Karen Czarnowski

duane hennon wrote:

IMHO
I think the entire subject is being overblown
I have been dealing with these fruits for over 20 years and have yet had anyone have a problem with them
either fresh or in breads, pies , puddings, or ice cream

If one would want to mention that those with sensitivities maywant to  be cautious is OK
but to paint them with a "the sky is falling" label is overkill

Funny...I didn't hear "the sky is falling" and I was grateful to hear input from other folks who have had the same/similar reaction to cooked pawpaw as I had. With anything new you put into your body it's good to be informed and cautious. I've been eating raw pawpaw like a voracious forest animal for almost 20 years and I enjoy it immensely. I'm also grateful to hear scientific theories of why the cooked pawpaw might have an adverse reaction to some people.

Ethan Brazell wrote:We have two large 8 year old trees on our property that I picked up from a local native plant nursery. We have gotten about a hundred fruits between the two trees for the past three years and we usually eat a couple handfuls with no ill effects. This past week we've had quite a few, again with zero problems for me or my three young kids.
Today, for the first time we made pawpaw bread. It was pretty tasty and we liked it..but half way through my youngest said the bread was making him sick... (Something he really never does ) Soon after I started feeling nauseous, followed by my other two kids and then my wife. Eventually it induced vommiting for me..after which I felt immediately better. No fun, and all around unusual for us. It certainty hasn't ruined the fruit for me, or my love of the trees, but we won't be cooking with them again any time soon.

I'm not sure if you saw my post on this thread, but I tried baking pawpaw bread three times and became nauseous each time. Didn't catch on to the fact that it was the pawpaw in the oven that was causing the ill feeling until the third time. It was similar to feeling motion sickness. Headache, dry mouth, nausea. I've eaten plenty of raw pawpaw sine then with no problem.

I haven't been able to find much information online regarding intolerance to the fruit. And I haven't researched how the American Indians prepared and ate pawpaw.
You might try contacting the University of Kentucky.

I'm new to this site. I found it looking for information about adverse reactions to cooked pawpaw. I can eat them raw, but when I bake them in bread, even the air makes me nauseous. I didn't realize that was causing it the first couple time. But the third time I baked an oven full of pawpaw bread and it was clearly making me sick. It's not just the odor. It must be whatever chemical it emits when it's cooked. I couldn't find any other reference to it online.