Paw Paws

[pneu-engine]

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Kentucky State University
Cooperative Extension Program
Pawpaw Research Program
Community Research Service
Atwood Research Facility
Frankfort, KY 40601-2355 USDA National Clonal
Germplasm Repository for Asimina spp.
Cooking with Pawpaws



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by Snake C. Jones, Research Assistant, and Dr. Desmond R. Layne, Principal Investigator of Horticulture and Germplasm Repository Curator
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Recipes
Pies
Custards
Cookies
Cakes and quick breads
Miscellaneous recipes
Recipe contributors Table 1, available cultivars
Table 2, nutritional content
Table 3, nutritional daily needs
Bibliography
Other available publications


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The pawpaw is the largest edible fruit that is native to the United States. Pawpaws are indigenous to 26 states in the U.S., in a range extending from northern Florida to southern Ontario and as far west as eastern Nebraska. They have provided delicious and nutritious food for Native Americans, European explorers and settlers, and wild animals. They are still being enjoyed in modern America, chiefly in rural areas. There are 27 varieties (Table 1) currently available from more than 50 commercial nurseries in the U.S.

Most enthusiasts agree that the best way to enjoy pawpaws is to eat them raw, outdoors, picked from the tree when they are perfectly ripe. But there are also numerous ways to use them in the kitchen and extend the enjoyment of their tropical flavor beyond the end of the harvest season.

The unique flavor of the fruit resembles a blend of various tropical flavors, including banana, pineapple, and mango. The flavor and custard-like texture make pawpaws a good substitute for bananas in almost any recipe. The common names, 'poor man's banana,' 'American custard apple,' and 'Kentucky banana' reflect these qualities.

Pawpaw's beautiful, maroon colored flowers appear in the spring, and the clusters of fruit ripen in the fall. The Kentucky harvest season is from late August to mid-October. Ripe pawpaw fruits are easily picked, yielding to a gentle tug. Shaking the tree will make them fall off. (If you try this, don't stand under the fruit clusters, and don't say we didn't warn you.) Ripeness can also be gauged by squeezing gently, as you would judge a peach. The flesh should be soft, and the fruit should have a strong, pleasant aroma. The skin color of ripe fruit on the tree ranges from green to yellow, and dark flecks may appear, as on bananas. The skin of picked or fallen fruit may darken to brown or black.

Fully ripe pawpaws last only a few days at room temperature, but may be kept for a week in the refrigerator. If fruit is refrigerated before it is fully ripe, it can be kept for up to three weeks, and can then be allowed to finish ripening at room temperature. Ripe pawpaw flesh, with skin and seeds removed, can be pureed and frozen for later use. Some people even freeze whole fruits.

Pawpaws are very nutritious fruits. They are high in vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper, and manganese. They are a good source of potassium and several essential amino acids, and they also contain significant amounts of riboflavin, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc. Pawpaws contain these nutrients in amounts that are generally about the same as or greater than those found in bananas, apples, or oranges.

Composition

In comparison with banana, apple, and orange, pawpaws have a higher protein and fat content. Banana exceeds pawpaw in food energy and carbohydrate content. There is little difference among these fruits in dietary fiber content. Pawpaw is most similar to banana in overall composition. Apple is especially low in protein, orange is low in fat, and both are lower than pawpaw or banana in food energy. See Table 2 and Table 3 for details.

Vitamins

Pawpaw has three times as much vitamin C as apple, twice as much as banana, and one third as much as orange. Pawpaw has six times as much riboflavin as apple, and twice as much as orange. Niacin content of pawpaw is twice as high as banana, fourteen times as high as apple, and four times as high as orange. See Table 2 and Table 3 for details.

Minerals

Pawpaw and banana are both high in potassium, having about twice as much as orange and three times as much as apple. Pawpaw has one and a half times as much calcium as orange, and about ten times as much as banana or apple. Pawpaw has two to seven times as much phosphorus, four to twenty times as much magnesium, twenty to seventy times as much iron, five to twenty times as much zinc, five to twelve times as much copper, and sixteen to one hundred times as much manganese, as do banana, apple, or orange. See Table 2 and Table 3 for details. Sodium content has not yet been determined.

Amino acids

The protein in pawpaw contains all of the essential amino acids. Pawpaw exceeds apple in all of the essential amino acids, and it exceeds or equals banana and orange in most of them. See Table 2 and Table 3 for details.

Fats

The profile of fatty acids in pawpaw is preferable to that in banana. Pawpaw has 32% saturated, 40% monounsaturated, and 28% polyunsaturated fatty acids. Banana has 52% saturated, 15% monounsaturated, and 34% polyunsaturated fatty acids.


