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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 berry is a fleshy
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
without a
stone (pit) produced from a single
flower
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 mechani ...
containing one
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. ...
. Berries so defined include
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,
currants, and
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, as well as
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. s,
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 ...
s (aubergines) and
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, but exclude certain fruits that meet the culinary definition of berries, such as
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 ...
and
raspberries
The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with ...
. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which 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. Aggr ...
". Berries may be formed from one or more
carpels
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'' ...
from the same flower (i.e. from a simple or a compound ovary). 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 ...
s are usually embedded in the fleshy interior of the ovary, but there are some non-fleshy exceptions, such as
peppers
Pepper or peppers may refer to:
Food and spice
* Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant
** Black pepper
* ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae
** Bell pepper
** Chili ...
, with air rather than pulp around their seeds.
Many berries are edible, but others, such as the fruits of the
potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
and the
deadly nightshade
''Atropa belladonna'', commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a toxic perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant (aubergine). It is native to Europe, North ...
, are
poison
Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...
ous to humans.
A plant that bears berries is said to be bacciferous or baccate (a fruit that resembles a berry, whether it actually is a berry or not, can also be called "baccate").
In everyday English, a "
berry
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...
" is any small edible fruit. Berries are usually juicy, round, brightly coloured,
sweet
Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...
or
sour
The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...
, and do not have a stone or pit, although many small seeds may be present.
[
]
Botanical berries
In botanical
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 wo ...
language, a berry is a simple fruit having 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 and fleshy pulp (the 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. Aggr ...
) produced 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. ...
of a single flower. The ovary can be inferior or superior. It is indehiscent
Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part; structures that op ...
, i.e. it does not have a special "line of weakness" along which it splits to release the seeds when ripe.[ The pericarp is divided into three layers. The outer layer is called the "exocarp" or "]epicarp
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. Aggr ...
"; the middle layer, the "mesocarp
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. Agg ...
" or "sarcocarp"; the inner layer, the "endocarp
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. Agg ...
". Botanists have not applied these terms consistently. Exocarp and endocarp may be restricted to more-or-less single-layered "skins", or may include tissues adjacent to them; thus on one view, the exocarp extends inwards to the layer of vascular bundle
A vascular bundle is a part of the transport system in vascular plants. The transport itself happens in the stem, which exists in two forms: xylem and phloem. Both these tissues are present in a vascular bundle, which in addition will inclu ...
s ("veins"). The inconsistency in usage has been described as "a source of confusion".
The nature of the endocarp distinguishes a berry from a 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'') ...
, which has a hardened or stony endocarp (see also below). The two kinds of fruit intergrade, depending on the state of the endocarp. Some sources have attempted to quantify the difference, e.g. requiring the endocarp to be less than 2 mm thick in a berry.[
Examples of botanical berries include:
* ]Avocado
The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for i ...
contains a single large seed surrounded by an imperceptible endocarp. Avocados are however also sometimes classified as drupes.
* 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 ...
[
* ]Barberry
''Berberis'' (), commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world (apart from Australia). Species diversity is greatest in South America a ...
(''Berberis''), Oregon-grape (''Mahonia aquifolium'') and mayapple (''Podophyllum'' spp.) (Berberidaceae
The Berberidaceae are a family of 18 genera of flowering plants commonly called the barberry family. This family is in the order Ranunculales. The family contains about 700 known species, of which the majority are in ''Berberis''. The species i ...
)
* Strawberry tree (''Arbutus unedo'') (not to be confused with 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 ...
(''Fragaria''), which is an accessory fruit), bearberry
Bearberries ( indigenous kinnickinnick) are three species of dwarf shrubs in the genus ''Arctostaphylos''. Unlike the other species of ''Arctostaphylos'' (see manzanita), they are adapted to Arctic and Subarctic climates, and have a circumpolar ...
(''Arctostaphylos'' spp.), bilberry
Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is '' Vaccinium myrtill ...
, blueberry
Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...
, cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry ...
, lingonberry
''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'', the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Norther ...
