Wikipedia is sustained by people like you. Please donate today.

Try Beta Log in / create account

article discussion view source history

Fruit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Fruit (disambiguation).

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food
navigation
preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the
Main page
presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from fruits.[1]
Contents
Featured content No single terminology really fits the enormous variety that is found among plant fruits.[2] The term 'false
Current events fruit' (pseudocarp, accessory fruit) is sometimes applied to a fruit like the fig (a multiple-accessory fruit;
Random article see below) or to a plant structure that resembles a fruit but is not derived from a flower or flowers. Some
search gymnosperms, such as yew, have fleshy arils that resemble fruits and some junipers have berry-like,
fleshy cones. The term "fruit" has also been inaccurately applied to the seed-containing female cones of
many conifers.[3] Fruit basket painted by Balthasar van
Go der Ast
  Search
Contents [hide]
interaction 1 Botanic fruit and culinary fruit
About Wikipedia 2 Fruit development
Community portal 2.1 Simple fruit
Recent changes 2.2 Aggregate fruit
Contact Wikipedia
2.3 Multiple fruit
Donate to Wikipedia
2.4 Fruit chart Fruit and vegetable output in 2004
Help
3 Seedless fruits
toolbox 4 Seed dissemination
What links here 5 Uses
Related changes 5.1 Nutritional value
Upload file 5.2 Nonfood uses
Special pages
6 Safety
Printable version
7 Storage
Permanent link
8 See also
Cite this page
9 References
languages
10 External links

Aragonés
Botanic fruit and culinary fruit
Avañe'ẽ
Many true fruits, in a botanical sense, are treated as vegetables in cooking and food
Aymar aru
preparation because they are not sweet. These culinary vegetables include cucurbits
Azәrbaycan
Bân-lâm-gú (e.g., squash, pumpkin, and cucumber), tomatoes, peas, beans, corn, eggplant, and
Беларуская sweet pepper; some spices, such as allspice and chilies, are botanical fruits.[4]
Беларуская  Occasionally, though rarely, a culinary "fruit" is not a true fruit in the botanical sense. For
(тарашкевіца) example, rhubarb is often referred to as a fruit, because it is used to make sweet
Български desserts such as pies, though only the petiole of the rhubarb plant is edible.[5] In the
Català culinary sense, a fruit is usually any sweet tasting plant product associated with seed(s),
Česky
a vegetable is any savoury or less sweet plant product, and a nut is any hard, oily, and
Chamoru
Cymraeg
shelled plant product.[6]
Dansk Technically, a cereal grain is a fruit termed a caryopsis. However, the fruit wall is very
Deutsch thin and fused to the seed coat so almost all of the edible grain is actually a seed. An Euler diagram showing the overlaps between "fruits"
Eesti Therefore, cereal grains, such as corn, wheat and rice are better considered edible and "vegetables" in the informal (culinary) sense, and "fruits"
Ελληνικά in the botanical sense.
seeds, although some references list them as fruits.[7] Edible gymnosperm seeds are
Español
often misleadingly given fruit names, e.g., pine nuts, ginkgo nuts, and juniper berries.
Esperanto

