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Workshop 13: Native Fruits of the Midwest

2:00 PM

Pawpaw and the American Persimmon: Niche Tree Fruit Crops for the Midwest and Eastern United States Kirk Pomper, Kentucky State University; Sheri Crabtree, Kentucky State Univ; Jeremiah Lowe, Kentucky State Univ; Jerry Lehman, Indiana Nut Growers Association

2:20 PM

Nut Crops of the Midwest Michele R. Warmund, Ph.D., Univ of Missouri

2:40 PM

Elderberry Research and Development In Missouri Patrick Byers, Greene County Extension Office; Andrew Thomas, University of Missouri; John Avery, Missouri State University; Chad Finn, USDA ARS HCRL; Penelope Perkins-Veazie, North Carolina State University; Hwei-Yiing Li-Johnson, Lincoln University; Sanjun Gu, Lincoln University

3:00 PM

Blackberry Breeding In the Midwest John Clark, University of Arkansas

3:30-4:00 PM

Discussion

4:00-5:00 PM Fruit and Nut Tasting

5:00-6:00 PM American Pomological Society Business Meeting

Pawpaw and the American Persimmon: Niche Tree Fruit Crops for the Midwest and Eastern United States

Kirk Pomper, Sheri Crabtree, Jeremiah Lowe, Kentucky State University, Land Grant Program, Frankfort, KY and Jerry Lehman Indiana Nut Growers Association

American Persimmon

Diospyros virginiana

Slow growing, moderate sized tree

Fruit: 1-2 inches in diameter

Lose astringency when ripe; sweet

Staminate

Pistillate

Flowers usually dioecious; staminate and pistillate flowers are borne on separate trees; female trees may have a small number of male flowers.

Native Range (Diospyros virginiana)

Seedless Persimmon Fruit

Most named varieties are 90-chromosome type

When 90-chromosome type are grown in Kentucky and pollinated by the 60-chromosome type, the seeds abort and many of the fruit are seedless or have few seeds

‘Meader’ is self-fruitful and will set seedless fruit

Fruit Production

Seedlings bear fruit in 4-9 years

Grafted trees can begin fruiting in 3-5 years

Fruit is hand-picked with care to maintain the cap for fresh market

Bearing trees may yield 35 to 75 pounds/tree

Persimmon Pests and Diseases

Insect pests include psyllid, persimmon borer, fall webworm, bagworm, hickory horned devil, and twig girdler

The ambrosia beetle is a new pest in KY

Leaf spot, persimmon wilt, and other diseases

Domesticating Persimmon

Latter half of the 19th century:

Logan Martin (Borden, IN), James A. Little (Cartersburg, IN), Samuel Miller (Bluffton, MO), F. O. Harrington (York Center, IA), and James Troop (Purdue University)

More recently:

J. C. McDaniel (Univ. of Illinois), James Claypool, Jerry Lehman, and Don Compton

Processing

Fruit of most varieties contain black flecks in the pulp, which are not attractive in the processed product.

‘Meader,’ ‘Killen,’ and ‘Morris Burton’ are varieties that contain few or no black specks.

Promising Persimmon Cultivars

Early Golden' (Alton IL, 1880)

‘Yates’ (Southern Indiana, 1983)

'John Rick' (Seedling of Killen, 1958)

‘Morris Burton’ (Indiana, 1957)

Others: NC-10 (Campbell), Elmo, Dollywood (other Claypool selections?) JOHN RICK PERS.

Challenges for Persimmon

Little information on cultivar performance Yield trials

Limited science based cultural recommendations

Fertilization, training, etc.

Harvest and Processing issues

The North American Pawpaw

Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal.

Slow growing, moderate sized tree; pyramidal in full sun

Fruit:

Clusters of 1-13 fruit

Fruit up to 2 lbs.

Native Range (Asimina triloba)

Pawpaw Flowering and Harvest

Flowers: monoecious

Cross-pollinate (self-fruitful?)

Pollinated by flies and beetles

Ripe fruit-soft

Color change not a reliable indicator of ripeness

Harvest from the same tree over several weeks

Pawpaw Pests and Diseases

Leaf and fruit spot (Phyllosticta)

Japanese beetles

Leaf rollers

Zebra swallowtail butterfly-not necessarily a pest

Talponia plummeriana - pawpaw peduncle borer

The Pawpaw Fruit

Tropical-like flavor and aroma

banana, mango, and pineapple

Nutritious and high in antioxidant activity

blended fruit drinks, ice creams, yogurt, etc.

The Potential of Pawpaw

Fresh market-unique flavor

Appearance-not unappealing

Post harvest handling issues

Bruising

Short shelf-life of about 7 days at room temp

Storage for 2-3 wks under refrigeration

The Potential of Pawpaw

Processing pulp

Hand processing Labor intensive

Pawpaw Market Potential

Farmers Markets

Fruit: $1 each

$2 to $3/pound

Gourmet Market

Frozen pulp

Ice cream

Restaurants

K. Pomper

Domesticating Pawpaw

In 1916, best pawpaw contest sponsored by the American Genetics Association

“intelligent breeding” would result in commercial quality varieties and an industry would begin (Popenoe 1916, 1917).

An industry did not develop One reason for the failure of pawpaw to become popular could be rapid perishability of fruit

One reason for the failure of pawpaw to become popular could be rapid perishability of fruit

New Interest in Pawpaw

From 1950 and 1985, interest grew nurtured by individuals in the Northern Nut Growers Association

The PawPaw Foundation was founded in 1988, by R. Neal Peterson

Ohio Pawpaw Festival (1999-present), Ohio Pawpaw Growers Association (2000), and Appalachian Pawpaw Growers Association (2008)

The Kentucky State University Pawpaw Research Program

Program Leaders:

Brett Callaway (1990-1993)

Desmond Layne (1994-1997)

Kirk Pomper (1998-Present)

USDA National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Pawpaw; satellite of Corvallis, OR (1994)

2000 accessions from 17 different States; over 45 cultivars

PawPaw Foundation Collections

Neal Peterson and Harry Swartz germplasm collection (1981)

Screening of about 1500 accessions at the University of Maryland

Open pollinated seedlings from collections of Buckman, Zimmerman, Hershey, Allard, the Blandy Experimental Farm, Ray Schlaanstine, and some modern cultivars

Pawpaw Regional Variety Trial initiated in 1994 by R. Neal Peterson and Desmond Layne

10 cultivars and 18 PPF advanced selections

Pawpaw Regional Variety Trials (1995-2000)

RVT Fruit Production on Mature Trees 2004-2006 in Frankfort, KY

Clone	Average fruit weight (g)	Average number of fruit per tree
3-11	137 efgh	68 ef
7-90	135 fghi	74 def
1-23	126 ghij	90 cde
11-13	124 hij	75 def
Taytwo	121 hijk	73 def
2-54	121 hijk	73 def
3-21	115 ijkl	60 fghi
Mitchell	112 jkl	58 fghi
PA-Golden	108 jklm	118 ab
Taylor	106 jklm	68 efg
Wells	104 klm	64 fgh
9-47	100 lm	74 def
Rappahannock
Wilson
Middletown

Challenges for Pawpaw

Can yields and quality be improved:

Training systems and rootstocks (KSU)

Fruit thinning (KSU)

Nutrient management

Harvest, post-harvest, and processing issues

New cultivars (firmer fruit)

Market development

Education

How large is the market?

Questions?