![Municipal Market of São Paulo city](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Municipal_Market_of_S%C3%A3o_Paulo_city.jpg)
In
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
, a fruit is the
seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
-bearing structure in
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
s that is formed from the
ovary
The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...
after
flowering
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...
.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as
angiosperm
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
s) disseminate their
seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
s. Edible fruits in particular have long propagated using the movements of humans and animals in a
symbiotic relationship
Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...
that is the means for
seed dispersal
In Spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant.
Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors, ...
for the one group and
nutrition
Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient n ...
for the other; in fact, humans and many animals have become dependent on fruits as a source of
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
.
Consequently, fruits account for a substantial fraction of the world's
agricultural
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
output, and some (such as the
apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
and the
pomegranate
The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall.
The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...
) have acquired extensive cultural and symbolic meanings.
In common language usage, "fruit" normally means the seed-associated fleshy structures (or produce) of plants that typically are sweet or sour and edible in the raw state, such as
apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
s,
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
s,
grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...
s,
lemon
The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China.
The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...
s,
oranges
An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related ''Citrus × ...
, and
strawberries
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...
. In botanical usage, the term "fruit" also includes many structures that are not commonly called "fruits" in everyday language, such as
nuts,
bean
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
pods,
corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
kernels
Kernel may refer to:
Computing
* Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems
* Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution
* Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming
* Kernel method, in machine learnin ...
,
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
es, and
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
grains.
Botanical vs. culinary
![FruitArrangement](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/FruitArrangement.jpg)
Many common language terms used for fruit and seeds differ from botanical classifications. For example, in botany, a ''fruit'' is a ripened
ovary
The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...
or
carpel
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
that contains seeds; e.g., an apple, pomegranate, tomato or a pumpkin. A ''
nut
Nut often refers to:
* Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds
* Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt
Nut or Nuts may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...
'' is a type of fruit (and not a seed), and a ''seed'' is a ripened
ovule
In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...
.
In culinary language, a
''fruit'' is the sweet- or not sweet- (even sour-) tasting produce of a specific plant (e.g., a peach, pear or lemon); ''nuts'' are hard, oily, non-sweet plant produce in shells (
hazelnut
The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...
,
acorn
The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally
two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...
). ''
Vegetables
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...
'', so called, typically are
savory or non-sweet produce (
zucchini
The zucchini (; plural: zucchini or zucchinis), courgette (; plural: courgettes) or baby marrow (''Cucurbita pepo'') is a summer squash, a vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and epicarp (rind) are stil ...
, lettuce, broccoli, and tomato); but some may be sweet-tasting (sweet potato).
Examples of botanically classified fruit that typically are called vegetables include:
cucumber
Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables. ,
pumpkin
A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
, and
squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
(
all are cucurbits);
bean
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
s,
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...
s, and
pea
The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
s (
all legumes);
corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
,
eggplant
Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit.
Mos ...
,
bell pepper (or sweet pepper), and tomato (see image). The spices
chili pepper
Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...
and
allspice
Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or pimento, is the dried unripe berry (botany), berry of ''Pimenta dioica'', a Canopy (forest), midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, ...
are fruits, botanically speaking.
In contrast,
rhubarb
Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizo ...
is often called a fruit when used in making
pies
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), sweet ...
, but the edible produce of rhubarb is actually the leaf stalk or
petiole of the plant. Edible
gymnosperm
The gymnosperms ( lit. revealed seeds) are a group of seed-producing plants that includes conifers, cycads, ''Ginkgo'', and gnetophytes, forming the clade Gymnospermae. The term ''gymnosperm'' comes from the composite word in el, γυμνό ...
seeds are often given fruit names, e.g.,
ginkgo
''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus within ...
nuts and
pine nut
Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), pignoli or chilgoza (), are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are trade ...
s.
Botanically, a
cereal
A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...
grain, such as
corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
,
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
, or
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
is a kind of fruit (termed a
caryopsis
In botany, a caryopsis (plural caryopses) is a type of simple fruit—one that is monocarpellate (formed from a single carpel) and indehiscent (not opening at maturity) and resembles an achene, except that in a caryopsis the pericarp is fused ...
