How to make pawpaws sweet

My pawpaws are bitter, what should I do to sweeten them? Aquiline
Dear Aquiline
Generally, ripe pawpaws are supposed to be sweet with butter-like consistency.
However, raw pawpaws together with their seeds contain papain (an enzyme used to digest proteins), which makes them bitter.
Bitterness in pawpaws occurs when during fruit development, the pawpaw plant underwent some stress as a result of nutrient deficiency, pests and diseases such as mosaic or ring spot, inadequate water and unfavourable temperature.
Therefore, for successful fruit production, guard against the above. On the other hand, sweetness of pawpaws tend to reduce in low temperature areas – you did not specify where you are growing them.
Nitrogen application is important in the fruit yield, but application of a high rate also increases the level of papain.
Apart from nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are also essential for better performance of pawpaws. Fertiliser application should be done six months to the time of fruit harvesting.
Pawpaws also have different cultivars, therefore, grafting high disease and pest resistant rootstock with a scion of high fruit yielding with sweeter fruit qualities can also solve your problem.