Unique Pawpaw Germplasm Selections in the Kentucky State University Repository Collection

The pawpaw [Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal] is a tree-fruit that is in the early stages of commercial production. Pawpaw fruit have fresh market appeal for farmers markets, community supported agriculture, and organic markets. This fruit also has processing potential for frozen pulp production. New high yielding cultivars with excellent fruit quality would further assist in the development of the pawpaw industry. Kentucky State University serves as the National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Pawpaw. Two goals of the Repository research efforts are germplasm acquisition and evaluation.  The repository contains over 2000 accessions from 16 different states; additionally,  both open pollinated seedlings from superior genotypes and crosses of superior selections have been incorporated into the repository collection. Two selections, Hi1-4 and Haz-1.4, have been identified in the Repository collection with unique fruit types and promising new characteristics as new potential cultivars. Pawpaw varieties with fruit weights over 120 g per fruit are considered to have a large enough fruit size for commercial sale and processing. The selection Hi1-4 has a pleasing orange flesh, and large fruit size (361 g). The selection Haz-1.4 has a pleasing orange flesh that would be excellent for processing and large fruit size (201 g). These two selections, Hi1-4 and Haz1.4, will be propagated via chip budding onto seedling rootstocks. Yield and fruiting characteristics will be examined for these selections.