). However, the fruit wall is thin and fused to the seed coat, so almost all the edible grain-fruit is actually a seed.
Structure
![Pomegranate fruit - whole and piece with arils](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Pomegranate_fruit_-_whole_and_piece_with_arils.jpg)
The outer layer, often edible, of most fruits is called the ''pericarp''. Typically formed from the ovary, it surrounds the seeds; in some species, however, other structural tissues contribute to or form the edible portion. The pericarp may be described in three layers from outer to inner, i.e., the ''epicarp'', ''mesocarp'' and ''endocarp''.
Fruit that bears a prominent pointed terminal projection is said to be ''beaked''.
Development
A fruit results from the fertilizing and maturing of one or more flowers. The
gynoecium
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
, which contains the ''
stigma-style-ovary'' system, is centered in the flower-head, and it forms all or part of the fruit —(see graphic: 'the parts of a flower'). Inside the
ovary(ies) are one or more
ovule
In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...
s. Here begins a complex sequence called ''
double fertilization
Double fertilization is a complex fertilization mechanism of flowering plants (angiosperms). This process involves the joining of a female gametophyte ( megagametophyte, also called the embryo sac) with two male gametes (sperm). It begins when ...
'': a female
gametophyte
A gametophyte () is one of the two alternation of generations, alternating multicellular organism, multicellular phases in the life cycles of plants and algae. It is a haploid multicellular organism that develops from a haploid spore that has on ...
produces an egg cell for the purpose of fertilization. (A female gametophyte is called a
megagametophyte
A gametophyte () is one of the two alternating multicellular phases in the life cycles of plants and algae. It is a haploid multicellular organism that develops from a haploid spore that has one set of chromosomes. The gametophyte is the ...
, and also called the
embryo sac
In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...
.) After
double fertilization
Double fertilization is a complex fertilization mechanism of flowering plants (angiosperms). This process involves the joining of a female gametophyte ( megagametophyte, also called the embryo sac) with two male gametes (sperm). It begins when ...
, the ovules will become seeds.
Ovules are fertilized in a process that starts with
pollination
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...
, which is the movement of pollen from the stamens to the stigma-style-ovary system within the flower-head, (see graphic). After pollination, a
pollen tube
A pollen tube is a tubular structure produced by the male gametophyte of seed plants when it germinates. Pollen tube elongation is an integral stage in the plant life cycle. The pollen tube acts as a conduit to transport the male gamete cells fro ...
grows from the (deposited) pollen through the stigma down the style into the ovary to the ovule. Two sperm are transferred from the pollen to a megagametophyte. Within the megagametophyte one sperm unites with the egg, forming a
zygote
A zygote (, ) is a eukaryotic cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information of a new individual organism.
In multicellula ...
, while the second sperm enters the central cell forming the endosperm mother cell, which completes the double fertilization process. Later the zygote will give rise to the embryo of the seed, and the endosperm mother cell will give rise to
endosperm
The endosperm is a tissue produced inside the seeds of most of the flowering plants following double fertilization. It is triploid (meaning three chromosome sets per nucleus) in most species, which may be auxin-driven. It surrounds the embryo and ...
, a nutritive tissue used by the embryo.
As the ovules develop into seeds, the ovary begins to ripen and the ovary wall, the ''pericarp'', may become fleshy (as in berries or
drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
s), or it may form a hard outer covering (as in nuts). In some multiseeded fruits, the extent to which a fleshy structure develops is proportional to the number of fertilized ovules. The pericarp typically is differentiated into two or three distinct layers; these are called the ''exocarp'' (outer layer, also called epicarp), ''mesocarp'' (middle layer), and ''endocarp'' (inner layer) —(see image of apple-section).
In some fruits the
sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...
s,
petal
Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...
s,
stamen
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...
s and/or
the style
''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body ...
of the flower fall away as the fleshy fruit ripens. However, for simple fruits derived from an ''
inferior ovary
In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule(s) and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the ba ...
