===== PAGE 1 =====

# The Pawpaw: Its Past, Present, and Future Kirk W. Pomper, Ph.D. Principal Investigator of Horticulture/ Kentucky State University Adjunct Associate Professor of Horticulture/ Univ. of Kentucky ===== PAGE 2 ===== ## 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.

===== PAGE 3 ===== ## Native Range (Asimina triloba)

http://plants.usda.gov ===== PAGE 4 ===== ## Pawpaws in the Wild

A. triloba is usually found in the forest understory in hardwood forests Clonal reproduction by root suckering You may not find many fruit (shade, self-incompatibility, lack of pollinators) ===== PAGE 5 ===== ## 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.

Zimmerman S. Jones ===== PAGE 6 ===== ## Pawpaw Market Potential Farmers Markets Fruit: $1 each $2 to 3/pound Gourmet Market Frozen pulp Ice cream Restaurants < div style = "text-align: center;" > < img src = "imgs/imginimagebox122049431471966.jpg" alt = "Image" width = "61%" / > < /div > Kentucky Pawpaw100/ ===== PAGE 7 ===== ## History of the Pawpaw In 1541 Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto found Native Americans growing and eating pawpaws in the valley of the Mississippi. Lewis and Clark recorded in their journal (18 Sept. 1806) how pawpaws helped save them from starvation. Daniel Boone and Mark Twain were pawpaw fans.

===== PAGE 8 =====

Hatfield family photo courtesy of M cDowell County Historical Society # Pawpaw Tree Incident (Marker Number: 2047) County: Pike Location: Near Buskirk, KY 1056 Description: This episode is result of August 1882 election-day fight. Tolbert, a son of Randolph McCoy, exchanged heated words with Ellison Hatfield, which started a fight. Tolbert, Pharmer and Randolph McCoy Jr. stabbed Ellison to death. Later the three brothers were captured by Hatfield clan, tied to pawpaw trees, and shot in retaliation. Presented by Pikeville-Pike County Tourism. ===== PAGE 9 ===== ## 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

===== PAGE 10 ===== ## New Interest in Pawpaw From 1950 and 1985, interest grew nurtured by individuals in the Northern Nut Growers Association The Paw Paw 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) ===== PAGE 11 ===== ## 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

===== PAGE 12 ===== ## Establishing A Pawpaw Orchard “Pawpaw Planting Guide” Site air drainage (frost) deep, fertile, well-drained soil, pH 5.5-7.0 Weed control Johnson grass water source for irrigation

===== PAGE 13 ===== ## Pawpaw Propagation and the Nursery Industry High tree prices are limiting development of an industry Seedlings $5-$10 Grafted trees $15-$30

Grafted trees (named cultivars) produce fruit sooner after planting and have a known fruit quality. ===== PAGE 14 ===== ## Pawpaw Propagation

If you do produce trees from seed: Historically, pawpaws have been a difficult tree species to propagate: Seed requires stratification (3 months of refrigeration) Desiccation sensitive (do not dry out) Seed is killed by freezing Commercial clonal propagation of cultivars is via chip budding onto seedling rootstock Many nurseries grow pawpaw seedlings in containers Top working existing trees

===== PAGE 15 ===== What cultivars should I plant? ===== PAGE 16 ===== ## Variety Trial at KSU 28 selections, 10 named varieties, 224 total grafted trees on PPF seedling rootstock (half-sib seed) ■ Spacing 2 m (6.5 ft) between trees, 5.5 m (18 ft) between rows Princeton, KY (1995) and Frankfort, KY (1998)

===== PAGE 17 ===== ## Commercially Available Cultivars

Clone	Genetic background
‘Middletown’	Wild seedling from Middletown, Ohio
‘Mitchell’	Wild seedling from Iuka, Ill.
‘NC-1’	‘Davis’ female × ‘Overleese’ male
‘Overleese’	Cultivated (open-pollinated) seedling from Rushville, Ind.
‘PA-Golden’	Second-generation seedling from G.A. Zimmerman collection
‘Sunflower’	Wild seedling from Chanute, Kans.
‘Taylor’	Wild seedling from Eaton Rapids, Mich.
‘Taytwo’	Wild seedling from Eaton Rapids, Mich.
‘Wells’	Cultivated (open-pollinated) seedlings from Salem, Ind.
‘Wilson’	Wild seedling from Cumberland, Ky.

