4 MYTHS about Pawpaws (Asimina triloba)

We planted our first pawpaw trees in 2002, and have been actively growing & fruiting them here on our microfarm for 10 years now. We have dealt with them from seedling to fruit and have noted a few common myths floating around. Here we attempt to address them.
Links:
www.mdpi.com/1... (An Overview of the Chemical Characteristics, Bioactivity and Achievements Regarding the Therapeutic Usage of Acetogenins from Annona cherimola Mill.)
www.sciencedir...
Anti-cancer:
www.frontiersi... (Selective Acetogenins and Their Potential as Anticancer Agents)
Solubility/digestion:
www.ncbi.nlm.n... (Bio-Guided Isolation of Acetogenins from Annona cherimola Deciduous Leaves: Production of Nanocarriers to Boost the Bioavailability Properties)
"The majority of the ACGs are then degraded by the strongly acidic medium present in the gastric phase"
(ANTICANCER AND NEUROPROTECTIVE PROPERTIES OF PAWPAW FRUIT EXTRACTS AND ACETOGENIN BIOAVAILABILITY) portal.nifa.us...
Acetogenin is not water soluble. (www.researchga...)
"Annonaceous acetogenins (ACGs) are lipophilic polyketides isolated exclusively from Annonaceae. They are considered to be amongst the most potent antitumor compounds. Nevertheless, their applications are limited by their poor solubility."
"Experimental data available in 2010 were considered by the French food safety agency (Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des aliments) to be insufficient to conclude that human consumption of soursop caused atypical parkinsonism in Guadeloupe" (Environmental Factors in Neurodegenerative Diseases)
"An average soursop fruit has been estimated to contain ~ 15 mg of annonacin, a can of commercial nectar 36 mg, and a cup of infusion or decoction 140 µg, such that an adult who consumes one fruit or can of nectar a day is estimated to ingest over 1 year the amount of annonacin that induced brain lesions in rats receiving purified annonacin by intravenous infusion (Champy et al., 2005)."
plants.usda.go...

[@f.demascio1857]

So much great info. We are getting our first fruits in 6 years. Water provision seems to be our biggest helper.

[@violethouseworth5943]

I bought 25 seeds 4 years ago and germinated them over winter in a laundry basket .25 seeds germinated and in the spring I planted them under a large tree.All in one bundle...Have done awesome as they like to be planted in groups.Last year I cut that large tree so they can have full sun now...Although now, I realize we have wild PawPaw in the area and I actually have three pawpaws in the back...brought here by the birds...Just love it...

[@nathanmigdal7960]

A good video about pawpaws with college-level content! When it comes to the annonacin in annonaceous species, I view it as a neurotoxin intended for insects. But when mammals, namely humans, create ways to consume annonaceous fruits beyond their seasonal cycles (frozen pulp and/or juices), the bioaccumulation of acetogenins can reach a threshold that is toxic. In essence, by breaking the "rules" pawpaws set on annual consumption, we may build a pathway toward neurological harm in humans. Eat these fruits when the trees offer them and no harm will come. Just remember to spit those seeds out :-)

[@reidlingtheseedling]

Great content here. I find myself watching a lot of long form content to avoid the 10 minute and 1 second videos that are all regurgitations of each other, often displaying fundamental misunderstandings about how plants work. This video alone is enough for a sub.

[@EgyptianQueenTiye]

I'm glad that you explained watering regarding it's photosensitive status. Again another great video.

[@bluegrassdiggers9030]

Very well put together video. Ive been growing pawpaw since 2017 and getting close to fruiting. Im also growing some interesting selections that I've gathered from select fruit in the wild.

[@justinskeans3342]

Be cool to see paw paw Playlist from ya man love the videos

[@gewgulkansuhckitt9086]

I've been growing pawpaws in south Alabama for several years. In the middle of summer, young trees will often lose all their leaves and sometimes die down to the ground or die completely. This happened to a 12 foot tall pawpaw. Later that same year it sent up a shoot that grew back to its original 12 foot height (skinnier though) before the onset of winter. I suspect the summer sunlight here is more intense than in most of the US. Similarly by all accounts goji berries love direct sun but all the ones I planted in direct sun died when mid summer came around.