'' —i.e., one that lies ''below'' the attachment of other floral parts, (see graphic re 'insertion point')— there are parts (including petals, sepals, and stamens) that fuse with the ovary and ripen with it. For such a case, when floral parts other than the ovary form a significant part of the fruit that develops, it is called an
accessory fruit
An accessory fruit is a fruit in which some of the flesh is derived not from the floral ovary but from some adjacent tissue exterior to the carpel.Esau, K. 1977. ''Anatomy of seed plants''. John Wiley and Sons, New York. Accessory fruits are us ...
. Examples of accessory fruits include apple, rose hip, strawberry, pineapple;
see below, and "Table of fleshy fruit examples".
Because several parts of the flower besides the ovary may contribute to the structure of a fruit, it is important to study flower structure to understand how a particular fruit forms.
There are three general modes of fruit development:
*
Apocarpous fruits develop from a ''single flower'' (while having one or more separate, unfused, carpels); they are the
simple fruits.
*
Syncarpous
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
fruits develop from a ''single
gynoecium
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
'' (having two or more carpels fused together).
*
Multiple fruits form from many flowers —i.e., an inflorescence of flowers.
File:Nectarine Fruit Development.jpg, The development sequence of a typical drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
, the nectarine
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fuz ...
(''Prunus persica'') over a 7.5 month period, from bud formation in early winter to fruit ripening
Ripening is a process in fruits that causes them to become more palatable. In general, fruit becomes sweeter, less green, and softer as it ripens. Even though the acidity of fruit increases as it ripens, the higher acidity level does not make the ...
in midsummer (see image page for further information)
File:Mature flower diagram.svg, The parts of a flower, showing the stigma-style-ovary system.
File:Pome apples text.jpg, An apple is a simple fleshy fruit. Key parts are the epicarp, or exocarp, or outer skin, (not labelled); and the mezocarp and endocarp (labelled).
image:Ovary position.svg, upright 1.5, Insertion point: There are three positions of insertion of the ovary at the base of a flower: I superior; II half-inferior; III inferior. The 'insertion point' is where the androecium
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...
parts ''(a)'', the petals ''(p)'', and the sepals ''(s)'' all converge and attach to the receptacle ''(r)''. (Ovary= gynoecium ''(g)''.)
File:Noni fruit dev.jpg, upright 1.5, In the noni
''Morinda citrifolia'' is a fruit-bearing tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. Its native range extends across Southeast Asia and Australasia, and was spread across the Pacific by Polynesian sailors. The species is now cultivated throughout th ...
, flowers are produced in time-sequence along the stem. It is possible to see a progression of flowering, fruit development, and fruit ripening.
Classification of fruits
![DewberriesWeb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/DewberriesWeb.jpg)
Consistent with the three modes of fruit development plant scientists have classified fruits into three main groups: simple fruits, aggregate fruits, and multiple (or composite) fruits.
The groupings reflect how the ovary and other flower organs are arranged and how the fruits develop, but they are not evolutionarily relevant as diverse plant
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
may be in the same group.
While the section of a
fungus
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...
that produces
spore
In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...
s is called a ''fruiting'' body, fungi are members of the
fungi kingdom and not of the
plant kingdom
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude ...
.
Simple fruits
Simple fruits are the result of the ripening-to-fruit of a simple or compound ovary in a ''single flower'' with a ''single
pistil
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
''. In contrast, a single flower with numerous pistils typically produces an
aggregate fruit A raspberry fruit (shown with a raspberry beetle larva) is an aggregate fruit, an aggregate of drupe">raspberry_beetle.html" ;"title="raspberry fruit (shown with a raspberry beetle">raspberry fruit (shown with a raspberry beetle larva) is an aggre ...
; and the merging of several flowers, or a 'multiple' of flowers, results in a 'multiple' fruit.
A simple fruit is further classified as to whether it is dry or fleshy.
To distribute their seeds, dry fruits may split open and discharge their seeds to the winds, which is called
dehiscence. Or the distribution process may rely upon the decay and degradation of the fruit to expose the seeds; or it may rely upon the eating of fruit and excreting of seeds by
frugivores
A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and ...
—both are called
indehiscence. Fleshy fruits do not split open, but they also are indehiscent and they may also rely on frugivores for distribution of their seeds. Typically, the entire outer layer of the ovary wall ripens into a potentially edible
pericarp
Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Aggre ...
.