NC-1

===== PAGE 18 ===== ## Seedlings of Commercially Available Cultivars

Clone	Genetic background
1-7-1 Shenandoah	Open-pollinated seedling of ‘Overleese’
1-23	Open-pollinated seedling of ‘Taylor’
1-68	Open-pollinated seedling from ‘Overleese’
8-20	Open-pollinated seedlings of ‘Sunflower’

===== PAGE 19 =====

BEF = Blandy Experimental Farm Collection, Boyce Va. GAZ = George A. Zimmerman Collection., Linglestown, Pa. RS = Ray Schlaanstine Collection, West Chester, Pa. ## Seedlings from Collections

Clone	O pen-pollinated seedling of
1-7-2 Wabash	BEF-30
2-10	BEF-30
2-54	GAZ-VA
3-11	BEF-33
3-21	BEF-43
4-2 Potomac	BEF-53
5-5	BEF-54
7-90	RS-2
8-58 R appahannock	BEF-30
9-47	BEF-49
9-58	BEF-50
10-35	BEF-49
11-5 Susquehanna	BEF-53
11-13	BEF-53

===== PAGE 20 =====

Fruit Production on M ature Trees 2004-2006 in Frankfort	Average fruit weight (g)	Average number of fruit per tree
Clone	235 a	44 ghi
Potomac	188 b	39 hi
5-5	185 b	65 fg
W abash	184 b	39 i
Susquehanna	179 bc	44 ghi
NC-1	170 bcd	54 fghi
Overleese	170 bcd	59 fghi
8-20	167 bcd	90 cde
1-68	160 cde	52 fghi
2-10	156 def	78 def
Shenandoah	155 def	74 def
Sunflower	146 efg	79 def
9-58	145 efg	105 abc
10-35	145 efg

===== PAGE 21 ===== Fruit Production on Mature Trees 2004-2006 in Frankfort

PA-Golden

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

===== PAGE 22 =====

NC-1

Fruit weight: 179 g Number of fruit/tree: 44 Good flavor Available from many commercial nurseries

NC-1

===== PAGE 23 ===== ## Overleese Fruit weight: 170 g Number of fruit/tree: 54 Good flavor (melon) Available from many commercial nurseries

===== PAGE 24 ===== ## Sunflower Fruit weight: 155 g Number of fruit/tree: 74 Mild flavor Available from many commercial nurseries

===== PAGE 25 ===== ## Potomac Fruit weight: 235 g Number of fruit/tree: 44 Good flavor Fruit cracking? Available: Nolin River Nut Tree Nursery Forest Keeling

Potomac

===== PAGE 26 ===== Shenandoah Fruit weight: 156 g Number of fruit/tree: 78 Mild flavor Available: Nolin River Nut Tree Nursery

Forest Keeling ## Shenandoah ===== PAGE 27 ===== ## Wabash Fruit weight: 185 g Number of fruit/tree: 65 Dark flesh Cracking issues Available: Nolin River Nut Tree Nursery Forest Keeling

Wabash

===== PAGE 28 ===== ## Establishing a Pawpaw Orchard Pawpaw will fruit in the shade, optimum yields are obtained in open exposure Grass and weed control! Shading recommended the first year Irrigation should be provided at least the first two years

===== PAGE 29 ===== ## Pawpaw Running

===== PAGE 30 ===== Field Planting Pawpaw

8' between trees, 18' between rows 295 trees/ac Tree seldom grow taller than 25 feet ===== PAGE 31 ===== ## Fertilization and Irrigation of ## Pawpaw

Trickle Irrigation: emitters (1 gal/hr) with 2 emitters/tree about 240 gal/tree/yr. Fertigation: Peters 20-20-20 (3 times each yr.) 0.6 oz N/tree/yr. Granular (10-10-10) 1 oz N/tree/yr., 2 oz N/tree/yr. after two years ===== PAGE 32 ===== ## Pawpaw Pests and Diseases Leaf and fruit spot (Phyllosticta) J apanese beetles Leaf rollers Zebra swallowtail butterfly-not necessarily a pest Talponia plummeriana - pawpaw peduncle borer

===== PAGE 33 ===== ## Pawpaw Flowering and Harvest Flowers: male and female parts in a flower 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

