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# A Summary of Pawpaw Regional Variety Trials Kirk Pomper*1, Sheri Crabtree*1, Joseph Masabni2, Desmond Layne3, Neal Peterson4, and Dwight Wolfe21Kentucky State University, Frankfort;2Univ. of Kentucky, Dept. of Horticulture;3Dept. of Horticulture, Clemson Univ.;4Peterson Pawpaws ===== PAGE 2 ===== ## A Summary of Pawpaw Regional Variety Trials Potential for Pawpaw in Kentucky Production Information Summary of Variety Trials Cultivar Recommendations ===== PAGE 3 ===== Introduction: What is Pawpaw? Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal. Native tree fruit in the southeastern U.S. Fruit can weigh up to 2 lbs.

===== 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 resembles mixture of banana, mango, and pineapple. Custard-like fruits are berries The fruit is very nutritious and high in antioxidant activity. Could be used in blended fruit drinks, ice creams, yogurt, etc.

Zimmerman ===== 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/imginimagebox124572632272201.jpg" alt = "Image" width = "60%" / > < /div > APPLES Kentucky Pawpaw100/each Kentucky Pawpan $2.00/each ===== PAGE 7 ===== ## Pawpaw Production “Pawpaw Planting Guide” Site air drainage (frost) deep, fertile, well-drained soil, pH 5.5-7.0 water source for irrigation

===== PAGE 8 ===== ## Seedlings and Cultivars Seedlings produce fruit in 5-8 years Grafted cultivars can produce fruit in 3 years; know fruit quality Takes about 5-6 years to reach full production ## Pricing Seedlings $5.00-$10.00 Grafted trees $15.00-$30.00

===== PAGE 9 ===== ## Establishing a Pawpaw Orchard Pawpaw will fruit in the shade, optimum yields are obtained in open exposure Shading recommended the first year Irrigation should be provided at least the first two years

===== PAGE 10 ===== ## Pawpaw Pruning

===== PAGE 11 ===== Field Planting Pawpaw

8' between trees, 18' between rows 295 trees/ac Tree seldom grow taller than 25 feet ===== PAGE 12 ===== ## Flowering and Harvest Time Flowers can be found on the same tree from early April until May in Kentucky Ripe fruit should yield when squeezed and give way with a gentle tug Color change not a reliable indicator of ripeness Fruit may be harvest from the same tree over several weeks

===== PAGE 13 ===== ## Pawpaw Pests Organic production possible? Some Past Problems Japanese beetles Leaf rollers Zebra swallowtail butterfly-not necessarily a pest Talponia plummeriana - pawpaw peduncle borer

===== PAGE 14 ===== ## Pawpaw Regional Variety Trials (RVT) ===== PAGE 15 ===== ## Pawpaw Regional Variety Trial Cooperators and Cooperating Institutions Conceived by R. Neal Peterson (PawPaw Foundation) and Desmond Layne (then KSU) 12 Locations across the United States Contains 10 cultivars and 18 selections from R. Neal Peterson and PPF.

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State	Cooperator	Institution	Location
Indiana	Bruce Bordelon	Purdue University	West Lafayette
Iowa	Patrick O'Malley and Tom Wahl	Iowa State University	Crawfordsville, Iowa
Kentucky	Kirk Pomper	Kentucky State University	Frankfort, Ky.
Kentucky	Joseph Masabni	Univ. of Kentucky	Princeton, Ky.
Louisiana	Charlie Johnson	Louisiana State University	Baton Rouge, La.
Michigan	Dennis Fulbright	Michigan State University	Jackson, Mich.
Nebraska	Stan Matzke/Bill Gustafson	Univ. of Nebraska	Lincoln, Nebr.
New York	Ian Merwin	Cornell University	Ithaca, N.Y.
North Carolina	Mike Parker	N.C. State University	Raleigh, N.C.
Ohio	Brad Bergefurd	Ohio State University	Piketon, Ohio
Oregon	Kim Hummer	USDA-NCGR	Corvallis, Ore.
South Carolina	Greg Reighard	Clemson University	Clemson, S.C.

===== PAGE 17 ===== ## Some Desirable Pawpaw Tree characteristics Small tree size, easier harvest Precocious bearing, 4 years or less Vigorous growth with low to medium inputs Open branching with strong crotch angles High flower density High fruit set under natural pollination Consistently high fruit yields Cold hardiness and drought tolerance ===== PAGE 18 ===== ## Some Desirable Pawpaw Fruit Characteristics FRUITFULNESS over 40 fruit per tree FLAVOR sweet, firm texture, delicate blend of flavors, rich but not cloying, no bitter aftertaste FLESHINESS sweet, firm texture, delicate blend of flavors, rich but not cloying, no bitter aftertaste FLESHINESS visually: mostly flesh. by weight: less than 5% of the fruit is seed FRUIT SIZE over 10 ounces ## SEEDS over 45 seeds per oz., av. seeds as small as 3/4" (2 cm) long APPEARANCE bright clear colors, no brown mottling (ripe); even, symmetrical PECULIARITIES SKIN: waxy/ fuzzy/ thick and hard/ yellow/ bluish. FLESH (ripe): white/ pink/ red. SEEDS: in a single row. RIPENING TIME: early / late KEEPING ABILITY: 2+ in refriger. ===== PAGE 19 ===== ## Collections Neal Peterson and Dr. Harry Swartz began collecting pawpaw germplasm in 1981 They assembled a germplasm collection of about 1500 accessions Open pollinated seedlings from the historic collections of Buckman, Zimmerman, Hershey, Allard, the Blandy Experimental Farm, Ray Schlaanstine, and some modern cultivars