Types of dry simple fruits, (with examples) include:
*
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
– most commonly seen in aggregate fruits (e.g.,
strawberry
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...
, see below).
*
capsule – (
Brazil nut
The Brazil nut (''Bertholletia excelsa'') is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and it is also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seeds. It is one of the largest and longest-lived trees in the Amazon rainforest. ...
: botanically, it is not a nut).
*
caryopsis
In botany, a caryopsis (plural caryopses) is a type of simple fruit—one that is monocarpellate (formed from a single carpel) and indehiscent (not opening at maturity) and resembles an achene, except that in a caryopsis the pericarp is fused ...
– (cereal grains, including
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima
''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
,
oats
The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...
,
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
).
*
cypsela – an achene-like fruit derived from the individual florets in a
capitulum
capitulum (plural capitula) may refer to:
*the Latin word for chapter
** an index or list of chapters at the head of a gospel manuscript
** a short reading in the Liturgy of the Hours
*** derived from which, it is the Latin for the assembly known ...
: (
dandelion
''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...
).
*
fibrous drupe – (
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
,
walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
: botanically, neither is a true nut.).
*
follicle – follicles are formed from a single carpel, and opens by one suture: (
milkweed
''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans ...
); also commonly seen in aggregate fruits: (magnolia, peony).
* legume – (
bean
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
,
pea
The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
,
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...
: botanically, the peanut is the seed of a legume, not a nut).
* loment – a type of indehiscent legume: (Hedysarum, sweet vetch or wild potato).
*
nut
Nut often refers to:
* Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds
* Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt
Nut or Nuts may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...
– (beech#Description, beechnut,
hazelnut
The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...
,
acorn
The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and '' Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally
two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...
(of the oak): botanically, these are true nuts).
* samara (fruit), samara – (Ash tree, ash, elm, maple, maple key).
* schizocarp, see below – (carrot#Description, carrot seed).
* silique – (radish seed).
* silicle – (shepherd's purse).
* utricle (fruit), utricle – (beet, ''Rumex'').
Fruits in which part or all of the Fruit anatomy#Pericarp layers, ''pericarp'' (fruit wall) is fleshy at maturity are termed ''fleshy simple fruits''.
Types of fleshy simple fruits, (with examples) include:
* berry (botany), berry – The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit. The entire outer layer of the ovary wall ripens into a potentially edible "pericarp", (see below).
* stone fruit or
drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
– The definitive characteristic of a drupe is the hard, "lignified" stone (sometimes called the "pit"). It is derived from the ovary wall of the flower: apricot, cherry, olive, peach, plum, mango.
* pome – The pome fruits:
apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
s, pears, rosehips, saskatoon berry, et al., are a syncarpous#Types, syncarpous (fused) fleshy fruit, a simple fruit, developing from a half-inferior ovary, see graphic re 'Insertion point'.
Pomes are of the family Rosaceae,
Berries
![Magnolia wieseneri - labelled gynoecium](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Magnolia_wieseneri_-_labelled_gynoecium.jpg)
Berries are a type of simple fleshy fruit that issue from a single ovary. (The ovary itself may be compound, with several carpels.) The botanical term "true berry" includes grapes, currants, cucumbers, eggplants (aubergines), tomatoes, chili peppers, and bananas, but excludes certain fruits that are called "-berry" by culinary custom or by common usage of the term —such as strawberries and raspberries. Berries may be formed from one or more carpels (i.e., from the simple or compound ovary) from the same, single flower. Seeds typically are embedded in the fleshy interior of the ovary.
Examples here and in the table below:
*
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
– In culinary terms, the tomato is regarded as a vegetable, but it is botanically classified as a fruit and a berry.
*
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
– The fruit has been described as a "leathery berry". In cultivated varieties, the seeds are diminished nearly to non-existence.
* Pepo (botany), pepo – Berries with skin that is hardened: Cucurbitaceae, cucurbits, including gourds, squash, melons.
* hesperidium – Berries with a rind and a juicy interior: most citrus fruit.
* cranberry, gooseberry, redcurrant,
grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...
.