===== PAGE 34 ===== ## 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

Steroid K. Pomper Overleese ===== PAGE 35 ===== ## The Potential of Pawpaw Processing pulp Hand processing Labor intensive

K. Pomper ===== PAGE 36 ===== ## Roma Food Processor with Grape Spiral with Pumpkin Screen

===== PAGE 37 ===== ## Research Update from KSU New Cultivar development Fruit thinning Roostock and Training trial ===== PAGE 38 ===== ## Further Germplasm Improvement Evaluation of: Seedling populations from throughout the native range Crosses from Neal Peterson Hybrid material from Asimina triloba x A. reticulata

===== PAGE 39 ===== ## KSU-Atwood™

K8-2 ===== PAGE 40 ===== ## 2011 Pawpaw Variety Trial

Hy3-120 aka 'State Fair' ===== PAGE 41 =====

2011 Pawpaw Regional Variety Trial

row	tree	Name & comments	Total # fruit	avg frt wt oz	yield lbs/tree	% frt >3.5 oz
4	20	Salem, IN (late flowering)	272	3.1	52.6	28%
4	25	Ithaca, NY (coconut flavor)	92	6.0	34.8	89%
9	109	11-13 x 1-23 (large fruit)	254	7.2	114.8	93%
9	111	11-13 x 1-23 (high yield)	500	5.4	168.0	79%
3	25	2-9 x 10-35 (firm?)	148	4.2	39.0	65%
5	23	Ithaca, NY (early ripening)	139	5.7	49.8	82%

===== PAGE 42 ===== ## Fruit Thinning to Increase Fruit Size

===== PAGE 43 ===== ## Average fruit weights of hand-thinned and unthinned pawpaw fruit in 2006 and 2008

Treatment	Fruit weight (g)
Treatment	2006	2008
Hand-Thinned	129	145
Control	88	118
significance	**	*

===== PAGE 44 =====

Central leader Planted spring 2004 Photo taken 1/28/08

Minimal pruning ===== PAGE 45 ===== Planted spring 2004 Photo taken 4/21/10 ===== PAGE 46 ===== ## 2009 Growing Season

Scion	Survival	TCA	# of clusters	# of Flower Buds	# of fruit	fruit per cluster	fruit wt (oz)	Yield (lb)
Susquehanna	61%	23.3	7.0	65	21	2.7	9.4	11.7
Sunflower	76%	22.1	17.0	136	36	2.1	6.7	15.2
P-value	NS	NS	***	***	*	***	(I)	NS
Rootstock	Survival	TCA	number of fruit	fruit weight (g)	Yield (kg)	fruit set
RVT	73 ab	21.7	32	218 ab	6.3	15%
Sunflower	87 a	23.2	22	226 a	5.1	8%
PA-Golden	75 ab	25.3	33	235 a	7.2	17%
K8-2	57 bc	20.8	22	176 b	4	33%
Susquehanna	48 c	20.8	40	220 ab	8.2	13%
P-value	**	NS	NS	*	NS	NS

===== PAGE 47 ===== ## 2009 Growing Season

Scion	Survival	TCA	# of fruit	fruit weight (g)	Yield (kg)	fruit set
Minimal Pruning	60%	28.5	35	7.4	7.3	25%
Central Leader	76%	17.8	25	7.9	5.3	10%
P-value	*	***	NS	(1)	NS	*

===== PAGE 48 ===== Welcome Personnel Growing Information Recipes and Uses Reports and Presentations Other KSU Information and Links Calendar of Events FAQ and Contact Information KSU Home Page

Photograph of pawpaw flower taken on May 5, 2009. Photo by Jeremy Lowe. pawpaw.kysu provides information on how to grow and use fruit from the North American pawpaw tree. Over 280,000 visitors since 2003!

Pawpaw News Pawpaws Gain Standing as Kentucky Crop (6/28/09) Pomper and Crabtree win Shepard Award for Pawpaw Research (6/18/09) From Novel Fruits (pawpaw), a Lush Landscape in NY Times (5/20/09) Pawpaw article in Northern Nut Growers Association Nutshell Newsletter (5/13/09) Summaries of recent KSU pawpaw research projects (5/06/09) KSU Student wins award for pawpaw research project (see page 7) (5/06/09) ===== PAGE 49 ===== ## Questions?