/cowberry (''Vaccinium vitis-idaea
''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'', the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Norther ...
''), crowberry
''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, or, in western Alaska, blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually dioecious, but there ...
(''Empetrum'' spp.) (family Ericaceae
The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...
)
* Coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
berries (Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules ...
) (also described as drupes)[ "fruit a berry containing two (rarely one) seeds"]
* Gooseberry and currant (''Ribes'' spp.; Grossulariaceae
''Ribes'' is a genus of about 200 known species of flowering plants, most of them native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The various species are known as currants or gooseberries, and some are cultivated for their edible ...
), red, black, and white types
* Aubergine
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.
Mo ...
/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 ...
, 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 ...
, goji
Goji, goji berry, or wolfberry () is the fruit of either ''Lycium barbarum'' or '' Lycium chinense'', two closely related species of boxthorn in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. ''L. barbarum'' and ''L. chinense'' fruits are simil ...
berries (wolfberry) and other species of the family Solanaceae
The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orn ...
* Elderberry
''Sambucus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly called elder or elderberry. The genus was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified as Adoxaceae due to ge ...
(''Sambucus niger''; Adoxaceae
Adoxaceae, commonly known as moschatel family, is a small family of flowering plants in the order Dipsacales, now consisting of five genera and about 150–200 species. They are characterised by opposite toothed leaves, small five- or, more rare ...
)
* Indian gooseberry
''Phyllanthus emblica'', also known as emblic, emblic myrobalan, myrobalan, Indian gooseberry, Malacca tree, or amla, from the Sanskrit आमलकी (āmalakī), is a deciduous tree of the family Phyllanthaceae. Its native range is tropical a ...
''(Phyllanthus emblica)'' (Phyllanthaceae
Phyllanthaceae is a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Malpighiales. It is most closely related to the family Picrodendraceae.Kenneth J. Wurdack and Charles C. Davis. 2009. "Malpighiales phylogenetics: Gaining ground on one of the ...
)
* ''Garcinia gummi-gutta
''Garcinia gummi-gutta'' is a tropical species of '' Garcinia'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Common names include ''Garcinia cambogia'' (a former scientific name), as well as brindle berry, and Malabar tamarind. The fruit looks like ...
'', ''Garcinia mangostana
Mangosteen (''Garcinia mangostana''), also known as the purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree with edible fruit native to tropical lands surrounding the Indian Ocean. Its origin is uncertain due to widespread prehistoric cultivation. ...
'' (mangosteen) and ''Garcinia indica
''Garcinia indica'', a plant in the mangosteen family (Clusiaceae), commonly known as ''kokum'', is a fruit-bearing tree that has culinary, pharmaceutical, and industrial uses. It primarily grows in the Western Ghats, especially the Goa and Konka ...
'' in the family Clusiaceae
The Clusiaceae or Guttiferae Juss. (1789) (''nom. alt. et cons.'' = alternative and valid name) are a family of plants including 13 genera and ca 750 species. Several former members of Clusiacae are now placed in Calophyllaceae and Hypericaceae. ...
* Sapodilla
''Manilkara zapota'', commonly known as sapodilla (), sapote, naseberry, nispero or chicle, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatán in the ...
(''Manilkara zapota''), Sapotaceae
240px, '' Madhuca longifolia'' var. ''latifolia'' in Narsapur, Medak district, India
The Sapotaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants belonging to the order (biology), order Ericales. The family includes about 800 species of ev ...
* 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, ...
, ''Vitis vinifera
''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are curre ...
'' in the family Vitaceae
The Vitaceae are a family of flowering plants, with 14 genera and around 910 known species, including common plants such as grapevines (''Vitis'' spp.) and Virginia creeper (''Parthenocissus quinquefolia''). The family name is derived from the ge ...
* Honeysuckle
Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both conti ...
: the berries of ''some'' species are edible and are called honeyberries, but others are poisonous (''Lonicera'' spp.; Caprifoliaceae
The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species, in 33, to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America an ...
)
* Persimmon
The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus ''Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Oriental persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki'' ''Diospyros'' is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-pers ...