The ''strawberry'', regardless of its appearance, is classified as a dry, not a fleshy fruit. Botanically, it is ''not'' a berry (botany)#Accessory fruits, berry; it is an accessory fruit, aggregate-accessory fruit, the latter term meaning the fleshy part is derived not from the plant's ovaries but from the Receptacle (botany), receptacle that holds the Ovary (botany), ovaries.
[Esau, K. (1977). ''Anatomy of seed plants''. John Wiley and Sons, New York. ] Numerous dry
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
s are attached to the outside of the fruit-flesh, (see image); they appear to be seeds but each is actually an ovary of a flower, with a seed inside.
Schizocarps are dry fruits, though some appear to be fleshy. They originate from syncarpous ovaries but do not actually dehiscence (botany), dehisce; rather, they split into segments with one or more seeds. They include a number of different forms from a wide range of families, including carrot, parsnip, parsley, cumin.
Aggregate fruits
![Longitudinal section of raspberry flower](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Longitudinal_section_of_raspberry_flower.gif)
An aggregate fruit is also called an aggregation, or ''etaerio''; it develops from a single flower that presents numerous simple pistils (see graphic of raspberry pistils).
Each pistil contains one
carpel
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
; together they form a fruitlet. The ultimate (fruiting) development of the aggregation of pistils is called an aggregate fruit, etaerio fruit, or simply an etaerio.
Different types of aggregate fruits can produce different etaerios, such as achenes, drupelets, follicles, and berries.
For example, the Ranunculaceae species, including ''Clematis'' and ''Ranunculus'', produces an etaerio of
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
s;
''Rubus'' species, including raspberry: an etaerio of drupelets;
''Calotropis'' species: an etaerio of
follicles fruit;
''Annona'' species: an etaerio of berries.
Some other broadly recognized species and their etaerios (or aggregations) are:
* Teasel; fruit is an aggregation of cypsela (botany), cypselas.
* tuliptree#Description, Tuliptree; fruit is an aggregation of samara (fruit), samaras.
* Magnolia and peony#Morphology, peony; fruit is an aggregation of follicles.
* liquidambar#Species, American sweet gum; fruit is an aggregation of capsules.
* Platanus occidentalis#Description, Sycamore; fruit is an aggregation of achenes.
The ''raspberry''; its pistils are called ''drupelets'' because each pistil is like a small
drupe
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...
attached to the receptacle. In some bramble fruits such as blackberry the receptacle, an accessory part, elongates and then develops as part of the fruit, making the blackberry an ''#Accessory fruit, aggregate-accessory'' fruit. The
strawberry
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...
is also an aggregate-accessory fruit, of which the seeds are contained in the
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
s. Notably in all these examples, the fruit develops from a single flower, with numerous pistils.
Multiple fruits
A multiple fruit is formed from a cluster of flowers, (a 'multiple' of flowers) —also called an ''inflorescence''. Each ('smallish') flower produces a single fruitlet, which, as all develop, all merge into one mass of fruit. Examples include pineapple, ficus, fig, mulberry, Osage orange, breadfruit. An inflorescence (a cluster) of white flowers, called a head, is produced first. After Fertilization#Fertilisation in plants, fertilization, each flower in the cluster develops into a drupe; as the drupes expand, they develop as a ''connation, connate'' organ, merging into a multiple fleshy fruit called a ''syncarp''.
Progressive stages of multiple flowering and fruit development can be observed on a single branch of the Indian mulberry, or ''
noni
''Morinda citrifolia'' is a fruit-bearing tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. Its native range extends across Southeast Asia and Australasia, and was spread across the Pacific by Polynesian sailors. The species is now cultivated throughout th ...
'', (see image). During the sequence of development, a progression of second, third, and more inflorescences are initiated in turn at the head of the branch or stem.
Accessory fruit forms
Fruits may incorporate tissues derived from other floral parts besides the ovary, including the receptacle, hypanthium, petals, or sepals. Accessory fruits occur in all three classes of fruit development—simple, aggregate, and multiple. Accessory fruits are frequently designated by the hyphenated term showing both characters. For example, a pineapple is a multiple-accessory fruit. a blackberry is an aggregate-accessory fruit, and an apple is a simple-accessory fruit.
