Making the Pawpaw Cool Again

On a stroll last spring through the woods in North Louisiana’s Poverty Point World Heritage Site, my husband and I encountered a short, understory tree we didn’t recognize. Its burgundy flowers accentuated dark, green leaves that grew up to a foot long and widened at the end before turning in to the final point. A quick talk with the ranger on duty confirmed our suspicions. We had stumbled upon the elusive pawpaw tree.

The pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is the only tropical fruit native to the continental United States and the largest fruit native to North America. Its fruit has the outside appearance of an oblong, green potato—the skin and large black seeds are inedible and even mildly toxic. The reward is found in its soft, pale-yellow flesh, which tastes somewhat like a banana and mango pudding. Foodies recommend squeezing the ripe fruit straight from the peel into your mouth, chilling and eating it like a custard, or pureeing to add into smoothies, ice cream, quick bread, or jam. 

In any form, pawpaws are not only delicious but bring added health benefits. They contain three times the amount of vitamin C as found in apples. They are also high in potassium, iron, fiber, magnesium, and manganese, which helps support healthy bones, digestion, and blood sugar control. Interestingly, recent studies have shown that shampoo made with pawpaw extract can essentially eliminate lice.

The pawpaw tree’s native range extends across the Mid-Atlantic, South, and Midwest. Native Americans have been eating them for centuries, and you can usually find them around Indigenous sites. Blaise Pezold, an avid pawpaw advocate who is developing a home orchard of his own, says that places where they are often found in Louisiana include Moncus Park and Vermilionville in Lafayette. “Natchitoches means ‘pawpaw eater,’ and there is a Pawpaw Island across from Vicksburg,” he said. “Their location has to do with the soil type. Anywhere that you’ll find pawpaws, it’s very sandy with a lot of organic matter.”

Pawpaws require pollen from another tree in order to bear fruit. Flies and beetles help with the pollination process, and a new tree will initially yield fruit when it reaches four to five years old. After that, pawpaws produce fruit once a year. In Louisiana, that happens in late July and early August.

Unfortunately, today the tree and its fruit are incredibly difficult to find. Due to a short shelf life, the fruits are not sold in grocery stores. Commercial growers are few and far between, and those that do exist largely sell their crops to breweries, which use the tropical-flavored pulp to create seasonal, specialty beers. A forage through a Louisiana forest on a sweltering July or August day may yield a sweet treat, if the bugs and heat don’t turn you away first. Of course, you could buy a few trees for your backyard, but the ticket price has skyrocketed (between $60–190 per tree) since the home gardening craze flourished during COVID-19 and locally grown fruits and vegetables grew in popularity. 

In St. Bernard, on the banks of the Mississippi River, Pezold and the folks at Docville Farm are working to increase the pawpaw’s population here in Louisiana. Docville is the home base of the Meraux Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Arlene Meraux to improve the quality of life in St. Bernard through a variety of programs. It’s here where Anna Timmerman, Louisiana State University (LSU) AgCenter Extension Agent for St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, conducts studies on growing and harvesting fruits in the Gulf South for the Louisiana Citrus Innovation and Research program. Her successful application of new growing techniques has yielded thousands of pounds of citrus, which are then donated to local food banks. 

These satsuma and orange trees line the walkway of the Docville greenhouse, which is used as an educational facility to teach the community about best practices in growing. The greenhouse also grows plants for coastal restoration programs, takes center stage during the annual Louisiana AgMagic on the River event, and showcases alternative crops. 

“We try to show what you can grow in your yard other than just citrus,” said Timmerman. “Avocados, guava, black cherry, plums, peaches, loquats, and even pawpaws. We are trying to flood the community with food.”

Pezold, who serves as the Meraux Foundation’s Coastal and Environmental Program Director, works alongside Timmerman in what he refers to as the “Pawpaw Palace”—where they are exploring the tree’s potential as a landscaping option and versatile food source. 

At Docville, in the FUSE (Fruit Under Screened Enclosure) Center, he and Timmerman have learned to recreate the pawpaw’s natural environment, providing sandy soil, high in organic matter, that is watered regularly but can drain off quickly. As an understory tree that grows on the forest floor, the plant is also partial to shade.

“We don’t have a pawpaw culture in Louisiana, but it’s the ultimate farm to table food,” said Pezold, who added that Louisiana has only three people who grow the fruit commercially today. These farmers sell ninety-five percent of the crop to breweries, and the other five percent goes to farmers’ markets. 

Still, in large part due to his and Timmerman’s work at Docville, there appears to be an emerging pawpaw “renaissance” in Louisiana. In December 2022, Pezold and the Foundation spearheaded the first annual symposium at Docville dedicated to the subject of the pawpaw and its cultivation in the Gulf South. Tickets went fast, selling out in three days, with attendees coming from Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida—ranging from backyard gardeners and brewers to chefs and farmers. When the second event was held this past year, representatives from the LSU AgCenter, Chef’s Brigade, SPROUT, and the Southern Food and Beverage Museum attended as well. 

“There is a lot of renewed interest in indigenous foodways, native plants, and eating local from the public, chefs, and from sustainable farmers,” said Timmerman. “Louisiana has a rich cultural

heritage centered around seasonal eating, and seeing the pawpaw returned to its rightful place in the calendar of flavors is exciting. I think there’s a lot of potential for growers to add some pawpaws to their harvest lineup, especially as adaptable Southern cultivars are found and propagated.” 

So the next time you find yourself walking the trails through a Louisiana forest, be sure to look for the tell-tale signs of this exceptional tree. If you time it right, maybe you’ll be lucky to find some fruit to sweeten up your hot summer day. And for those with a green thumb, look into investing in a couple of pawpaw trees for your backyard, or attend the Meraux Foundation’s next symposium to possibly take home a few of your own. merauxfoundation.org. 

Find a recipe for Pawpaw Pudding here.