( Ebenaceae)[
* ]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 ...
, 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. and watermelon
Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieti ...
in the family Cucurbitaceae
The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera, of which the most important to humans are:
*''Cucurbita'' – squash, pumpkin, zucchini, some gourds
*''Lagena ...
[
]
Modified berries
"True berries", or "baccae", may also be required to have a thin outer skin, not self-supporting when removed from the berry. This distinguishes, for example, a ''Vaccinium
''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (whort ...
'' or ''Solanum
''Solanum'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solanaceae ...
'' berry from an ''Adansonia
''Adansonia'' is a genus made up of eight species of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). They are placed in the Malvaceae family, subfamily Bombacoideae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia.Tropic ...
'' (baobab) amphisarca, which has a dry, more rigid and self-supporting skin.[ The fruit of ]citrus
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...
, such as the orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
, kumquat
Kumquats (; zh, 金桔), or cumquats in Australian English, are a group of small fruit-bearing trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae. Their taxonomy is disputed. They were previously classified as forming the now-historical genus ''For ...
and 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 ...
, is a berry with a thick rind and a very juicy interior divided into segments by septa
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...
, that is given the special name "hesperidium
A hesperidium (plural hesperidia) is a modified berry with a tough, leathery rind.
Etymology
Carl Linnaeus gave the name Hesperideæ to an order containing the genus ''Citrus'', in allusion to the golden apples of the Hesperides.
Development
...
".[ A specialized term, ]pepo
PEPO Lappeenranta (abbreviated PEPO) is a football club from Lappeenranta in Finland. The club was formed in 1958 and their home ground is at the Kimpinen Sports Centre. The men's first team currently plays in the Ykkönen (Second Division). ...
, is also used for fruits of the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae
The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera, of which the most important to humans are:
*''Cucurbita'' – squash, pumpkin, zucchini, some gourds
*''Lagena ...
, which are modified to have a hard outer rind, but are not internally divided by septae.[ The fruits of '']Passiflora
''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae.
They are mostly tendril-bearing vines, with some being shrubs or trees. They ...
'' (passion fruit
''Passiflora edulis,'' commonly known as passion fruit, is a vine species of passion flower native to southern Brazil through Paraguay and northern Argentina. It is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for its sweet, seedy ...
) and ''Carica
''Carica'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caricaceae including the papaya (''C. papaya'' syn. ''C. peltata'', ''C. posoposa''), a widely cultivated fruit tree native to the American tropics.
The genus was formerly treated as incl ...
'' (papaya) are sometimes also considered pepos.[
Berries that develop from an inferior ovary are sometimes termed ]epigynous
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 bas ...
berries or false berries, as opposed to true berries, which develop from a superior ovary. In epigynous berries, the berry includes tissue derived from parts of the flower besides the ovary. The floral tube, formed from the basal part of the sepals, petals and stamens can become fleshy at maturity and is united with the ovary to form the fruit. Common fruits that are sometimes classified as epigynous berries include 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, coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
, members of the genus ''Vaccinium
''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (whort ...
'' (e.g., cranberries and blueberries), and members of the family Cucurbitaceae (gourds, 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. s, melon
A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...
s 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 ...
).[
]
Berry-like fruits
Many fruits commonly referred to as berries are not actual berries by the scientific definition, but fall into one of the following categories:
Drupes
Drupes are varyingly distinguished from botanical berries. Drupes are fleshy fruits produced from a (usually) single-seeded ovary with a hard woody layer (called the endocarp
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. Agg ...
) surrounding the seed. Familiar examples include the stonefruits of the genus ''Prunus
''Prunus'' is a genus of trees and shrubs, which includes (among many others) the fruits plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds.
Native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and the p ...
'' (peach
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-fu ...
es, plum
A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes.
History
Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...
s and cherries), olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
s, 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 ...
, dates
Date or dates may refer to:
*Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'')
Social activity
*Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner
**Group dating
* Play date, a ...
