ASHS 2025 Conference

The North American pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a tree fruit native to North America, and is being produced on a small scale commercially across the U.S. and internationally, with over 90 pawpaw growers in Kentucky alone. There are approximately 50 pawpaw cultivars available, but some of these varieties tend to be poor quality, low yielding, have small fruit size, or exhibit poor flavors. Kentucky State University’s pawpaw breeding program is striving to develop new improved pawpaw cultivars with good flavor and high yields. A pawpaw variety trial was established at the Kentucky State University Harold R. Benson Research and Demonstration Farm in Frankfort, KY, in 2017 consisting of two commercially available cultivars (‘KSU-Benson’ and ‘KSU-Chappell’) and two KSU advanced selections (Hi1-4 and Hi7-1). Data on number of fruit and clusters per tree and fruit weights were collected to compare advanced selections Hi1-4 and Hi7-1 to KSU-Benson and KSU-Chappell. The advanced selections Hi1-4 and Hi7-1 had large average fruit weights of 213 g (Hi1-4) and 167 g (Hi7-1). The cultivars KSU-Benson (179 g) and KSU-Chappell (234 g) also had large marketable fruit. Pawpaw fruit over 120 g are generally considered to be large enough for commercial sale and processing. Hi1-4 and Hi7-1 had an average yield of 12.8 kg and 12.0 kg per tree respectively in 2024, compared to KSU-Benson and KSU-Chappell with average yields of 16.9 kg and 27.2 kg respectively. Advanced selection Hi1-4 (1.7) and cultivar KSU-Benson (1.8) averaged under 2 fruit per cluster, while Hi7-1 (2.1) and KSU-Chappell (2.5) averaged slightly over 2 fruit per cluster. It is desirable for pawpaws to have fewer fruit per cluster and more single fruit, for ease of harvesting. Hi1-4 and Hi7-1 have large, flavorful fruit and high yields, and are planned to be released as new cultivars from the KYSU pawpaw breeding program in Fall 2025.