[@abyssquick]

Yes, the more southerly you are the more shade they like to have, especially if they don't have access to water all of the time. Some people are growing them in central FL in mostly shade. I should add an addendum to include this. This was more for northerly growers who think they need shade to thrive.

[@abyssquick]

I should also add -- there's the question of seedling sourcing as well -- are your trees sourced locally? Wild trees? Or are they nursery stock? I imagine locals would fare better in the longer summers. I doubt your sourtherly seed sources would survive up here in the cold, we get to -10F some years

[@ryanrite437]

Great content. Thank you!

[@RocketPipeTV]

Love your myth dispell. There are people who will tell you that you need to protect young pawpaw trees with shade cloth for years. These dudes have hundreds of thousands of “followers” and probably a “shady” cloth dealer (pun intended) supporting them. It’s incredible how people cannot think by themselves anymore.

[@joshconeby]

On the toxicity point - some people in the Caribbean drink a tea made of soursop leaves and this has been tentatively linked to Parkinson's disease. That's assuming you drink it every day for decades - and annonacin and similar compounds are more concentrated in the leaves than the fruit. Pawpaws have more than soursops but you would probably have to eat a pawpaw (or several) a day for many decades and even then it's not certain.

[@abyssquick]

Yes, the mode of ingestion is one variable. The issue with pawpaws is that there is a -lot- of acetogenin in some cultivars, ie "Rappahannock" has like 45X the acetogenin of a typical soursop. Luckily it is readily degraded by acidic medium, ie. human stomach acid -- almost entirely. I suspect most of the rest gets degraded by our pancreatic lipases Also on the same point is the fact that avocados have an equal amt. or even more acetogenin than pawpaws. We se no toxicity from those fruits (in human at least). Every time you eat a pawpaw or an avocado, you're eating shy of ~a gram of the stuff.

[@inharmonywithearth9982]

Alzheimers and Parkensons, CJD, CWD, BSE, Dementia, etc., these are all just some of the many names for Mad Cow disease. These are caused not from paw paws or any plants at all but from an improper diet of foreign animal protein molecules ( prions) that become trapped forever in vegetarian animals and human brains because they are not designed for scavenging animal organs or utilitizing these foreign animal corpse' proteins. If you want to know the simple truth just Google search ; are mad cow and alzheimers the same? There are so many scientific reports. Because of factory farming the vegetarian animals on a massive scale, caging and starving them into cannibalism by the usda accepted and encouraged common feeding of Tyson and other huge companies' chicken floor manure and waste slaughter scrap to the United States cattle even the sewage runoff from these farms is causing the cervid forms ( deer family) of wildlife drinking from polluted streams to contract CWD another of the many names for mad cow disease. There is no getting better for Alzheimers people (Mad Cow) just preventing it. JUST LOOK IT UP yourself and ignore the governments' meat lobby misinformation campaign.

[@somerandomperson1503]

No. Eating approximately 9 ounces a week (roughly one medium-sized paw paw or half of one large paw paw) is enough to cause atypical Parkinson’s after 5 years. Please search the following case study: “Progressive supranuclear palsy and pawpaw” From the study: “An 80-year-old white man was initially evaluated for a complaint of effortful speech for 2 years prior to presentation…. He was diagnosed with nonfluent primary progressive aphasia, later reclassified as a subtype of progressive supranuclear palsy….The patient died due to aspiration 5 years after symptom onset. Subsequently, his wife disclosed that he had habitually consumed pawpaw fruit from their family-owned nursery, starting 5 years prior to symptom onset and continuing until his death (10 years total). She estimated that he had consumed up to 13.6 kg of raw fruit annually over the five-year period prior to death.” 13.6kg per year is about 9.2 ounces per week, a very reasonable amount that is quite easy to eat, especially for a person growing their own paw paws. It only took 5 years of this to cause atypical Parkinson’s and another 5 more years to eventually result in death.

[@gg-gn3re]

@@somerandomperson1503 1 old guy whom is likely to get parkinsons in the first place isn't a good basis to say "pawpaw causes parkinsons in 5 years"

[@trilobES.]

@@somerandomperson1503 For one case only and also in a man over 70 you can't go around saying that consuming such a lot of pawpaw causes atypical parkinson and eventually death. Any investigator would laugh at such a conclusion.