Français
Fruit development
贛語
한국어
Main article: Fruit anatomy
A fruit is a ripened ovary. Inside the ovary is one or more ovules where the megagametophyte contains the
Hrvatski mega gamete or egg cell.[8] The ovules are fertilized in a process that starts with pollination, which
Ido involves the movement of pollen from the stamens to the stigma of flowers. After pollination, a tube grows
Bahasa Indonesia
from the pollen through the stigma into the ovary to the ovule and sperm are transferred from the pollen to
/inuktitut
the ovule, within the ovule the sperm unites with the egg, forming a diploid zygote. Fertilization in flowering
Íslenska
Italiano
plants involves both plasmogamy, the fusing of the sperm and egg protoplasm and karyogamy, the union
of the sperm and egg nucleus.[9] When the sperm enters the nucleus of the ovule and joins with the
Basa Jawa megagamete and the endosperm mother cell, the fertilization process is completed.[10] As the developing
seeds mature, the ovary begins to ripen. The ovules develop into seeds and the ovary wall, the pericarp,
ქართული may become fleshy (as in berries or drupes), or form a hard outer covering (as in nuts). In some cases,
Kiswahili the sepals, petals and/or stamens and style of the flower fall off. Fruit development continues until the The development sequence of a
Kreyòl ayisyen seeds have matured. In some multiseeded fruits, the extent to which the flesh develops is proportional to typical drupe, the nectarine (Prunus
Latina persica) over a 7½ month period, from 
the number of fertilized ovules.[11] The wall of the fruit, developed from the ovary wall of the flower, is called
Latviešu bud formation in early winter to fruit
the pericarp. The pericarp is often differentiated into two or three distinct layers called the exocarp (outer
Lietuvių ripening in midsummer (see image page
Magyar layer, also called epicarp), mesocarp (middle layer), and endocarp (inner layer). In some fruits, especially for further information)
Македонски simple fruits derived from an inferior ovary, other parts of the flower (such as the floral tube, including the
Malagasy petals, sepals, and stamens), fuse with the ovary and ripen with it. The plant hormone ethylene causes
ripening. When such other floral parts are a significant part of the fruit, it is called an accessory fruit. Since other parts of the flower may
Bahasa Melayu contribute to the structure of the fruit, it is important to study flower structure to understand how a particular fruit forms.[3]
Bahasa Melayu contribute to the structure of the fruit, it is important to study flower structure to understand how a particular fruit forms.[3]
Nederlands
日本語 Fruits are so diverse that it is difficult to devise a classification scheme that includes all known fruits. Many common terms for seeds and fruit are
incorrectly applied, a fact that complicates understanding of the terminology. Seeds are ripened ovules; fruits are the ripened ovaries or carpels
Nnapulitano that contain the seeds. To these two basic definitions can be added the clarification that in botanical terminology, a nut is not a type of fruit and
Norsk (bokmål) not another term for seed, on the contrary to common terminology.[4]
Norsk (nynorsk)
There are three basic types of fruits:
Nouormand
Polski 1. Simple fruit
Português 2. Aggregate fruit
Română 3. Multiple fruit
Runa Simi
Русский Simple fruit
Sámegiella
Shqip Simple fruits can be either dry or fleshy, and result from the ripening of a simple or compound ovary with
Sicilianu only one pistil. Dry fruits may be either dehiscent (opening to discharge seeds), or indehiscent (not
Simple English opening to discharge seeds).[12] Types of dry, simple fruits, with examples of each, are:
Slovenčina
achene – (dandelion seeds, strawberry seeds)
Slovenščina
Српски / Srpski capsule – (Brazil nut)
Basa Sunda caryopsis – (wheat)
Suomi fibrous drupe – (coconut, walnut)
Svenska follicle – (milkweed, magnolia)
Tagalog
legume – (pea, bean, peanut)
Epigynous berries are simple fleshy
loment
fruit. From top right: cranberries,
nut – (hazelnut, beech, oak acorn) lingonberries, blueberries red
Тоик samara – (elm, ash, maple key) huckleberries
Tsetsêhestâhese schizocarp – (carrot seed)
Türkçe silique – (radish seed)
Українська
silicle – (shepherd's purse)

Tiếng Việt
utricle – (beet)
Winaray Fruits in which part or all of the pericarp (fruit wall) is fleshy at maturity are simple fleshy fruits. Types of
fleshy, simple fruits (with examples) are:
粵語
Žemaitė ška berry – (redcurrant, gooseberry, tomato, avocado)
中文 stone fruit or drupe (plum, cherry, peach, apricot, olive)
false berry – Epigynous accessory fruits (banana, cranberry, strawberry (edible part).)
pome – accessory fruits (apple, pear, rosehip, saskatoon berry)

Aggregate fruit

Lilium unripe capsule fruit

Main article: Aggregate fruit

An aggregate fruit, or etaerio, develops from a flower with numerous simple pistils.[13] An example is the
raspberry, whose simple fruits are termed drupelets because each is like a small drupe attached to the
receptacle. In some bramble fruits (such as blackberry) the receptacle is elongated and part of the ripe
fruit, making the blackberry an aggregate-accessory fruit.[14] The strawberry is also an aggregate-
accessory fruit, only one in which the seeds are contained in achenes.[15] In all these examples, the fruit
develops from a single flower with numerous pistils.
Some kinds of aggregate fruits are called berries, yet in the botanical sense they are not.

