Freestone Varieties

Three Varieties Made for Recipes and Food Processing

Marsh Mallow,  Honey Dew, and Cantaloupe Varieties

The "Pie Cherry" of Pawpaws

Strengths

• Large fruits 250-300g

• Sweet, melon-like tropical flavor

• No bitterness around the seeds

• Seeds and skin are easy to remove 

• Disease resistance to vascular wilt 

• Productive

• Great for recipes

Weaknesses

• People are unfamiliar with the chiffon texture

• Just an average variety for fresh-eating though it is quite sweet

• Somewhat Seedy

• Cantaloupe pawpaw graft compatibility

Fruit Description

There are 3 freestone varieties: Marshmallow, Honey Dew, and Cantaloupe.  

The fruits ripen mid-to-late season.

Honey Dew and Cantaloupe were named according to their flavors on the parent trees in Kentucky. 

Marshmallow was named according to its flesh-texture in Kentucky.  

Marshmallow is the most prolific, Cantaloupe is the largest (averaging 300 gram), and Honey Dew is the best-tasting. The seeds have no sacks and they can be removed easily from the pulp.  The skin also peels easily.  The flesh texture is a bit stretchy like a marshmallow on all of the freestone varities, so the fruit is not ideally suited for fresh-consumption though it is good.  On other hand the pulp is especially well-suited for recipes.  It is excellent for food-processing and it has been used commercially for that purpose.   It freezes without degrading the flavor or texture of the pulp.  The frozen pulp is indistinguishable from fresh pulp.

Pollination and Fruit Bearing

The Freestone trees pollinate easily. 

Marshmallow is the earliest and Cantaloupe is the latest.  

All of them are productive trees.

Background

The three trees were discovered on a historic restaurant property in Richmond, KY.

According to the daughter of the restaurant-owner, the trees were on the property as long as she could remember, and she was 95 when she was asked in 2019.  The restaurant was torn down in early 2000, but the trees were still there as of 2023.

Pawpaw Frozen Yogurt Pie Recipe

4 to 5 Freestone Variety Pawpaw Fruits (about 200-250 gram ea)

32 oz Vanilla Yogurt

2 gram-cracker pie crusts, 9 inch diameter

Whipped Topping

White Sugar (as needed)

Clean fruits, add yogurt and whip to a puree.

Add about 1 cup of whipped topping and mix thoroughly.  If it needs to be sweeter then add some sugar or some more topping.

Pour mixture  into pie pans and freeze.

Top off with whipped topping and serve.

Honey Dew Pawpaw Fruit