Nutrition

The Pawpaw tree requires many things to strive as an organism, with sunlight being the most prevalent. Being a member of the Kingdom Plantae, Asimina triloba acquires its nutrients and produces food via photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process of turning light energy into chemical energy. Through the process of photosynthesis a plant uses light energy, CO₂, and H₂0 to make glucose. The picture below shows a simplistic version of the process of photosynthesis.

Once the pawpaw fruit is ripe and picked from the trees it has a relatively short life span. If not refrigerated or frozen, the fruit will only last 2-3 days. Due to the short lifespan, it is often hard to find this fruit in local grocery stores. The best way to acquire fresh pawpaw fruit is to have your own tree or get it from a farmer’s market where it is locally grown. Let's further our exploration of the pawpaw fruit by learning about its life cycle.