Multiple fruit
Main article: Multiple fruit
A multiple fruit is one formed from a cluster of flowers (called an inflorescence). Each flower produces a
fruit, but these mature into a single mass.[16] Examples are the pineapple, edible fig, mulberry, osage-
orange, and breadfruit. Dewberry flowers. Note the multiple
pistils, each of which will produce a
drupelet. Each flower will become a
blackberry-like aggregate fruit.

In the photograph on the right, stages of flowering and fruit development in the noni or Indian mulberry
(Morinda citrifolia) can be observed on a single branch. First an inflorescence of white flowers called a
head is produced. After fertilization, each flower develops into a drupe, and as the drupes expand, they
become connate (merge) into a multiple fleshy fruit called a syncarpet.[17]
There are also many dry multiple fruits, e.g.
Tuliptree, multiple of samaras.
Sweet gum, multiple of capsules.
In some plants, such as this noni,
Sycamore and teasel, multiple of achenes. flowers are produced regularly along
Magnolia, multiple of follicles. the stem and it is possible to see
together examples of flowering, fruit
Fruit chart development, and fruit ripening.
To summarize common types of fruit (examples follow in the table below):
Berry – simple fruit and seeds created from a single ovary
Pepo – Berries where the skin is hardened, like cucurbits
Hesperidium – Berries with a rind, like most citrus fruit
Epigynous berries(false berries) – Epigynous fruit made from a part of the plant other than a single ovary
Compound fruit, which includes:
Aggregate fruit – multiple fruits with seeds from different ovaries of a single flower
Multiple fruit – fruits of separate flowers, packed closely together
Other accessory fruit – where the edible part is not generated by the ovary

Types of fruit
False berry Multiple
True berry Pepo Hesperidium Aggregate fruit Other accessory fruit
(Epigynous) fruit

Blackcurrant, Redcurrant, Pumpkin, Blackberry, Apple, Apricot, Peach,

Banana, Pineapple,
Gooseberry, Tomato, Eggplant, Gourd, Orange, Lemon, Raspberry, Cherry, Green bean,
Cranberry, Fig,
Guava, Lucuma, Chili pepper, Cucumber, Lime, Grapefruit Boysenberry, Sunflower seed,
Blueberry Mulberry
Pomegranate, Kiwifruit, Grape, Melon Hedge apple Strawberry, plum, pear

Seedless fruits
Seedlessness is an important feature of some fruits of commerce. Commercial cultivars of bananas and
pineapples are examples of seedless fruits. Some cultivars of citrus fruits (especially navel oranges),
satsumas, mandarin oranges table grapes, grapefruit, and 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. Most seedless citrus fruits require a pollination
stimulus; bananas and pineapples do not. Seedlessness in table grapes results from the abortion of the
embryonic plant that is produced by fertilization, a phenomenon known as stenospermocarpy which
requires normal pollination and fertilization.[18]

An arrangement of fruits commonly

Seed dissemination thought of as vegetables, including
tomatoes and various squash
Variations in fruit structures largely depend on the mode of dispersal of the seeds they contain. This
dispersal can be achieved by animals, wind, water, or explosive dehiscence.[19]
Some fruits have coats covered with spikes or hooked burrs, either to prevent themselves from being eaten by animals or to stick to the hairs,
feathers or legs of animals, using them as dispersal agents. Examples include cocklebur and unicorn plant.[20][21]
The sweet flesh of many fruits is "deliberately" appealing to animals, so that the seeds held within are eaten and "unwittingly" carried away and
deposited at a distance from the parent. Likewise, the nutritious, oily kernels of nuts are appealing to rodents (such as squirrels) who hoard them
in the soil in order to avoid starving during the winter, thus giving those seeds that remain uneaten the chance to germinate and grow into a new
plant away from their parent.[4]
Other fruits are elongated and flattened out naturally and so become thin, like wings or helicopter blades, e.g. maple, tuliptree and elm. This is an
evolutionary mechanism to increase dispersal distance away from the parent via wind. Other wind-dispersed fruit have tiny parachutes, e.g.
dandelion and salsify.[19]
Coconut fruits can float thousands of miles in the ocean to spread seeds. Some other fruits that can disperse via water are nipa palm and screw
pine.[19]
Some fruits fling seeds substantial distances (up to 100 m in sandbox tree) via explosive dehiscence or other mechanisms, e.g. impatiens and
squirting cucumber.[22]