===== PAGE 20 ===== ## Objective To evaluate commercially available named pawpaw varieties and PPF's advanced selections in Kentucky ===== PAGE 21 ===== ## Materials and methods 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

===== PAGE 22 ===== ## 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, Kansas.
‘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 23 ===== ## 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 24 ===== ## Seedlings from Collections

Clone	Open-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 Rappahannock	BEF-30
9-47	BEF-49
9-58	BEF-50
10-35	BEF-49
11-5 Susquehanna	BEF-53
11-13	BEF-53

BEF = Blandy Experimental Farm Collection, Boyce Va. GAZ = George A. Zimmerman Collection., Linglestown, Pa. RS = Ray Schlaanstine Collection, West Chester, Pa. ===== PAGE 25 ===== Fruit Production on Mature Trees 2004-2006 in Frankfort

Clone	Average fruit weight (g)	Average number of fruit per tree
Potomac	235 a	44 ghi
5-5	188 b	39 hi
Wabash	185 b	65 fg
Susquehanna	184 b	39 i
NC-1	179 bc	44 ghi
Overleese	170 bcd	54 fghi
8-20	170 bcd	59 fghi
1-68	167 bcd	90 cde
2-10	160 cde	52 fghi
Shenandoah	156 def	78 def
Sunflower	155 def	74 def
9-58	146 efg	79 def
10-35	145 efg	[F2]

===== PAGE 26 ===== 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		96 bcd
Wilson		128 a
Middletown		74 def

===== PAGE 27 ===== What cultivars should I plant? ===== PAGE 28 ===== ## NC-1 Fruit weight: 167 g Number of fruit/tree: 36 Good flavor Available from many commercial nurseries

NC-1

===== PAGE 29 ===== ## Overleese Fruit weight: 157 g Number of fruit/tree: 40 Good flavor (melon) Available from many commercial nurseries

===== PAGE 30 ===== ## Sunflower Fruit weight: 165 g Number of fruit/tree: 63 Mild flavor Available from many commercial nurseries

Sunflower

===== PAGE 31 ===== ## Potomac Fruit weight: 244 g Number of fruit/tree: 31 Good flavor Fruit cracking? Peterson Pawpaws Limited availability

Potomac

===== PAGE 32 ===== ## Shenandoah Fruit weight: 157 g Number of fruit/tree: 61 Mild flavor Peterson Pawpaws

Limited availability ## Shenandoah ===== PAGE 33 ===== ## Susquehanna Fruit weight: 184 g Number of fruit/tree: 39 Good flavor Peterson Pawpaws Limited availability

Susquehanna

===== PAGE 34 ===== ## Wabash Fruit weight: 183 g Number of fruit/tree: 51 Dark flesh Cracking issues Peterson Pawpaws Limited availability

Wabash

===== PAGE 35 ===== ## Pawpaw RVT Overview There is great variation in fruit size, yield, and quality among the pawpaw selections examined About 4 to 5 years to come into production A number of pawpaw selections in the trial show promise for production in Kentucky [Potomac, Susquehanna, Wabash, Overleese, Shenandoah, NC-1, and Sunflower] can be recommended. ===== PAGE 36 ===== # http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/ Pawpaw Information Website Frankfort, Kentucky Pawpaw Links Personnel Contact Information Recent PowerPoint Presentations on pawpaw, gooseberries and currants, and blackberries NEW Register for the KSU/OPGA/PPF Pawpaw Workshop to be held on September 6, 2008 NEW 2008 Nursery List NEW 2008 Cultivar List NEW Updated Kentucky Nut Growers Association Website NEW Google™ Custom Search Search Site Pawpaw Bibliography and Search Tool NEW PawPaw Foundation KSU Reports and Publications NEW Ohio Pawpaw Growers Association 2008 Ohio Pawpaw Festival Website NEW Pawpaw FAQ

super. ## KSU Pawpaw Program The pawpaw (Asimina triloba) fruit has both fresh market and processing appeal, with a tropical like flavor that resembles a combination of banana, mango, and pineapple. Kentucky State University has the only full-time pawpaw research program in the world as part of the VSTU and Great Dمامه. ===== PAGE 37 =====

## Questions?