The blossoms occur singly on previous year's wood and may reach up to 5 cm in diameter. Fruit set in the wild is usually low and may be pollinator or resource-limited but under cultivation, tremendous fruit loads have been observed. This highly aromatic, climacteric fruit has a ripe taste that resembles a creamy mixture of banana, mango, and pineapple. With refrigeration, fruit can be held up to 3 weeks while maintaining good eating quality. Within the fruit, there are two rows of large, brown, bean shaped, laterally compressed seeds that may be up to 3 cm long.
Seeds contain alkaloids in the endosperm that are emetic.
If chewed, seed poisons may impair mammalian digestion but if swallowed whole, seeds may pass through the digestive tract intact. Pawpaw is well adapted to the 25 states to which it is native and where it already grows in the wild. Pawpaw is an excellent food source. It exceeds apple, peach, and grape in most vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and food energy value. Pawpaw fruits are best eaten fresh when fully ripe.