As early as 1917, Langworthy and Holmes pointed out that the pawpaw fruit was little known outside of regions where it is found in the wild (Fig. 1), but the nutritional value of the fruit and its distinctive flavor made it worthy of further study. Because they ripen quickly and bruise easily, pawpaws are difficult to transport to market in an undamaged, saleable form (Layne, 1996; Peterson, 1991). Figure 2 illustrates the changes in appearance in a ripe pawpaw fruit stored at room temperature over a 4-d period. While pawpaw enthusiasts may claim the taste improves as the discoloration expands, the shelf appeal of the Day-4 fruit in the eyes of the average shopper is questionable. However, there is commercial potential for pawpaw pulp, which can be extracted locally, stored and shipped frozen, then used as a flavoring in juices, ice cream, yogurt, baked goods, and other products. Such processed fruit products have a growing appeal to today's consumers. An important step in developing such products is to conduct taste tests to determine consumer acceptability (Jacobs, 1999; Pelletier, 2000). This taste test was conducted with a variety of food items in which pawpaw pulp was a key ingredient.

105 persons participating, 56.3% were males and 58.1% were between the ages of 41 to 60 years. Twenty-seven participants indicated they had never tasted pawpaw previously.

EVALUATION CRITERIA. Eight products were presented for evaluation: a grape/pawpaw juice drink (4 white grape juice: 1 pawpaw pulp, vol/vol), a pawpaw cake with lemon icing, pawpaw ice cream, pawpaw custard (two versions, one made with pulp from ripe, mild-flavored fruit and pulp from fruit varying from under-ripe to over-ripe or bruised from the KSU orchards), and pawpaw butter/preserves (plain pawpaw butter, butter with lemon and grape juice, and butter with orange and lemon). Recipes for the cake, ice cream, and custard were based on those reported in the KSU Pawpaw Research Project publication Cooking with Pawpaws (Jones and Layne, 1997). The pawpaw ice cream was made by Bray Orchards, Bedford, Ky. The pawpaw butter/preserves were produced by a local jam maker (Robert Osborne, Somerset, Ky.). All items were made from frozen pulp, with the exception of the pawpaw butter/preserves, which were made with fresh pawpaw pulp. Participants were asked to taste each item and rate it on a scale from 1 = liked it extremely to 7 = disliked it extremely. Tasters were asked to take a sip of tepid water to clear their palate between tasting the items. The data set of responses was analyzed using SPSS 10.0 (SPSS Science, Chicago) to compute frequencies of scores; an analysis of variance procedure was used to determine significant differences in mean ratings between various groups.

grape juice, and butter with orange and lemon). Recipes for the cake, ice cream, and custard were based on those reported in the KSU Pawpaw Research Project publication Cooking with Pawpaws (Jones and Layne, 1997). The pawpaw ice cream was made by Bray Orchards, Bedford, Ky. The pawpaw butter/preserves were produced by a local jam maker (Robert Osborne, Somerset, Ky.). All items were made from frozen pulp, with the exception of the pawpaw butter/preserves, which were made with fresh pawpaw pulp. Participants were asked to taste each item and rate it on a scale from 1 = liked it extremely to 7 = disliked it extremely. Tasters were asked to take a sip of tepid water to clear their palate between tasting the items. The data set of responses was analyzed using SPSS 10.0 (SPSS Science, Chicago) to compute frequencies of scores; an analysis of variance procedure was used to determine significant differences in mean ratings between various groups.

Table 1 shows pawpaw ice cream received the highest percent of “liked it extremely” ratings, followed by paw-paw cake with lemon icing. The custard prepared from ripe, mild-flavored fruit was more accepted than that prepared from fruits of mixed ripeness or bruised fruit. Of the three alternative recipes for pawpaw butter presented, the plain pawpaw butter was most liked,

SUBJECTS. Attendees of the 2nd Annual Pawpaw Field Day held in 1999 at the KSU Research and Demonstration Farm, Frankfort, Ky., were invited to taste eight pawpaw products. Of the 105 persons participating, 56.3% were males and 58.1% were between the ages of 41 to 60 years. Twenty-seven participants indicated they had never tasted pawpaw previously.