At a potluck dinner with about 18 people on February 17 , 2024 in North Carolina, one person brought a bag of freeze-dried pawpaws produced by a local farmer. There were no seeds, I'm not sure if there was any skin. I ate one piece about 2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. I left the meeting about an hour later, feeling a little nauseous. About two hours later it was worse and I vomited. Felt a little queasy in the morning, fine later in the day. On asking around we found that all of the others who ate one or two pieces were also sick that night while none of those who did not try the pawpaws were affected. Found a few mentions of the toxin annonacin from pawpaw, one article said it was contained in the skin and seeds but I could not find a single scientific reference that had tested the skin. Could freeze drying have extracted toxin from the skin into the pulp? I found one article about toxicity of pawpaws but cound not access it. Most scientific journals have been bought out by corporate raiders who bleed them for profit by charging up to $50 to read an eight-page article. Knowledge for ransom is now big business.
