Pawpaw fruit ripe for eating.
Asimina triloba
EDIBLE fruit
Pawpaw is known as the Midwest’s false banana. Not only is this fruit similar to the banana in both texture and flavor, but it is also nutrient dense. Pawpaws freeze well, making them a worthy prize for the forager to seek out and preserve for the winter.
The tree has thin brown bark and grows to heights of 30 to 40 feet. Its leaves are 10 to 12 inches long, toothless, broad, oblong, and arranged alternately along the branches. When bruised, the leaf smells like used motor oil. It’s frequently found alongside spicebush.
Pawpaw has two to eight maroon flowers in late spring. Their odor and color resemble rotten meat, which attracts pollinating flies. The fruit, hidden under the leaves, is pale green like the undersides of the leaves, smooth skinned and hard. They have the skin color and hardness of a pear, but the size and shape of a short but thick cucumber. They soften and become fragrant when they are ripe.
Pawpaw fruit ripe for eating.
The skin may become discolored with gray to black patches, but unlike with bananas, the discoloration does not necessarily indicate ripeness. Each fruit has a few 1- to 2-inch seeds. The flesh of the fruit starts out white, then it yellows when ripe and ready to eat.
Pawpaw is found along stream banks and openings in the forests and in the understory of mixed hardwood forests in the central and southern areas of the Midwest. The fruit is normally ready to harvest in late September into October, depending on the season’s weather. Wait to select pawpaw fruit that is no longer green, but more yellow and significantly soft to the touch.
Pawpaws can be green and still be ripe. The key is in the softness of the flesh—it should feel soft to the touch and will range in color from creamy white to yellow. The wind-fallen fruits are good bets, but as the fruit is perishable, you’ll have to time your harvest with a fall wind or storm that helps shake the fruit off the tree.
The fruit ripens quickly once off the tree and on your kitchen counter, in only a few days (think browning banana). It will need to be stored or processed for later use. If the fruit is not prepared to be eaten fresh right away, wrap it in a cloth or paper bag, and it will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator, or the pulp can be scooped from the flesh (removing seeds) and frozen for later use in baking and smoothies.
The fruit can be eaten fresh or used frozen. As a fresh fruit, pawpaws can be peeled and sliced (remove seeds first) and served on a cheese plate with raw honey and locally harvested nuts. It pairs well with mints, cinnamon, and coconut flavors, and makes a nice addition to a fresh fruit salad.
The fruit pulp of the pawpaw can be mashed and cooked into tapioca or rice puddings. The fresh or frozen fruit pulp can be tossed into smoothies or used in baking for recipes that call for bananas like banana bread. The fruit pulp can also be churned into a delicious and rich ice cream.
Pawpaws are high in vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, and fatty acids. Pawpaws also contain potassium, calcium, amino acids, and antioxidants.
You can help grow an abundance of pawpaw by working with local growers of the domestic plant (who will be familiar with the genetic breeding needs of the pawpaw) to add it into landscaping of local parks. For the permaculturist, the pawpaw is an excellent addition to a woodland garden and wild wood spaces.
