thanks to @tonyOmahaz5 for sharing some notes on pawpaw for my next planting.Think I’m settling going with Shenandoah.
But putting this out there as future reference for others and myself.
Ohio PawPaw festival Best PawPaw Contest (I would love to know the missing results for 2016 and 2015.
2018
First Place, Variety: Bennie’s Favorite (Homebreed), AJ Lehman
Second Place: Open pollinated Atwood, Mark Lehman
Third Place: Green Gem, Justin Woodruff
2017
First Place: Jerry’s Big Girl, Jerry Lehman, Terre Haute, IN
Second Place: Shenandoah, George Hale, Columbus, OH
Third Place: Berkeley, Joe Kostka, Natrona Heights, PA
2014
1st place: Deanna Powell, Variety: Lynn’s Favorite
2nd place: Barb Lehman , Variety: 275-48
3rd place: Mark Lehman , Variety: 250-30
2013
1st place: Jerry Lehman, variety 250-39
2nd place: Barbara Lehman, variety 250-48
3rd place: Maddy Singh, variety IXL
2012
1st: Jerry Lehman, variety: #cu 166-13|
2nd: Dick Glaser, variety: Overleese|
3rd: Dick Glaser, variety: Shenandoah|
2011
1st: Deanna Powell for Overleese
2nd: Charles Colgate for NCI Harvest Gold Butter Sweet
3rd: Dick Glaser for Shawnee Trail
2010
1st: Sunflower, Charles Colgate
2nd: Scooby, Andy Campbell
3rd: Marina, Kelly Bock
Brix References:
Hi 4-1 is KSU Chappelle and Hi 7-5 is KSU Benson according to an FB post. Not sure what hi1-4 or 7-1 are. Article
Only nonKSU reference point: Sunflower - (8.58 seed percentage (highest)
KSU Chappelle - Brix 25.64 (highest), 4.39 Seed percentage,
KSU Bensen - Brix 19.67 (lowest)
separate article with atwood
Jay Little’s Excel Spreadsheet on Paw Paw varieties.
FB post on PawPaw fanclub on tasting notes by Tony Levri. Preserving for future reference
As someone who greatly appreciates detailed flavor profiles of different varieties of fruits, I’ll leave my opinions here of the named varieties I’ve tried.
I went to a pawpaw festival in York, PA last year and got to try some named varieties for the first time. Had some named varieties at the Ohio festival a few years ago but they weren’t labeled so I didn’t know what they were. I’ve also tasted a lot of local wild pawpaws over the past 3 years.
I typically taste 3 main flavors in a pawpaw: banana, melon/cantaloupe, and a tropical fruity flavor that reminds me of tutti-frutti or bubblegum. (I’ll just call this flavor: fruity) Some seem to call that flavor mango but I never really taste mango. Most wild pawpaws I’ve tasted in western PA are a combination of banana and cantaloupe flavors with a small amount of fruity flavor.
I took notes on the varieties I tried from the York festival and here is what I wrote:
Shenandoah - creamy texture, mildly flavored though still very good, not too much banana flavor, banana & fruity flavors are subtle, no melon flavor, has a vanilla flavor to it that makes it taste a lot like vanilla pudding
NC-1 - banana/cantaloupe, flavorful, tastes like most wild pawpaws though a good version of those, not much fruity flavor, a lot of banana flavor, fairly strongly flavored overall
Susquehanna - very sweet, firmer, smooth texture with light orange color, a lot of fruity flavor, a bit of cantaloupe flavor, hardly any banana flavor
PA-Golden - tastes similar to most wild pawpaws (banana/melon), has noticeable bitterness to pulp, especially near the seeds, not as good as the better wild ones I’ve tasted
Allegheny - difficult to pin down in terms of flavor. Came to the conclusion that it has a very well balanced mix of all 3 flavors (cantaloupe/banana/fruity). Hard to taste any 1 flavor distinctly. Some bites did have a stronger cantaloupe flavor to them
Looking back at this, my conclusions are that:
Shenandoah is more uniquely flavored than most, more mild than most, easy to eat, and generally pleasing.
NC-1 is a typically flavored pawpaw that is good for those who like the ones that are more strongly banana flavored.
Susquehanna is a good for those who like a sweeter, richer, and more tropical flavored pawpaw.
PA-Golden isn’t one that I would recommend for flavor due to it’s bitterness and NC-1 tasting like a better version of it’s flavor profile.
Allegheny has a well-balanced flavor profile. I wish more wild ones tasted like this, since the banana flavors tend to dominate, but with Allegheny the melon and fruity flavors shine through better.
I didn’t pay particular attention to textures with these fruits, mostly noting that Shenandoah was softer and creamy, Susquehanna was firmer, and the others were somewhere in between. I know that the Mango variety is known to have a softer, pudding-like texture. One of my favorite wild trees has fruits on the extreme softer end that have a texture like wet pudding or (for a better descriptor) a very soft, juicy, non-fibrous mango.