[@marisasanchez1699]

This was really useful information. Thanks 🙏🏼

[@robliberace]

As for the toxicity, we aren't worried about it but we realized that after I cooked paw paw bread (instant of banana bread), three of my family members had a slice or two and all three of us got stomach aches. We read that baking helps activate the toxins. I no longer bake with them but still enjoy them (no more than one a day) while they are ripening and am fine. Great vitamins and minerals!

[@caheisey]

I’ve been consuming a lot of pawpaw content and earnestly this is one of the most informative and succinct things I’ve seen on several of these topics, particularly explaining the acetogenins accessibly. Thank you!

[@braukorpshomebrew6039]

Thank you for this! I have some seedlings growing, and also ordered some larger trees. The tip about the shade/sun was something I was told. This is helping me with my planting plans!

[@timcoddington2229]

another great video!

[@sabramarcroft]

I have a pawpaw tree that is self fertile. It seems more so than average. I hand pollinated and had lots of flies from nearby compost and got a good amount of fruit from my approximately 7 year old tree. I am in western Oregon. There are no other pawpaw trees nearby.

[@johnwilcox4078]

Thanks for the info, you have some beautiful trees! I live in Wisconsin and have successfully grown pawpaws for over a decade. No thought was ever given to growing them in shade because the sun is not as direct here. For best fruit production, full sun is required. There is also no such thing as sun burn here, so it is not necessary to paint the trunks white. But severe winter temperatures can kill small trees and seedlings, and frost during blossom time is possible. But that goes with the territory being 100 miles north of it's natural range!

[@spiritualspinster4222]

I have 2 Pawpaw trees about 6 years old now. This is the first year that I have little Pawpaw's forming after bloom. The trees were only a foot tall when I planted them. They are now over 6 feet tall. I am very happy this spring! I only babied them the first 3 years after planting. Now I literally don't have to do anything to them other than throw some manure around them once a year. They maintain their own shape well and we get plenty of rain here in east Tennessee. I did water them weekly during a particularly dry summer but that's it. One is a Susquehanna, and the other is a Mango cultivar. The Susquehanna matured about a year earlier than the Mango.

[@ritasenergyherbs3650]

This is very informative and thank you for correcting myths about growing and propagating. Accroding to research of Dr. Jerry McLaughlin the potent medicinal properties come from acetogenins from the paw paw twigs, most potent in month of May when most biologically active.

[@Pay-It_Forward]

Look forward to more videos. Annonacin varies in solubility by 40 fold depending on many factors, temp, pH, Ethanol, water based solvents in food, glycerin. It's a topic for more research. something that I just read is that alcohol reduces water solubility? that's very odd, as it is usually the inverse of that. something I'm going to check into. will get back to you.

[@nolosswes]

Very helpful video, I have two pawpaws planted in ground I believe my sun burn is a result of the plants being grown in a green house and now getting almost full sun

[@abyssquick]

Yes, they are easy to sunburn moving from greenhouse, or even from shade to full sun. This makes people think they are just light-sensitive in general. However I have burned many plants in this way, it's not exclusive to pawpaws.

[@SupraViperhead]

I just learned about Paw Paws last year and found a few patches in an area about a half hour away from my apartment; a good bit are out there this year, but none have ripened just yet. I'm working on getting a house and hope to plant some Paw Paw seeds there and see what happens.

[@stanluckett]

When you gather up the seeds put them on a damp paper towel,fold it over and repeat with about 10/15 seeds ,put it in a large bagged keep it in your refrigerator for about 3 months then plant.

[@stanluckett]

Large baggey

[@branchingoutpermaculturewi4766]

i didnt know about eating dried pawpaw thanks for the info good video mate

[@tennray]

great video! Very last part bit concerning as the newest craze I guess you could say is freeze drying. What if a person does that with paw paws.

[@js.goldklang]

Does anyone know specifically why drying is bad for pawpaw digestion?

[@opreapetru404]

well done

[@WhistleLad]

Thank you!

