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Research is underway into an unusual native Missouri fruit. KSMU's Michele Skalicky has more...

Tucked away at the edges of streams and in shady areas are native Missouri trees known as pawpaws. And in late summer to early fall those trees produce a fruit of the same name.
We’re just at the end of pawpaw season, so unless you can find someone with a few of the fruits in their refrigerator, you may have to wait until next year to try them. The season for the wild Missouri fruit—the largest fruit native to North America--is August thru October.
They’re hard to come by unless you have a pawpaw tree on your property. The fruit is very perishable and is easily torn up in shipping, so it’s rare to find it even at a farmer’s market.
Andrew Thomas, a horticulture research associate with the University of Missouri, is conducting experiments on the trees at the Southwest Research Center near Mt. Vernon. And for those of you who have never tried a pawpaw, he describes how they taste…

"Paw Paws have a very unusual taste, and people describe it anywhere between mango and banana, pineapple, canteloupe.  It's very unusual.  You really need to try it."

Thomas still had a few of the fruits left in various sizes in two paper bags in the center’s refrigerator. And when he offered a bite…curiosity won out…

These pawpaws are a step up from those found in the wild. Native fruits have lots of seeds, while these, which came from grafted trees, have very few.
Thomas’s research is aimed at determining whether pawpaws can be profitably produced and processed. There are 8 main varieties at the Southwest Center, and he says some of them are named after Eastern rivers…

"We have Susquehanna, Shenendoah, Potomac, Rappahannock."

Researchers are studying things like fruit production, percentage of seeds and which insects bother the trees.
The trees near Mt. Vernon have been growing for about five years, and Thomas says this was the biggest production year yet…

"Many trees had probably 20 to 30 fruits on them, and these are large fruits."

The trees themselves are rather small, but Thomas says 40 pounds of fruit per tree can be harvested when they’re in full production.
He says if pawpaws ever were brought to market, it would have to be in pulp form—both canned and frozen. He says they make excellent pies, ice cream and smoothies.
A major hurdle that would have to be overcome, he says, is people’s reluctance to try something new…

"Even the guys at work here--I'll say, 'here you go.  Here's some fresh paw paw,' and people are very reluctant.  My kids won't get near them, but once you taste it, and especially a really good one, they're delicious."

Thomas’s interest in paw paws goes back to his childhood when he’d visit his grandparents in Southwest Missouri…

"My grandmother was the one that kind of got me interested years ago, but very often she'd go down to look and there weren't any fruit, so this is kind of fun to be growing them and hopefully have good production."

But even if you’re not interested in the fruit that paw paw trees produce, Thomas points out that they’re beautiful trees, and you might consider planting them in your yard…

"To me, they're almost tropical looking.  They're a very nice landscape tree, and another benefit is that they are a host to the zebra swallowtail butterfly."

They can grow in sun or shade and can be a little bit difficult to establish, but once they’ve been established, Thomas says, they’re tough trees.
He says he gets lots of phone calls and e-mails from people interested in obtaining grafting wood so they can propagate their own, so he knows the interest is there.
And he says this is the first year a nursery in Missouri is grafting and producing paw paw trees.

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