Table of fleshy fruit examples
Seedless fruits
![Pineapple and cross section](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Pineapple_and_cross_section.jpg)
Seedlessness is an important feature of some fruits of commerce. Commercial cultivars of
banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
s and pineapples are examples of seedless fruits. Some cultivars of citrus fruits (especially grapefruit, mandarin oranges, navel
oranges
An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related ''Citrus × ...
), Mikan, satsumas, table grapes, and of watermelons are valued for their seedlessness. In some species, seedlessness is the result of ''parthenocarpy'', where fruits set without fertilization. Parthenocarpic fruit-set may (or may not) require pollination, but most seedless citrus fruits require a stimulus from pollination to produce fruit.
Seedless bananas and grapes are triploids, and seedlessness results from the abortion of the embryonic plant that is produced by fertilization, a phenomenon known as ''stenospermocarpy'', which requires normal pollination and fertilization.
Seed dissemination
Variations in fruit structures largely depend on the Biological dispersal, modes of dispersal applied to their seeds. Dispersal is achieved by wind or water, by explosive dehiscence, and by interactions with animals.
Some fruits present their outer skins or shells coated with spikes or hooked burrs; these evolved either to deter would-be foragers from feeding on them, or to serve to attach themselves to the hair, feathers, legs, or clothing of animals, thereby using them as dispersal agents. These plants are termed zoochorous; common examples include cocklebur, unicorn plant, and beggarticks, beggarticks (or Spanish needle).
By developments of mutual evolution the fleshy produce of fruits typically appeals to hungry animals, such that the seeds contained within are taken in, carried away and later deposited (i.e., Defecation, defecated) at a distance from the parent plant. Likewise, the nutritious, oily kernels of
nuts typically motivate birds and squirrels to hoarding, hoard them, burying them in soil to retrieve later during the winter of scarcity; thereby, uneaten seeds are sown effectively under natural conditions to Germination, germinate and grow a new plant some distance away from the parent.
Other fruits have evolved wing#In nature, flattened and elongated wings or helicopter, helicopter-like blades, e.g., elm, maple, and tuliptree. This mechanism increases dispersal distance away from the parent via wind. Other wind-dispersed fruit have tiny "Pappus (flower structure), parachutes", e.g.,
dandelion
''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...
, Asclepias, milkweed, Tragopogon, salsify.
Coconut fruits can float thousands of miles in the ocean, thereby spreading their seeds. Other fruits that can disperse via water are nipa palm and screw pine.
Some fruits have evolved propulsive mechanisms that fling seeds substantial distances —(perhaps up to 100 m in the case of the sandbox tree)— via explosive dehiscence or other such mechanisms, (see impatiens and squirting cucumber.
Food uses
![Picking blackberries in Oklahoma](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Picking_blackberries_in_Oklahoma.jpg)
A cornucopia of fruits —fleshy (simple) fruits from apples to berries to watermelon; dry (simple) fruits including beans and rice, coconuts and carrots; aggregate fruits including strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, pawpaw; multiple fruits such as pineapple, fig, mulberries; (see above re all)— are commercially valuable as human food. They are eaten both fresh and as jams, marmalade and other fruit preserves. They are used extensively in manufactured and processed foods (cakes, cookies, baked goods, flavorings, ice cream, yogurt, canned vegetables, frozen vegetables and meals) and beverages such as fruit juices and alcoholic beverages (brandy, fruit beer, wine). Spices like vanilla, black pepper, paprika, and
allspice
Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or pimento, is the dried unripe berry (botany), berry of ''Pimenta dioica'', a Canopy (forest), midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, ...
are derived from berries. Olive, Olive fruit is pressed for olive oil and similar processing is applied to other oil bearing fruits/vegetables.
Fruits are also used for socializing and gift-giving in the form of fruit baskets and fruit bouquets.
Typically, many botanical fruits —"vegetables" in culinary ''parlance''— (including tomato, green beans, leaf greens, bell pepper, cucumber, eggplant, okra, pumpkin, squash, zucchini) are bought and sold daily in fresh produce markets and greengroceries and carried back to kitchens, at home or restaurant, for preparation of meals.
