A Kentucky State University researcher is a featured pawpaw expert on Gastropod, a national podcast about food, science and history.
The pawpaw tastes like a tropical banana-mango smoothie but grows wild in Kentucky. Its future is being plotted by KYSU researcher Sheri Crabtree and others, who are looking for ways to make it easier to propagate.
The podcast covered the history of the pawpaw, which fed Lewis and Clark, and by 1916, was predicted to be an up-and coming favorite fruit – ahead of blueberries. As the country’s only academic pawpaw program, KYSU’s efforts may make that happen yet.