, bayberry
''Myrica'' is a genus of about 35–50 species of small trees and shrubs in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. The genus has a wide distribution, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and missing only from Australi ...
and '' Persea'' species. Some definitions make the mere presence of an internally differentiated endocarp the defining feature of a drupe;[ others qualify the nature of the endocarp required in a drupe, e.g. defining berries to have endocarp less than 2 mm thick.][ The term "drupaceous" is used of fruits that have the general structure and texture of a drupe,][ without necessarily meeting the full definition. Other drupe-like fruits with a single seed that lack the stony endocarp include ]sea-buckthorn
''Hippophae'' is the genus of sea buckthorns, deciduous shrubs in the family Elaeagnaceae. The name sea buckthorn may be hyphenated to avoid confusion with the unrelated true buckthorns (''Rhamnus'', family Rhamnaceae). It is also referred to as ...
(''Hippophae rhamnoides'', Elaeagnaceae
The Elaeagnaceae are a plant family, the oleaster family, of the order Rosales comprising small trees and shrubs, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, south into tropical Asia and Australia. The family has about 60 species ...
), which is an 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 ...
, surrounded by a swollen hypanthium
In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the calyx, the corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and calyx tube. It ...
that provides the fleshy layer.[ Fruits of ''Coffea'' species are described as either drupes or berries.][
]
Pomes
The pome fruits produced by plants in subtribe Pyrinae of family Rosaceae
Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera.
The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are ''Alchemilla'' (270), ''Sorbus ...
, such as apples and pears, have a structure (the core) in which tough tissue clearly separates the seeds from the outer softer pericarp.[ Pomes are not berries. However, some of the smaller pomes are sometimes referred to as berries. '' Amelanchier'' pomes become so soft at maturity that they resemble a ]blueberry
Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...
and are known as Juneberries, serviceberries or Saskatoon berries.[
]
Aggregate fruits
Aggregate or compound fruits contain seeds from different ovaries of a single flower, with the individual "fruitlets" joined at maturity to form the complete fruit.[ Examples of aggregate fruits commonly called "berries" include members of the genus ''Rubus'', such as ]blackberry
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...
and raspberry
The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...
.[ Botanically, these are not berries. Other large aggregate fruits, such as soursop ('' Annona muricata''),] are not usually called "berries", although some sources do use this term.
Multiple fruits
Multiple fruits are not botanical berries. Multiple fruits are the fruits of two or more multiple flowers that are merged or packed closely together.[ The ]mulberry
''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
is a berry-like example of a multiple fruit; it develops from a cluster of tiny separate flowers that become compressed as they develop into fruit.[
]
Accessory fruits
Accessory fruits are not botanical berries. In accessory fruits, the edible part is not generated by the ovary. Berry-like examples include:
* 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 ...
– the non-fleshy aggregate of seed-like 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 on its exterior is actually the "fruit", derived from an aggregate of ovaries; the fleshy part develops instead from the receptacle.
* Mock strawberry (''Duchesnea indica)'' – structured just like a strawberry.
* Sea grape (''Coccoloba uvifera
''Coccoloba uvifera'' is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae, that is native to coastal beaches throughout tropical America and the Caribbean, including southern Florida, the Bahamas, the Greater and Lesser Antille ...
''; Polygonaceae
The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus '' Polygonum'', and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1 ...
) – the fruit is a dry capsule surrounded by fleshy calyx.
Berry-like conifer seed cones
The female seed cones
A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex.
A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...
of some conifer
Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...
s have fleshy and merged scales, giving them a berry-like appearance. Juniper "berries" (family Cupressaceae
Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdio ...
), in particular those of ''Juniperus communis
''Juniperus communis'', the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the coo ...
'', are used to flavour gin. The seed cones of species in the families Podocarpaceae
Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pre ...
and Taxaceae
Taxaceae (), commonly called the yew family, is a coniferous family which includes six extant and two extinct genera, and about 30 species of plants, or in older interpretations three genera and 7 to 12 species.