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FEEDBACK REQUEST

Several contributors have sent us recipes for cooking with pawpaws. We are grateful for their generosity in sharing the recipes with us. All recipes have been subjected to minor editing. Please send comments on your successes or failures with these recipes, or any new pawpaw recipes, to Snake Jones at Kentucky State University, 129 Atwood Research, Frankfort, KY 40601-2355; or send e-mail to sjones@gwmail.kysu.edu.


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NOTE: Pawpaw pulp can be fermented for production of beer, wine, and brandy. We have no recipes for alcoholic beverages yet. If you have one you are proud of, and if you are willing to share it, please send us a copy. We receive numerous requests for these types of recipes.


Ripe pawpaw fruit cut crosswise Ripe pawpaw fruit cut lengthwise


PAWPAW RECIPES

PIES

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Pawpaw Pie a
1 c. sugar
1 c. milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. pawpaw pulp (peeled and seeded)
Place all ingredients into stew pan and stir together. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake until the crust is done.

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Pawpaw Pie b
3/4 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. flour or cornstarch
2 eggs (reserve whites for meringue)
2 c. milk
1 c. pawpaw pulp
Combine sugar and flour. Add egg yolks and milk. When well mixed add pawpaw pulp. Cook until thick and pour into baked pie crust. Cover with meringue and brown in moderate oven.

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Pawpaw Cream Pie i
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. flour or 1/4 c. cornstarch
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 c. milk
1 c. light cream
1 c. pureed pawpaw pulp
3 egg whites
3 Tbsp. sugar
pinch of salt
1 baked 9-inch pastry shell
Combine sugar and flour or cornstarch. Add the beaten egg yolks, milk, and cream. Mix well and add pawpaw pulp. Cook and stir constantly over low heat until thickened. Cool.
Make a meringue by beating the egg whites stiff with 3 Tbsp. sugar and a pinch of salt. Pour custard into a baked pastry shell and cover with meringue. Bake in a moderate oven (350

[Chelle]

Wow! I'd never even heard of them until you mentioned them in your OP, P-E. :lol:

[pneu-engine]

Wow! I'd never even heard of them until you mentioned them in your OP' date=' P-E. [/quote']

They are really good and tasty. I planted two trees this year as 12" whips. It'll be a few years before they bear, but I figure 3-4 years will come and go no matter I do. :lol So, I'll get them growing good and concentrate my time on other fun things. Then in seemingly no time at all 3-4 years will come and go and, Voila, fruit from my own Paw Paw trees. :clap:

[5dumplings@home]

ewwww, yucky pawpaws!

But I will eat persimmons.

[pneu-engine]

ewwww, yucky pawpaws!

But I will eat persimmons.

HMMMMMMMM, right away now I need to know what it is that you don't like about them. :puzzled:

I like persimmons too. After the frost they are soooooooo goooooood. :hungry:

[5dumplings@home]

they are like way over-ripe bananas. smushy and mushy and they don't have any flavor for all that mush.

[pneu-engine]

they are like way over-ripe bananas. smushy and mushy and they don't have any flavor for all that mush.

AAAAAAHHHHHHHH, I see. :-S

Hmmmmmmmm, now I wonder if I should even permit the ground to be burdened by them. HMMMMMMMM, I guess I'll wait and see. Who knows, maybe somebody will like them. :lol

[pneu-engine]

Since their taste is similar to bananas, I think we'll like them alot. :Green

[pneu-engine]

they are like way over-ripe bananas. smushy and mushy and they don't have any flavor for all that mush.

I guess we'll eat them with a spoon then. :lol

[5dumplings@home]

I guess we'll eat them with a spoon then. :lol

LOL, you have certainly decided to make the best of it.

Who knows, you may actually **shudder** like them!

[IM4given]

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE PAW PAWS - I have never been able to make it all the way home with them to try any of the recipes though! Sort of like trying to get out of the berry patch without eating all the berries up - purt nigh impossible! :hungry:

[LAF]

I have never heard of them ,but if they are like banana's I bet I am allergic to them .

[pneu-engine]

I have never heard of them ' date='but if they are like banana's I bet I am allergic to them .[/quote']

Nah, :lol. You would be allergic b/c they are not the same make-up as bananas. All the benefit, but without any of the negatives. :thumb

[pneu-engine]

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE PAW PAWS - I have never been able to make it all the way home with them to try any of the recipes though! Sort of like trying to get out of the berry patch without eating all the berries up - purt nigh impossible!

I'm very happy to hear that, IM4G. :thumb :Green

A good friend gave me some seeds but I am not nearly patient enough to wait long enough to grow my own from seeds, so I bought small trees instead. :lol