[@missourimongoose8858]

I collected a 5 gallon bucket full of paw paws last weekend to feed my elk a treat and found a arrowhead for my trouble 😊

[@FolkRockFarm]

Nicely done. I've been obsessed with Pawpaws these last few years now and am eagerly waiting my first crop! Have you ever had problems with stem cankers? One of my trees, i think Susquehanna has these gnarly cankers on the trunks, there isn't much information to find yet but it sounds like Blue Stem Disease which is still unknown as to what causes it. Going to try to do a mudpack over it and see if I can outcompete the bad fungus with good fungi, we'll see!

[@denbez863]

thanks very useful video. Want to plant it at my garden

[@PaulSkuta]

I have a pawpaw which is self-fertile. It is the only plant on the property and, in fact, in the entire area. Flowers dependably every year and produces abundantly. You’re right about the flowers developing at different times. The flowers on this tree mature over a span of days to weeks. Not grafted and not any named variety. So make of this as you will.

[@waynepruett2492]

if you were going to plant 2 pawpaw, what distance do you recommend between these two trees? Thanks.

[@loriki8766]

I have 2 in my rather urban yard. We planted them about 12' apart but I've read that anywhere from 8'-15' apart is fine. For the most fruits, pick 2 wildly different cultivars.

[@Phavahg]

@@loriki8766 We did 15' apart, with a garden pond in between. They're also at the downhill part of our property in Lexington Ky, and get lots of underground runoff from our roof. Started producing fruit at 6 years, but in 2024 (at 9 yrs old) they've had a bumper crop, probably thanks to regular rain this summer. Not a single problem with insects, unlike my apple and pear trees.

[@DeadCat-42]

I have three trees growing, just planted four more. Done are KSU, but must are from fruit I found wild in the area I grew up in. (Se Ohio). I plan on planting seedlings in the wooded areas around my neighborhood .

[@AttorneyBCollins]

No one ever talks about plant spacing. I've read 8ft. and that is how I planted them. Mine are in direct sun most of the day. I think if you plant the tree in more shade, you will get less fruit and the tree will be larger but more spindly like a wild understory one. Then you would need to space them apart to keep them from intertwining. Just my opinion, I'm no big time grower, but I did get my first of 8 trees to have 8 clusters this year. It's closest neighbor had its first bloom but after a late frost, only 8 blooms survived. I suspect some were either self fertilized or were fertilized by the 5 blooms. I also brought a branch of blossoms from a woods and hand pollinated from those blooms.

[@Marco-fn6kg]

my paw paw was around 20 feet tall 12 years old no fruit ever but it produced on its own 3 years ago i since have planted 5 more trees all flowering as well and the harvests are massive now

[@joannc147]

Excellent information, thank you! I have ONE small tree that has begun to colonize. Oops. Think I need to cull that back to allow room for growth. Wonder if a “colony” can fertilize within its own group?

[@mistersmith8962]

Dr Squatch has a food forest? cool! next scent idea: the mamas and the pawpaws.

[@joannc147]

🤣🤣🤣

[@helenjackson6535]

In northeastern Maryland we have pawpaw trees growing in the woods. I bought several trees since the zebra swallowtail butterfly lays its eggs on them.

[@christianmedley3373]

I just found a plant hiking in Missouri

[@JoshDauer]

This is the first time I'm hearing of not eating it dried, does that also mean if I dehydrate them to eat later as a snack they'd cause issues? Also... I'm still confused re: self-pollination. I've got one flower on my 5 trees this year, hoping I might be able to pollinate itself by using the same paintbrush every day it's open

[@alastairwilliams9550]

Such beautiful trees. I have three different annona a, do you think this would grow at 19°S in the dry tropics?

[@SomeoneCommenting]

If those acetogenins were so toxic I would be dead a long ago because we used to have all these soursop family fruits at home. Custard apple, soursop, etc. When it was season, we would eat them almost daily. We even make juice with the soursop, it's better than eating it, unless you get the very sweet cultivar. Hard to intoxicate yourself since the fruit is so different when ripe and unripe. It gets very soft to the touch and you can smell the fruit. That's why it unfortunately doesn't make it a good supermarket fruit, it's too delicate for transport and spoils in a few days if not eaten as soon as it ripens.

[@VedaSay]

Excellent information. Tasted the fruit first time, it has a very rich taste.