Description
They are many-bran ...
have a bright colour when fully developed, increasing the resemblance to true berries. The "berries" of yews (''Taxus
''Taxus'' is a genus of coniferous trees or shrubs known as yews in the family Taxaceae. They are relatively slow-growing and can be very long-lived, and reach heights of , with trunk girth averaging . They have reddish bark, lanceolate, flat, ...
'' species) consist of a female seed cone with which develops a fleshy red aril
An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...
partially enclosing the poisonous seed.
History of terminology
The Latin word ' or ' (plural ') was originally used for "any small round fruit".[ Andrea Caesalpinus (1519–1603) classified plants into trees and herbs, further dividing them by properties of their flowers and fruit. He did not make the modern distinction between "fruits" and "seeds", calling hard structures like nuts ' or seeds. A fleshy fruit was called a '. For Caesalpinus, a true ' or berry was a ' derived from a flower with a superior ovary; one derived from a flower with an inferior ovary was called a '.][
In 1751, ]Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
wrote ''Philosophia Botanica
''Philosophia Botanica'' ("Botanical Philosophy", ed. 1, Stockholm & Amsterdam, 1751.) was published by the Swedish naturalist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) who greatly influenced the development of botanical taxonomy and systematics ...
'', considered to be the first textbook of descriptive systematic botany. He used eight different terms for fruits, one of which was ' or berry, distinguished from other types of fruit such as ' (drupe) and ' (pome).[ A ' was defined as "'", meaning "unvalved solid pericarp, containing otherwise naked seeds".][ The adjective "'" here has the sense of "solid with tissue softer than the outside; stuffed". A berry or ' was distinguished from a drupe and a pome, both of which also had an unvalved solid pericarp; a drupe also contained a nut (') and a pome a capsule ('), rather than the berry's naked seeds.][ Linnaeus' use of ' and ' was thus significantly different from that of Caesalpinus. Botanists continue to differ on how fruit should be classified.][
]Joseph Gaertner
Joseph Gaertner (12 March 1732 – 14 July 1791) was a German botanist, best known for his work on seeds, ''De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum'' (1788-1792).
Biography
He was born in Calw, and studied in Göttingen under Albrecht von Haller. ...
published a two-volume work, ''De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum
''De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum'', also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Fruct. Sem. Pl.'', is a three-volume botanic treatise by Joseph Gaertner. The first volume was published in December 1788. The second volume was publishe ...
'' (on the fruits and seeds of plants) between 1788 and 1792. In addition to Linnaeus' eight terms, he introduced seven more, including ' for the berry-like fruits of cucurbits.[ A pepo was distinguished by being a fleshy berry with the seeds distant from the axis, and so nearer the fruit wall][ (i.e. by having "]parietal placentation
Placentation refers to the formation, type and structure, or arrangement of the placenta. The function of placentation is to transfer nutrients, respiratory gases, and water from maternal tissue to a growing embryo, and in some instances to remov ...
" in modern terminology). Nicaise Auguste Desvaux
Nicaise Auguste Desvaux (28 August 1784 – 12 July 1856) was a French botanist.
From 1816 he taught classes in Angers, where from 1817 to 1838 he served as director of its botanical garden. He described the botanical genera ''Neslia'', ''Mycenast ...
in 1813 used the terms ' and ' as further subdivisions of berries.[ A hesperidium, called by others ' (berry with a cortex), had separate internal compartments (''""'' in the original French) and a separable membraneous epicarp or skin. An amphisarca was described as woody on the outside and fleshy on the inside.][ "Hesperidium" remains in general use, but "amphisarca" is rarely used.][
There remains no universally agreed system of classification for fruits, and there continues to be "confusion over classification of fruit types and the definitions given to fruit terms".][
]
Evolution and phylogenetic significance
By definition, berries have a fleshy, indehiscent pericarp, as opposed to a dry, dehiscent pericarp. Fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s show that early 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 had dry fruits; fleshy fruits, such as berries or drupes, appeared only towards the end of the Cretaceous Period
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of t ...
or the beginning of the Paleogene Period
The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...
