When people think of exotic fruits, their minds generally run to items brought from far-off, chiefly tropical destinations, such as papayas and mangos, which are now very much part of the produce mainstream but not so long ago were specialty items.
But one of the most tempting of rare fruits is not exotic at all: the pawpaw. Unlike many much more familiar crops (such as apples and oranges), it is native to the eastern United States and Canada. Pawpaws are sold commercially, but they’re not easy to find: the author of a recent article in The Atlantic tried to buy some at a Brooklyn farmer’s market, but she arrived too late, and they were already gone.
I have never had a pawpaw myself. The Atlantic writer describes it as having “a scent like banana bread and a pleasant, persimmon-like sweetness.” One research paper from Kentucky State University (a leading center of pawpaw research) says, “The ripe fruit has a strong, appealing aroma and an orange to yellow pulp with a flavor that is similar to a blend of mango, pineapple, and banana.”
The pawpaw belongs to a family known as custard apples, the best known type of which is the cherimoya, which is indigenous to Peru but which has spread to many other regions and is available on a limited basis in the U.S. today. When I was in India in 1985, these “custard apples” were widely available, delicious, and cheap—1 rupee (about 8 cents) each.
A hundred years ago, the pawpaw was viewed as the American fruit having the greatest promise for commercial development, although this never materialized—probably the result of the fruit’s often unappealing external appearance and its social stigmatization (it was sometimes called the “hillbilly apple”).
At this point, the main obstacle to popularization of the pawpaw has nothing to do with its appearance or its social connotations. It is the fact that the fruit ripens even after it is picked, giving it a brief shelf life.
The Kentucky State paper notes, “Fruit ripen on the same tree over about a 2 week period, which reflects an extended spring flowering period. Pawpaw fruit are ripe when they begin to soften and can be gently pulled off a tree in a manner similar to ripe peaches. Fruit have a 5-7 day shelf life at room temperature; however, fruit can be stored under refrigeration for up to 3 weeks to maintain a good eating quality.”
Once ripening starts, there is presently no way to arrest it. Methods that retard the formation of ethylene gas (which promotes ripening) work for some fruits but not for the pawpaw.
Today interest in the fruit is resurging, fueled by the popularity of “local foods,” especially those that have been foraged in the wild—as pawpaws mostly still are.
The pawpaw “is in the early stages of commercial production,” notes the Kentucky State paper. “Many people are interested in growing and marketing pawpaws organically.” Some even claim that the fruit has cancer-fighting properties. https://www.pawpawresearch.com/
Research is proceeding, particularly at Kentucky State, which has “the only full-time Pawpaw research program in the world.”
The pawpaw faces a long road: research and development (including development of new varieties); widespread commercial plantings; and the usual educational and promotional outlets to make the typical consumer aware of the fruit. We can imagine the usual train of events: initial adoption by foodies and devotees of local produce (which is already happening), finally branching out into the world of mainstream taste.
But this has been done more than once, and there is no reason to think that the pawpaw must be an exception. In fifteen years, we may see widespread acceptance of the fruit—and big rewards for the growers and shippers who are the first to bring it to market.
