Freeze Drying Pawpaws

Has anyone done it with positive digestive processing?

I know (and assume anyone else reading this knows) NOT TO dehydrate pawpaw pulp.

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Red fern did a batch last year…my friend ate some(they did not sell it but they gave it to him because he asked). He didnt feel too good afterwards.

Before that incident I had heard some folks had luck freeze drying.

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What’s wrong with dehydrating the pawpaw pulp? Does it make some of the chemicals/enzymes in it people can have issues with more concentrated? Or does it cause some type of chemical change?

Or does it fall into the … not sure what it does make it makes you feel terrible?

I don’t think anyone has scientifically researched what’s going on.

Most assume it has to do with concentrating the offending compounds.

Even baking with it, like in bread, can have a similar effect as I learned/confirmed last year.

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Interesting, I didn’t know they was an adverse effect to drying/baking pawpaws. I just thought no ome did it because they didn’t taste good like that.
Can you cook them at all, or are they strictly raw fruit consumption?

Weird about the baking part. As pawpaw bread around here Is a thing (replace bananas with pawpaw in recipes)

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A quick search of the forum or anywhere else will show that pawpaw fruit leather is a bad idea. I was hoping this topic might yield an effective method for preservation.

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What about pawpaw jelly or preserves?

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These are common value added products made with pawpaw and I’ve not heard of or personally experienced gastric distress from these.

However as @EJh mentioned, pawpaw bread is very commonly mentioned, second only to ice cream, yet it can cause issues. I made a couple loaves in banana bread style and a family member had to stop eating it. I was mostly ok, maybe some very very mild nausea.
I recall one forum member telling of pawpaw cookies he proudly took to work and made the whole office sick.

It’s unpredictable in the sense that the exact fruits used could be a factor, along with human genetics and then preparation details such as oven temp, etc.

I also wish we could find a way to dehydrate pawpaw because I love dried fruit (and to a lesser degree freeze dried) and the shelf life is short.

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I have frozen pawpaw fruit whole, with the skin on, and suffered no ill effects from the thawed fruit 6 or 8 months later. The flavor and color of the fruit is well preserved. The texture after thawing is mush, but that doesn’t bother me because I’m either using them in smoothies or my favorite way, mixing with unsweetened Greek yogurt. The intense sweetness of the paw paw goes very well with the tanginess of unsweetened yogurt.

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Am not an expert but in whatever reading I’ve done the only thing I’ve come across is just straight freezing the pulp, preservation-wise.

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I’ve seen it mentioned but I’m wary of high temperatures. I’d be interested in others experience with preserves.

I’ll never live down the Poison Pawpaw Cookie Incident at the lab…

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Indeed! You’re who I had in mind!! :sweat_smile::sweat_smile:

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There was a website by an orchard or breeder (I think its layout was very red?) that sold scionwood that seemed to have suspended selling freeze dried pawpaw. Presumably because of gastrointestinal distress.

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Probably Red Fern as treefrogtim mentioned above.

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I freeze dried some paw paw this year and used @Franp as my guinea pig. We can confirm it makes you nauseous and causes GI distress.


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Can you make pawpaw hot sauce? Or would the simmering of the pawpaw cause the GI distress?

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Poor @Franp. Awesome that you have a freeze drier, though :+1: I imagine that it works great for stone fruit. I’ve purchased bulk bags of freeze dried tart cherries before and love them. I’m always tempted to buy a home freeze drier. Do you recommend it?

Sorry, but that just doesn’t sound better. Now you have me thinking of the pawpaw’s GI issues also coming out flamin’ hot.