it
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Originating in North America,
pawpaws have a prominentplace in history
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Provided sustenance to Native
Americans and many early explorers
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Food source
Landscape plant
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Backyard fruit tree
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Butterfly gardens
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Marketing of pawpaws in the
21st Century Achievement
of popularity
andcommercialsuccess
Fruits thin soft skin
Perishable
Highly inconsistent
flavor
10 to 12 large seeds
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Organic farmers
No serious insects
No serious diseases
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Superior fruit
Antioxidant-rich
Anti-tumor
Anti-aging
Pesticidal properties Superbly nutritious Proteins
Amino acids
Fat
Calcium
Iron
Zinc
Cosmetics, skin products and perfumes
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Fruit is versatile Fat substitute
Substitute for bananas in recipes
Cooking Pies
Cookies
Cakes Puddings
Marmalade
Bread
Beer
Wine
Desserts
Sauces Muffins
Danishes
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Other uses of pawpaws
Farmers markets
Biomass
Organic farmers Regional food
Frozen pulp
Specialty fruit crop
Butterfly gardens Backyard fruit
Orchards
Specimen plants in landscape
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Commercial development?
Although the pawpaw is not yet
commercially important nativeAmerican fruit, others, such as the
blueberry, cranberry and raspberry
have come from the wild to occupy
important niches in the commercial
fruit market
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Commercial development? Cont.
The economic rationale for the
commercial development of pawpawis tied to the need in certain areas of
the country to identify new high-value
crops to supplement or provide
alternatives for old ones that are
losing value.
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Future of pawpaws
The rich pool of pawpaw genetics in Ohio
is still growing in forests, yards, riparianzones and pastures across Ohio,
especially in the southern part of the state.
There are several reasons why pawpaw
cultivation makes so much sense for theMidwest, especially Ohio.
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Future of pawpaws cont.
Pawpaws have excellent commercial
potential in Ohio for these reasons:
1. The tree is well adapted to our regions soilsand climate
2. Nutritional and cosmetic value
3. Natural compounds produced
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Future of pawpaws cont
4. Nursery wholesale and retail tree sales
5. Component in residential edible landscapes and
butterfly gardens
6. Virtually no pests and the powerful chemicals deterbrowsing animals
7. Utilized for habitat restoration and biodiversification inparks, woodlots and forests
8. Potential for organic fruit production
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Future of pawpaws cont
The problem of the pawpaw
proved greater than imagined.
The breeding, scientific studies
and applied science necessary for
their solution did not materialize.
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Future of pawpaws cont
In 2008, 91 years later, we are
finally seeing the first faint
glimmers of a pawpaw industry.
Many factors have contributed to
make this possible:
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Future of pawpaws cont
1. Consumer demand in America for new andunusual produce.
2. Increased interest in native plants.
3. High value crop for farmers
4. Progress in the scientific study ofAsimina.
5. High quality pawpaw varieties
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Future of pawpaws cont
Neal Peterson
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In conclusion
Yelow-billed Cuckoo in Pawpaw Tree
By
John James Audubon
1863
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In 1905 James A. Little wrote:
We can never realize what a great blessing thepawpaw was to the first settlers while they were clearingthe great natural forest and preparing to build cabins."
Planting fruit trees was rather an experimentfor a number of years. The pawpaws, and a few otherwild fruits of less value, were all their dependence so faras fruit is concerned. Well do I remember sixty or moreyears ago my father would take his gun and basket andgo to the woods and return in the evening loaded withpawpaws, young squirrels and sometimes mushrooms of
which he was very fond. But there will never be arecurrence of those days which were the happiest of mylife.
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OPGA
% Ron & Terry Powell
6549 Amelia Dr. Cincinnati, Ohio 45241
(513) 777-8367
www.Ohiopawpaw.com
Ohio Pawpaw Growers Association
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