I think the second generation cultivars (wild selection x wild selection) are better than the wild selections though (first gen). As we hit newer generation releases (I consider KSU to be 3rd gen), I’m thinking it’s probably harder and harder to find what is better.
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Makes sense to me!
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@JustPeachy @TrilobaTracker @IL847 @TJ_westPA and others, I have been trying hard to find the thing I’ve consumed previously in my life that is most similar to pawpaw taste and I THINK I just had an epiphany. Have any of you heard of Tampico juice? Growing up I believe we bought some on trips out to Phoenix when we were visiting relatives. I am pretty sure they make a couple different flavors but one of them is almost like a knock off of “Sunny Delight” drink. I cannot remember which version of the Tampico juice reminds me of pawpaw flavor, but the residual smell on my fingers after processing a few tonight brought back the memories of the juice. Off to find it at a store somewhere to pinpoint it I guess…
Edit: definitely adding @Barkslip to the list for an opinion if you’ve had it before.
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Hmm! I think I’ve seen it (maybe?) but have never had it. Will have to look for it!
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http://www.tampico.com/products
I want to say it was the Island Punch, Mango Punch, or Tropical punch I’m thinking of, but it was a long time ago and they might not even make the one I’m thinking of anymore. I’ll report back if I find it.
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I know of the drink which you speak of… I had it years ago, and was never a bit fan. 
I’m guessing you are thinking of either Mango Punch or Pineapple Coconut Punch. I could understand why you’d go there, but still not on the dot for me.
I even get it when people talk about White Sapote (@mamuang), Cherimoya (@tonyOmahaz5), but it’s still has a flavor and aroma of its own. I still wouldn’t use those fruits to describe a pawpaw. It’s much more like a very concentrated banana to me. (I’m pretty sure it has loads of Isobutyl acetate similar to a banana.) Crossed with a myriad of other compounds Annona fruit combined with a very yeasty note.
To me, it’s more banana mango pineapple with perhaps a very strong nutritional yeast like undertone and some background astringency. I get different impressions from different cultivars though. Like Shenandoah to me is more banana than anything else. Maybe a bit of mango. When I talk about the more “heavy flavored” cultivars like Susquehanna, it’s more tropical flavors like pineapple maybe stronger mango undercurrents.
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According to the interwebs, Citrus Punch was the original flavor…
Though I agree that the Mango version nominally sounds more like how pawpaw taste is described.
@JustPeachy if Shenandoah tastes like white sapote, I would be a huge fan. Love white sapote. (I adore Cherimoya too, of course. while I have detected some slight cherimoya flavors in my Lehman’s Chiffon pawpaw I would say they are very different fruits.)
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It’s not an easy to describe fruit, yet something about it makes you think of so many other familiar fruits.
If you were to taste it blind, in my mind, there’s no way to not mistake for something from the Annona family, though.
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Maria’s Joy all fell off today.
This is another one of my last year grafts ----> this year fruiting pawpaws.
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Public Service Announcement from someone known to some of us… I don’t have a dog in the fight… I only eat one a year, if that many. I’m not saying they are or are not good - and I’m not gonna argue the case one way or another.
1.) DO NOT CONSUME DRIED PAWPAWS- this will result in terrible gastrointestinal distress (OK, this one, I’ll testify to!)
2.) Moderate your intake of pawpaws. They might seem like the greatest fruit, but they are also a powerful medicinal containing neurotoxins.
From a 2020 paper titled “Annonacin and Squamocin Contents of Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) and Marolo (Annona crassiflora) Fruits and Atemoya (A. squamosa × A. cherimola) Seeds.”
“In conclusion, analysis of 18 more samples of lyophilized
pawpaw fruits showed that this fruit has much more
annonacin than the first sample that was analyzed previously.
Moreover, the total of annonacin and squamocin was higher in
the pawpaw than in any of the other fruits analyzed so far. This
includes marolo fruits, which had never been analyzed before.
Still, it may be possible to grow specific cultivars of pawpaw
trees that produce fruits with lower levels of neurotoxins.”
(See assayed levels of annonacin and squamocin in pulp from named pawpaw selections in table below)
These compounds have been incriminated as possibly contributing to development of atypical Parkinson’s-like symptoms.
Also, this:
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Let me know your opinion on this one. Have only tasted once.
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Good advice! I’ve seen that chart before, and one of the things that intrigues me is the variation within varieties where more than one fruit was sampled. In the paper, do you know if all fruits sampled were at the same level of ripening? I don’t know how expensive/difficult it is to test the levels, but it would be interesting and valuable to test 1. more varieties, 2. multiple samples of each variety (get median values and sense of range), and 3. some sense of how that varies across ripening, thinning, shade, etc., within a given variety. I know #3 is a BIG ask probably spanning multiple PhD theses, but that could really help a lot with evaluating and managing risk.
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@scottfsmith @SMC_zone6 I still rather have more peaches…
Box 15+ now… I’m running out of guine… I mean adventurous friends.
The biggest one went to Ken. I’ll taste mine separately tonight. I’ll let you know as soon as I crack them open.
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That second piece is interesting- it has the look and feel of a full-fledged study but then I realized it’s talking about a single person. Not much can be deduced from that. But interesting read nonetheless.
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A sample size of one, although potentially telling, is simply not a reasonable scientific analysis and goes against the principles of the scientific method. Now if we begin to increase that sample size and figure out that issues are causing people to develop symptoms more regularly, then I’d be interested in reading. However, 13.6kg is about 30 lb of fruit yearly. There aren’t many people eating that much pawpaw themselves, and for me personally, I’ll be spreading it out by freezing pulp.
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Well, I continue tasting more paw paw today. One was very ripe West. This time West tasted very good. I think the one before just not ripe enough to allow its flavor and sweetness to develop. Ialso tasted a very ripe, medium size Mango and Shenandoah. Both have good flavor and very sweet but Shenandoah has a better texture. So far, I like Shenandoah better. I also had a really round shape paw paw called Corner, about ping-pong ball size . It has interesting, a little wild flavor, not bad for someone wants stronger flavored fruits.
I haven’t heard of West or Corner.Where are your Pawpaws coming from?
You can ask justpeachy
Yeah, that and more was all hashed out before on another thread. But the dried fruit one is an especially good reminder.
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The West pawpaw tasted like Cherimoya flavor so I told @JustPeachy I name it Cherimowest. Lol. So that is the new name now.
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