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Asimina triloba

 
Asimina Triloba

 
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Asimina triloba
 
 
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The Common pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a species of pawpaw, native to eastern North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, from southernmost Ontario
Ontario

Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
 and New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 west to eastern Nebraska
Nebraska

Nebraska is a U.S. state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Western United States.Nebraska probably gets its name from the archaic Chiwere language words ?? Br?sge or the Omaha-Ponca language N? Bth?ska meaning "flat water," after the Platte River that flows through the state....
, and south to northern Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
 and eastern Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
.

aw is a large shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
 or small tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
 growing to a height of 11 meters (rarely to 14 m) with a trunk diameter of 20-30 cm.

The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
, spirally arranged, broad lanceolate, 15-30 cm long, with an acute apex and an entire margin.

The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are produced in early spring at the same time as or slightly before the new leaves appear, each flower dark red, 2-5 cm diameter, with three sepals and six petals; they have a fetid smell.

The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 is a large yellow-green berry
Berry

In everyday English, a berry is a broad term for any small edible fruit. Most berries are juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, and don't have a stone or pit....
 5-15 cm long, containing several brown, 15-25 mm diameter seed
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s embedded in the soft, edible fruit pulp.

global scale, the common pawpaw has a Global GRANK
GRANK

GRANK, or Global Rank is a ranking of the rarity of a species, and is a useful tool in determining conservation needs.Global Ranks are derived from a consensus of various conservation data centres, natural heritage programmes, scientific experts and The Nature Conservancy....
 of G5 (Very Common).

The common pawpaw is considered a threatened species
Threatened species

Threatened species are any species which are vulnerable to extinction in the near future.World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories: Vulnerable species, endangered species, and Critically endangered species, depending...
 in New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
, and an endangered species
Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters....
 in New Jersey
New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, on the east by the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania....
.

In Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, it is only found in portions of southern Ontario
Ontario

Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
, where it has a National NRANK
NRANK

NRANK, or National Rank, is a ranking of the rarity of a species within a nation. Each nation can assign their own NRANK, based on information from conservation data centres, natural heritage programmes and expert scientists....
 of N3 (Vulnerable) and a Provincial SRANK of S3 (Vulnerable).






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Encyclopedia


The Common pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a species of pawpaw, native to eastern North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, from southernmost Ontario
Ontario

Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
 and New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 west to eastern Nebraska
Nebraska

Nebraska is a U.S. state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Western United States.Nebraska probably gets its name from the archaic Chiwere language words ?? Br?sge or the Omaha-Ponca language N? Bth?ska meaning "flat water," after the Platte River that flows through the state....
, and south to northern Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
 and eastern Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
.

Description

Pawpaw is a large shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
 or small tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
 growing to a height of 11 meters (rarely to 14 m) with a trunk diameter of 20-30 cm.

The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
, spirally arranged, broad lanceolate, 15-30 cm long, with an acute apex and an entire margin.

The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are produced in early spring at the same time as or slightly before the new leaves appear, each flower dark red, 2-5 cm diameter, with three sepals and six petals; they have a fetid smell.

The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 is a large yellow-green berry
Berry

In everyday English, a berry is a broad term for any small edible fruit. Most berries are juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, and don't have a stone or pit....
 5-15 cm long, containing several brown, 15-25 mm diameter seed
Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s embedded in the soft, edible fruit pulp.

Conservation status

On a global scale, the common pawpaw has a Global GRANK
GRANK

GRANK, or Global Rank is a ranking of the rarity of a species, and is a useful tool in determining conservation needs.Global Ranks are derived from a consensus of various conservation data centres, natural heritage programmes, scientific experts and The Nature Conservancy....
 of G5 (Very Common).

The common pawpaw is considered a threatened species
Threatened species

Threatened species are any species which are vulnerable to extinction in the near future.World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories: Vulnerable species, endangered species, and Critically endangered species, depending...
 in New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
, and an endangered species
Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters....
 in New Jersey
New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, on the east by the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania....
.

In Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, it is only found in portions of southern Ontario
Ontario

Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
, where it has a National NRANK
NRANK

NRANK, or National Rank, is a ranking of the rarity of a species within a nation. Each nation can assign their own NRANK, based on information from conservation data centres, natural heritage programmes and expert scientists....
 of N3 (Vulnerable) and a Provincial SRANK of S3 (Vulnerable). The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Ministry of Natural Resources (Ontario)

The Ministry of Natural Resources is a government agency of the Canadian province of Ontario that is responsible for management and protection its natural resources....
 has given A. triloba a general status of "Sensitive", and its populations are monitored.

Biochemistry

The fruit is rich in fatty acid
Fatty acid

In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid often with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturation or Unsaturated compound....
s, the major one being octanoate. They also contain cis-d9- and cis-d11-hexadecenoate, cis-d9-, cis-d11- and cis-d13-octadecenoate.

The seeds have to contain the chemicals asimitrin (an adjacent ring-hydroxylated bis-tetrahydrofuran
Tetrahydrofuran

Tetrahydrofuran is a colorless, water-miscible organic liquid with low-viscosity at "room" temperature and pressure . It is a Heterocyclic compound compound with a chemical formula C4H8O, and is the fully Hydrogenation analog of the aromatic organic compound furan....
 acetogenin) and 4-hydroxytrilobin (an adjacent bis-THF ring with two flanking hydroxyl groups and an a,ß-unsaturated ?-lactone with a 4-hydroxyl group). These chemicals seem to have selective cytotoxicity
Cytotoxicity

Cytotoxicity is the quality of being toxicity to cell s. Examples of toxic agents are a chemical substance, an immune cell or some types of venom e.g....
 against prostate
Prostate

The prostate is a compound tubuloalveolar exocrine gland of the male mammalian reproductive system. Females do not have a prostate gland, although females do have tiny paraurethral Skene's glands connected to the distal third of the urethra in the prevaginal space that are homologous to the prostate....
 adenocarcinoma
Adenocarcinoma

Adenocarcinoma is a cancer that originates in glandular tissue. This tissue is also part of a larger tissue category known as epithelial tissue....
 (PC-3) and colon
Colón

Col?n is a Spanish surname, comparable to the Italian and Portuguese Colombo . It may refer to:* Crist?bal Col?n, the Spanish language name for the explorer Christopher Columbus...
 adenocarcinoma (HT-29) cell lines, thus may become a useful chemotherapeutic
Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy, in its most general sense, refers to treatment of disease by chemicals that kill cells, specifically those of micro-organisms or cancer....
 chemical for these types of cancer
Cancer

Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
.

The leaves also toxic annonaceous acetogenins, making them impalatable to most insects. The one notable exception is the zebra swallowtail butterfly (Eurytides marcellus), whose larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e feed on the leaves. This confers protection from predation
Predation

In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey, the organism that is attacked. Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of the prey....
 throughout the butterfly's life, as trace amounts of acetogenins remain present, making them impalatable to birds and other predators.

The bark
BARK

BARK was an early Electromechanics. BARK was built using standard phone relays, implementing a 32-bit binary machine and could perform addition in 150 ms and multiplication in 250 ms....
 contains other acetogenins, including asimin, asiminacin and asiminecin, which have to be potent inhibitors of mitochondrial NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, making A. triloba a promising source of pesticide
Pesticide

A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest .A pesticide may be a chemical substance, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest ....
 and anti-tumour compounds.