Year to year growing conditions definitely affect taste. Age not really, not unless the tree is so young (or so old) that it’s stressed to the point it’s dropping fruit early.
LOL. 
That would greatly depend upon a lot of different factors!
If surface nutrients are out of balance, deep roots ensure nutrient diversity.
Also a bigger root system facilitates dry farming & dry farming increases quality in most species.
I doubt that age of epigenetic DNA would improve quality, more likely to reduce it.
There is a theory that very old grapevines produce the best grapes.
A young California viticulturalist who disagreed, bought land & planted a vineyard simply by putting a can in the dirt every foot.
Standard is 8ft.
He made his rows 30" apart rather than 12ft.
He used a ground cover crop.
Allowed sheep to eat the grass & poop.
He grew his grapevines as single vertical canes with only 2 to 4 bunches.
He cuts everything to 6" above ground level each year.
His wines are in the top 1% for quality.
His theory is young plants have less disease & are more symbiotic.
And symbiosis delivers the best quality.
My option is that disease like fungi & the Copper enzyme PolyPhenol Oxidase are contributing to the off test of the over ripe Shenandoah, not its wild genetics.
Off flavors from wild DNA tend to reduce during ripening.
PolyPhenol Oxidase break down the aromatic molecules in pawpaw during ripening at the same time that Ethylene hormone is increasing them.
Part of why I have mixed feelings about KSU recommendation of copper spray.
Yes, dehydrated pawpaw for everyone.
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I agree. To my tastes, pawpaws start becoming bitter once they turn brown. Not super pleasant.
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@hambone ,
There are multiple reasons why pawpaw change color as they ripen.
- Normal ripening color change – GOOD
- Bruising from squeezing — BAD
- PolyPhenol Oxidase — VERY BAD
#1 is ethylene ripening hormones using CO2 to turn starch into sugar & create aromatic compounds.
#3 is an enzyme which destroys flavors by oxidizing them where the fruit has been structurally damaged.
This enzyme makes the fruit brown.
Storing the fruit in a dark place like brown paper bag with extra CO2 will accelerate #1 & inhibit #3.
CO2 can be manufactured with pre-chilled vinegar & pre-chilled baking soda.
1oz vinegar in a quart jar with (1/2) teaspoon baking soda added with fruit & jar in paper bag before adding.
The cold CO2 will fill the bag from bottom up displacing the Oxygen.
Close the bag & wait a week.
Should be less brown & even more flavorful.
Questions?
I have one in the 'fridge I picked August 19th…about 3 days before I normally would have picked it. Looks ready to eat, but I’ve had jujubes and goji berries, so not in the mood for a pawpaw. I may eat my last red fleshed apple afterwhile instead.
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I’ve only tasted a seedling pawpaw with no pollenizer present, so far. I’m hoping next year to get multiple varieties fruiting.
My seedling had nice “tropical” flavor and aroma, maybe sorta like mango taste with pineapple aroma. It was really good but not very sweet. When allowed to really ripen to brown it did take on bitter, smoky flavors, but I found that really enjoyable as well. Like coffee or something. The “coffee-ness” made the lack of sweetness a bit more familiar to me perhaps.
Hello. This is Taisa. I was lookingbto buy some paw paw and mulberry. Do u carry Susquehanna that i could buy? Also how do i check what you sell?
Thankyou.
@Flower
Hi Taisa, for Susquehanna you would need to purchase that one from a nursery. That one is patented and trademarked.
I usually sell stuff locally so i really wont be of much help unless your near me. For pawpaws i have a few small “Mango” pawpaws in 4x14 tree pots.
Edit: sending pm to keep thread on topic
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maybe I could stop by and buy one from you. So how tall is the mango and how much do you want for it. Is so mango is grafted? If I could get your address to see if I’ll be nearby also do u sell mulberry?
thank you
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I’ll be grafting several next spring, and more the year after that. For the best results you need a long growing season with July temperatures commonly getting into the 90s. I’m in NW NC. We are too cool at our elevation and the fruit does not get fully ripe, but the grafted seedlings are very healthy. I will be selling at the NC Pawpaw Festival next year if you can make it to Winston-Salem.
Tropical Treat is fully ripe when you get a color-break like a ripe-pear (see fruit on the right). We don’t get the color break at our elevation. - Woody Walker
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People don’t agree about when avocado or bananas are ripe either.
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When does Tropical Treat ripen relative to the earliest of Petersons, Allegheny and Shenandoah.
I see one site says mid-August in Kentucky. Is that early?
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On avocadoes and bananas, I have an ancient tablet that says you’re evil if you eat them mushy brown.
TT is early, but after Shenandoah.
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About the only fruits I prefer dangerously ripe are figs.
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Only one like is black sapote. I dont even like astringent persimmon.
I like jellied texture astringent persimmon, but not sloppy wet stringy water ripe ones.
Best is treated astringent still firm. They are sweeter and more flavorful than non-astringent.
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Unfortunately NC is not near me, but I will most definitely purchase one from you if you would consider shipping it.
I am interested in planting 2 patches (one at my house and one at a relatives).
I would like each patch of trees to cover a full range of flavors/intensities and with a little bit of texture diversity. (productivity, fruit size, growth vigor, etc, are not relevant…I am going for flavor range only). For example, I do not want to plant Chappell and Shenandoah in the same patch if they taste similar. I have read that KSU Chappell taste just like Shenandoah, and elsewhere that it is similar in taste to Susquehanna. I would not think both are true. I have only eaten wild pawpaws.
Is there any info on which of the following would be in a similar taste range, or a flavor intensity scale, so I can plant 2 patches and each have a very diverse flavor range.
KSU Atwood
KSU Chappell
Shenandoah
Susquehanna
Potomac
Wabash
Mango
Sunflower
Maria’s Joy
Any thoughts or ideas from the PawPaw Gurus would be appreciated.
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