, about . The increasing importance of seed dispersal by fruit-eating vertebrates, both mammals and birds, may have driven the evolution of fleshy fruits. Alternatively, the causal direction may be the other way round. Large fleshy fruits are associated with moist habitats with closed tree canopies, where wind dispersal of dry fruits is less effective. Such habitats were increasingly common in the Paleogene and the associated change in fruit type may have led to the evolution of fruit eating in mammals and birds.[
Fruit type has been considered to be a useful character in classification and in understanding the ]phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...
of plants.[ The evolution of fruits with a berry-like pericarp has been studied in a wide range of flowering plant families. Repeated transitions between fleshy and dry pericarps have been demonstrated regularly. One well-studied family is the ]Solanaceae
The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orn ...
, because of the commercial importance of fruit such as tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants or aubergines. Capsules, which are dry dehiscent fruits, appear to be the original form of the fruit in the earliest diverging members of the family. Berries have then evolved at least three times: in ''Cestrum
''Cestrum'' is a genus of — depending on authority — 150-250 species of flowering plants in the family Solanaceae. They are native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southernmost United States (Florida, Texas: day ...
'', ''Duboisia
:''The orchid genus described by Karsten as ''Duboisia'' is now included in '' Myoxanthus. For the prehistoric antelope genus, see '' Duboisia (antelope).''
''Duboisia'' (commonly called corkwood tree) is a genus of small perennial shrubs and tr ...
'', and in the subfamily Solanoideae
Solanoideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Solanaceae, and is sister to the subfamily Nicotianoideae. Within Solanaceae, Solanoideae contains some of the most economically important genera and species, such as the tomato (''Solanum l ...
. Detailed anatomical and developmental studies have shown that the berries of ''Cestrum'' and those of the Solanoideae are significantly different; for example, expansion of the fruit during development involves cell divisions in the mesocarp in Solanoideae berries, but not in ''Cestrum'' berries.[
When fruits described as berries were studied in the family ]Melastomaceae
Melastomataceae is a family of dicots, dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics (two-thirds of the genera are from the New World tropics) comprising c. 175 genera and c. 5115 known species. Melastomes are annual or perennial h ...
, they were found to be highly variable in structure, some being soft with an endocarp that soon broke down, others having a hard, persistent endocarp, even woody in some species.[ Fruits classified as berries are thus not necessarily homologous, with the fleshy part being derived from different parts of the ovary, and with other structural and developmental differences. The presence or absence of berries is not a reliable guide to phylogeny.][ Indeed, fruit type in general has proved to be an unreliable guide to flowering plant relationships.][
]
Uses
Culinary
Berries, defined loosely, have been valuable as a food source to humans since before the start of agriculture, and remain among the primary food sources of other primates. Botanically defined berries with culinary uses include:
* Berries in the strictest sense: including bananas and plantains, blueberries, cranberries, coffee berries, gooseberries, red-, black- and white currants, tomatoes, grapes and peppers (''Capsicum
''Capsicum'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the Solanum, nightshade family Solanaceae, native to Americas, the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their chili pepper or bell pepper fruit.
Etymology and names
The generic name may come f ...
'' fruits)
* Hesperidia: citrus fruits, including oranges, lemons and limes
* Pepos: cucurbits, including squashes, cucumbers, melons and watermelons
Some berries are brightly coloured, due to plant pigment
Biological pigments, also known simply as pigments or biochromes, are substances produced by living organisms that have a color resulting from selective color absorption. Biological pigments include plant pigments and flower pigments. Many biol ...
s such as anthocyanin
Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart gave the name Anthokyan to a chemical compo ...
s and other flavonoid
Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans.
Chemically, flavonoids ...
s. These pigments are localized mainly in the outer surface and 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 ...
s.[ Such pigments have ]antioxidant
Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricant ...
properties ''in vitro
''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in biology an ...