[@MistressOP]

I plan to add it regularly to smoothie? Is this something that can be eaten via frozen smoothie once or twice per week?

[@miserupister]

how do they behave after pruning to shape or branch reduction like by apple trees for example?

[@TheFutureofFateisinthePast]

Can they be genetically modified nor referring to cross pollination or selective seeding. Hopefully cannot be GMO Anyone?

[@thomasreto2997]

Got 2 newer ones in my yard about 18 inches high. Pgh pa…😃🌈🤙

[@rockskipper5353]

What about the myth of getting high off the dried leaves?

[@redeyestones3738]

Does pawpaw have a higher concentration of the toxic compound than a soursop, or cherimoya? Because I've eaten pounds of those at a time, with no issue. Would that mean that I could eat pounds of pawpaw, without getting sick?

[@somerandomperson1503]

Paw paws have much higher concentrations of toxins than soursop, but both are still high in neurodegenerative toxins. The toxicity doesn’t present immediately, typically it takes years for the damage to show. When it does it can be progressive and eventually fatal.

[@redeyestones3738]

@somerandomperson1503 I find that hard to believe. Being that I grew up with cherimoya and soursop growing all over the place back home on Maui. I could never get enough. I would eat pounds every day for years and never had any issues. The paw paw might have a higher concentration of the toxin, but I think your wildly underestimating how many pounds of cherimoya and sousop I used to devour every day between the age of 14 and 21. It was nonstop

[@somerandomperson1503]

@@redeyestones3738 My grandparents smoked heavily from when they were 9 years old until they peacefully died in their sleep from natural causes in their 80s. Therefore smoking is safe and doesn’t cause any problems.

[@redeyestones3738]

@somerandomperson1503 well, I think that it's good to be aware. That's for sure. But seriously anything is technically toxic in the correct dosages. I personally have never even seen a pawpaw fruit or tree. I could imagine it would be noteworthy to bring up its toxicity if it were a more common tree that grew everywhere. There is an island in the Caribbean called Guadalupe where people ingest a LOT of soursop. This island does have a higher than normal ratio of parkinsons inflicted individuals than normal. Guess I've just been lucky. Literally food for thought.

[@Phavahg]

Paw paws were a staple fruit of native peoples and early settlers for centuries. Don't eat the seeds, although that's probably next to impossible anyway.

[@blakespower]

I forgot to collect pawpaws this year. dont think it was a bumper crop anyway.

[@rephaelreyes8552]

So what I’m hearing is pawpaw has a slight cancer prevention properties

[@peterrose5373]

Most poisons have cancer prevention properties. They work by killing the cancer faster than they kill the rest of you. If you're eating enough of them to provide cancer fighting benefits, you're probably getting dangerously close to self-poisoning levels.

[@somerandomperson1503]

Its theoretical cancer prevention properties stem from its potent mitochondrial toxicity. The problem is that it is effective at killing both neurons as well as cancer cells. This can lead to deadly neurodegenerative diseases, like atypical Parkinson’s disease, which is incurable, untreatable and ultimately fatal.

[@Janicem.Merriman]

I've heard of dogs and especially foxes and coyotes eating all the paw pows. If they don't eat to much it keeps fleas and tics down. Poor creatures how many eat to much as they are 3/4 th starving in the wild and someone shots them cause they think they have rabies or distemper. True story were paw pows are plentiful. Give u the shakes if eat to many at one time.

[@RocketPipeTV]

2:30 the dose always makes the poison. If you drink a gallon of water in 10 minutes you could die😩.

[@angeliatapaszto6019]

be good i glad

[@helenjackson6535]

Im a pharmacist, the whole idea of chemotherapy is trying to kill fast growing cells. Cancer is fast growing. Stomach lining and hair are too... therefore causes nausea, hair falling out etc. You hope to kill the cancer. Dose is critical. Overdose could kill the patient, to little the cancer survives.

[@ragheadand420roll]

Hardened their wood Hey beavis heheh 😅✌🏻

[@ebybeehoney]

I've been wanting to plant a few of these and am determined next year. Once in a while I get a fruit from a local nature area but I'm not the only person looking. I do have one this year!

[@RocketPipeTV]

The best time to plant a tree is ten years ago. Do it today if you missed it 😂