Asimina triloba

Dreilappige pawpaw ( Asimina triloba ), flower buds

The trilobal pawpaw ( Asimina triloba, Indian banana) is a native North American species of the genus of pawpaw ( Asimina ) in the family of Annonengewächse ( Annonaceae ). In English this kind, as well as the whole genre, " Pawpaw " called. The fruits are edible, but it is also in their home country are still more likely than wild fruit or "rare fruit".

• 7.1 foods
• 7.2 Medicinal plant

Dissemination

The home site of the three-lobed Papau extends in eastern North America from southern part of the Canadian province of Ontario to the south over much of the eastern United States. It comes in the U.S. states of Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Texas before.

Description

Detached pawpaw grow as pyramidal, deciduous trees or shrubs and reach heights of growth of three to five meters. In the natural habitat or wild they usually form multi-stemmed shrubs through root rashes can be a veritable thicket arise. The leaves are pointed oval, smooth, and about 20 inches long. The trilobal pawpaw is a decidious plant.

The one to four flowers per leaf axil are formed only at the ends of the branches of the previous year's shoots. The flowers are greenish or brownish and spread an unpleasant smell, which is designed to attract flies and other carrion-eating insects. At bloom cladding, there are three to four sepals and two circles, each with three to four petals. Stamens are very many available. Each flower contains several ovaries, from which a dense bundle of two to seven fruits developed ( one of the reasons for the name " Indians banana" ).

The fruit size varies greatly with the variety, with a length of between five and ten centimeters and a weight of between 50 and ( in exceptional cases) 500 grams.

Pictures

Fruiting branch

Fruits

Sliced ​​fruit

Seed

Culture

The culture is carried out in a nutrient-rich, moist but drained soil in full sun or semi -shaded position. The plant is fully hardy. In the literature, it is pointed out that young Papaupflanzen need shading, older plants grow best in full sun (or bear fruit ). However, these experiences are mainly from the U.S. and from Italy, where the radiation intensity due to the lower latitude is higher than in Germany.

For propagation, the seeds should be about 100 days stratified cold and are then kept at about 20 degrees Celsius in cultivation substrate. Germination takes long ( about 60 days), and after the taproot is published, it may take more weeks until the plant is visible above ground as well.

Pawpaw varieties can so far only be propagated by root cuttings and finishing, cuttings are not possible. Rootstock varieties not previously exist, the seedlings used greatly differ to some extent in their properties, for example, with respect to the tendency to root bolters.

General shall Papau be very resistant to pests and diseases. In the U.S., the worst damage is caused by a small, approximately five millimeters large moth, Talponia plummeriana whose larvae develop in the flowers and bring them to the death.

Varieties

Papau be grown in the United States since the early 20th century. For most varieties available today, however, are originally wild specimens that are noticed because of their special qualities and fruit were grown. There are about 70 species, of which only about 20 have attained a supra-regional importance.

Commercial cultivation

The system of commercial pawpaw plantations infected, compared with other types of fruit, still in its infancy, most plantations are likely to still be described as " test sites ". Pioneers in the introduction of pawpaw to Europe can be found in Italy ( Bellini, Montanari, 1992) and in the Netherlands. The planting of Enrico Montanari at Faenza in the area of Ravenna should represent one of the oldest and largest on the European continent.

Economically important species

One of the obstacles for commercial cultivation is the lack of self- fertility in A. triloba. Therefore, an important distinguishing feature is the self- fertility:

• Autofertil ' Prima 1216 '
• ' Sunflower'

• 'Davis '
• ' NC -1'
• ' Overleese ' or ' Overlease '
• ' Prolific'
• ' Taytoo ' or ' Taytwo '

Growing areas

In Europe, there are attempts in France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, (The Netherlands? ).

Use

The three-lobed fruit of pawpaw is one of the largest local fruits on the North American continent dar. addition, however, we are interested for some substances in the branches and leaves.

Food

Ripe pawpaw - fruits contain a soft, creamy flesh. The color can vary from whitish and orange. Taste and texture vaguely reminiscent of bananas. The fruits are either spooned out and eaten directly or processed into sweets like cake and ice cream.

Medicinal plant

Leaves and twigs contain insecticidal substances that acetogenins, with the highest concentration in young, thin branches. On this basis, shampoos were prepared for head lice, for example.

Also, an application in the fight against cancer was investigated, while the active ingredients should intervene in the energy metabolism of the cells and interfere with the detoxification mechanisms of chemotherapy- resistant cancer cells.

Trivia

The ' Indian banana ' is immortalized in an American folk song " Way Down Yonder in the Paw Paw Patch", and in the original English version of the song Trying out with comfort from the Disney film The Jungle Book, so in the English song "The Bare Necessities " the text line Now When You pick a pawpaw or a prickly pear.