Storage
All fruits benefit from proper post harvest care, and in many fruits, the plant hormone Ethylene-ripened fruits, ethylene causes
ripening
Ripening is a process in fruits that causes them to become more palatable. In general, fruit becomes sweeter, less green, and softer as it ripens. Even though the acidity of fruit increases as it ripens, the higher acidity level does not make the ...
. Therefore, maintaining most fruits in an efficient cold chain is optimal for post harvest storage, with the aim of extending and ensuring shelf life.
[Why Cold Chain for Fruits: ]
Nutritional value
![Fruit Nutrition](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Fruit_Nutrition.png)
Various culinary fruits provide significant amounts of Dietary fiber, fiber and water, and many are generally high in vitamin C.
An overview of numerous studies showed that fruits (e.g., whole apples or whole oranges) are satisfying (filling) by simply eating and chewing them.
The dietary fiber consumed in eating fruit promotes satiety, and may help to control body weight and aid reduction of blood cholesterol, a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Fruit consumption is under preliminary research for the potential to improve nutrition and affect chronic diseases. Regular consumption of fruit is generally associated with reduced risks of several diseases and functional declines associated with aging.
Food safety
For food safety, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC recommends proper fruit handling and preparation to reduce the risk of food contamination and foodborne illness. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be carefully selected; at the store, they should not be damaged or bruised; and precut pieces should be refrigerated or surrounded by ice.
All fruits and vegetables should be rinsed before eating. This recommendation also applies to produce with rinds or skins that are not eaten. It should be done just before preparing or eating to avoid premature spoilage.
Fruits and vegetables should be kept separate from raw foods like meat, poultry, and seafood, as well as from utensils that have come in contact with raw foods. Fruits and vegetables that are not going to be cooked should be thrown away if they have touched raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs.
All cut, peeled, or cooked fruits and vegetables should be refrigerated within two hours. After a certain time, harmful bacteria may grow on them and increase the risk of foodborne illness.
Allergies
Fruit allergies make up about 10 percent of all food related allergies.
Nonfood uses
Because fruits have been such a major part of the human diet, various cultures have developed many different uses for fruits they do not depend on for food. For example:
![PorcelainBerry](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/PorcelainBerry.JPG)
* Bayberry fruits provide a wax often used to make candles;
* Many dry fruits are used as decorations or in dried flower arrangements (e.g., annual honesty, cotoneaster, Nelumbo, lotus,
milkweed
''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans ...
, unicorn plant, and
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
). Ornamental trees and shrubs are often cultivated for their colorful fruits, including beautyberry, cotoneaster, holly, pyracantha, skimmia, and viburnum.
* Fruits of opium poppy are the source of opium, which contains the drugs codeine and morphine, as well as the biologically inactive chemical theabaine from which the drug oxycodone is synthesized.
* Osage orange fruits are used to repel cockroaches.
* Many fruits provide natural dyes (e.g., cherry, mulberry, sumac, and
walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
).
* Dried gourds are used as bird houses, cups, decorations, dishes, musical instruments, and water jugs.
* Pumpkins are carved into Jack-o'-lanterns for Halloween.
* The fibrous core of the mature and dry Luffa fruit is used as a sponge.
* The spiny fruit of burdock or cocklebur inspired the invention of Velcro.
* Coir fiber from
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
shells is used for brushes, doormats, floor tiles, insulation, mattresses, sacking, and as a growing medium for container plants. The shell of the coconut fruit is used to make bird houses, bowls, cups, musical instruments, and souvenir heads.
* The hard and colorful grain fruits of Job's tears are used as decorative beads for jewelry, garments, and ritual objects.
* Fruit is often a subject of still life paintings.
See also
* Fruit tree
* Fruitarianism
* List of countries by fruit production
* List of culinary fruits
* List of foods
* List of fruit dishes
References
Further reading
* Gollner, Adam J. (2010). ''The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession''. Scribner.
* Watson, R. R., and Preedy, V.R. (2010, eds.). ''Bioactive Foods in Promoting Health: Fruits and Vegetables''. Academic Press.
External links
Images of fruit development from flowersat bioimages.Vanderbilt.edu
at bioimages.Vanderbilt.edu
from California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
Photo ID of Fruits by Capt. Pawanexh Kohli
*
{{Authority control
Fruit
Pollination
Types of food