'',[ but there is no reliable evidence that they have antioxidant or any other useful functions within the human body. Consequently, it is not permitted to claim that foods containing plant pigments have antioxidant health value on product labels in the United States or Europe.][
Some ]spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...
s are prepared from berries. 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, ...
is made from the dried berries of ''Pimenta dioica''.[ The fruits (berries) of different ]cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...
s of ''Capsicum annuum
''Capsicum annuum'' is a species of the plant genus ''Capsicum'' native to southern North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. This species is the most common and extensively cultivated of the five domesticated capsicums. The spec ...
'' are used to make paprika (mildly hot), chili pepper (hot) and cayenne pepper (very hot).
Others
Pepos, characterized by a hard outer rind, have also been used as containers by removing the inner flesh and seeds and then drying the remaining exocarp. The English name of ''Lagenaria siceraria
Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...
'', "bottle gourd", reflects its use as a liquid container.[
Some true berries have also been used as a source of dyes. In ]Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, these included berries from a species of ''Dianella Dianella may refer to:
* ''Dianella'' (beetle), a species and genus of beetle in the family Carabidae now known as ''Diamella''
* ''Dianella'' (gastropod), a genus of freshwater snails in the family Hydrobiidae
* ''Dianella'' (plant), a genus of ...
'', used to produce blue, and berries from black nightshade (''Solanum americanum
''Solanum americanum'', commonly known as American black nightshade, small-flowered nightshade or glossy nightshade, is a herbaceous flowering plant of wide though uncertain native range. The certain native range encompasses the tropics and subtr ...
''), used to produce green.[
]
History
Cucurbit berries or pepos, particularly from ''Cucurbita'' and ''Lagenaria'', are the earliest plants known to be domesticated
Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...
– before 9,000–10,000 BP in the Americas, and probably by 12,000–13,000 BP in Asia.[ Peppers were domesticated in Mesoamerica by 8,000 BP.][ Many other early cultivated plants were also berries by the strict botanical definition, including grapes, domesticated by 8,000 BP][ and known to have been used in wine production by 6,000 BP.][
Bananas were first domesticated in ]Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. Archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
and palaeoenvironmental evidence at Kuk Swamp in the Western Highlands Province
Western Highlands is a province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Mount Hagen. The province covers an area of 4,299 km2, and there are 362,850 inhabitants (2011 census), making the Western Highlands the most densely populated pro ...
of Papua New Guinea suggests that banana cultivation there goes back to at least 7,000 BP, and possibly to 10,000 BP.[
The history of cultivated ]citrus fruit
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to So ...
remains unclear, although some recent research suggests a possible origin in Papuasia
Papuasia is a Level 2 botanical region defined in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It lies in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in the Melanesia ecoregion of Oceania and Tropical Asia.
It comprises the ...
rather than continental southeast Asia. Chinese documents show that mandarins and pomelo
The pomelo ( ), ''Citrus maxima'', is the largest citrus fruit from the family Rutaceae and the principal ancestor of the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid, citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia. Similar in taste to a sweet grapefr ...
s were established in cultivation there by around 4,200 BP.[
]
Commercial production
According to FAOSTAT
The Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT) website disseminates statistical data collected and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). FAOSTAT data are provided as a time-series from 1961 in mo ...
data, in 2013 four of the five top fruit crops in terms of world production by weight were botanical berries. The other was a pome (apples).
According to FAOSTAT, in 2001, bananas (including plantains) and citrus comprised over 25% by value of the world's exported fruits and vegetables, citrus fruits being more valuable than bananas.[ Export quantities of fruit are not entirely comparable with production quantities, since slightly different categories are used. The top five fruit exports by weight in 2012 are shown in the table below. The top two places are again occupied by bananas and citrus.
]
See also
*List of culinary fruits
This list contains the names of Fruit, fruits that are considered Eating, edible either raw or in some Cuisine, cuisines. The word "fruit" is used in several different ways. The definition of fruit for this list is a culinary fruit, that is, "Any ...
*List of inedible fruits
The following is an incomplete list of fleshy fruits that may appear to be edible by humans, but are inedible. Some of them are poisonous, others are merely too unpalatable for consumption.
Inedible fruits
* Abacá, ''Musa textilis'' (M ...
Notes
References
External links
{{Authority control
Fruit morphology