Uses
Many hundreds of fruits, including fleshy fruits like apple, peach, pear, kiwifruit, watermelon and mango
are commercially valuable as human food, eaten both fresh and as jams, marmalade and other preserves.
Fruits are also in manufactured foods like cookies, muffins, yoghurt, ice cream, cakes, and many more.
Many fruits are used to make beverages, such as fruit juices (orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, etc) or
alcoholic beverages, such as wine or brandy.[23] Apples are often used to make vinegar. Fruits are also
used for gift giving, Fruit Basket and Fruit Bouquet are some common forms of fruit gifts.
Many vegetables are botanical fruits, including tomato, bell pepper, eggplant, okra, squash, pumpkin,
green bean, cucumber and zucchini.[24] Olive fruit is pressed for olive oil. Spices like vanilla, paprika,
allspice and black pepper are derived from berries.[25] Nectarines are one of many fruits
that can be easily stewed.
Nutritional value
Fruits are generally high in fiber, water and vitamin C. Fruits also contain various phytochemicals that do
not yet have an RDA/RDI listing under most nutritional factsheets, and which research indicates are
required for proper long-term cellular health and disease prevention. Regular consumption of fruit is
associated with reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, Alzheimer disease, cataracts,
and some of the functional declines associated with aging.[26]

Nonfood uses
Because fruits have been such a major part of the human diet, different cultures have developed many
different uses for various fruits that they do not depend on as being edible. Many dry fruits are used as
decorations or in dried flower arrangements, such as unicorn plant, lotus, wheat, annual honesty and
milkweed. Ornamental trees and shrubs are often cultivated for their colorful fruits, including holly, Fruit bowl containing
pomegranate,pears, apples, bananas,
pyracantha, viburnum, skimmia, beautyberry and cotoneaster.[27]
an orange and a Guava
Fruits of opium poppy are the source of opium which contains the drugs morphine and codeine, as well as
the biologically inactive chemical theabaine from which the drug oxycodone is synthysized.[28] Osage
orange fruits are used to repel cockroaches.[29] Bayberry fruits provide a wax often used to make candles.[30] Many fruits provide natural dyes,
e.g. walnut, sumac, cherry and mulberry.[31] Dried gourds are used as decorations, water jugs, bird houses, musical instruments, cups and
dishes. Pumpkins are carved into Jack-o'-lanterns for Halloween. The spiny fruit of burdock or cocklebur were the inspiration for the invention of
Velcro.[32]
Coir is a fibre from the fruit of coconut that is used for doormats, brushes, mattresses, floortiles, sacking, insulation and as a growing medium for
container plants. The shell of the coconut fruit is used to make souvenir heads, cups, bowls, musical instruments and bird houses.[33]
Fruit is often also used as a subject of still life paintings.

Safety
For food safety, the CDC recommends proper fruit handling and preparation to reduce the risk of food contamination and foodborne illness. Fresh
fruits and vegetables should carefully be selected. At the store, they should not be damaged or bruised and pre-cut pieces should should
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 e.g. cutting boards that has come in contact with it. Fruits and vegetables, if
they 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 2 hours. After a certain time, harmful bacteria may grow on them and increase the risk of foodborne
illness. [34]

Storage
Maintaining fruits in an efficient cold chain is optimal for post harvest storage. The aim is to extend and ensure shelf life. All fruits benefit from
proper post harvest care.[35]

See also
List of culinary fruits
Fruit trees
Tutti frutti
Fruitarianism
Sun scald (flora)

References
1. ^ Lewis, Robert A. (January 1, 2002). CRC Dictionary of Agricultural Sciences . CRC Press. pp. 375–376. ISBN 0-8493-2327-4.
2. ^ Schlegel, Rolf H J (January 1, 2003). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Plant Breeding and Related Subjects . Haworth Press. pp. 177. ISBN 1-56022-
950-0.
3. ^ a b Mauseth, James D. (April 1, 2003). Botany: An Introduction to Plant Biology . Jones and Bartlett. pp. 271–272. ISBN 0-7637-2134-4.
4. ^ a b c McGee, Harold (November 16, 2004). On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen . Simon and Schuster. pp. 247–248.
ISBN 0-684-80001-2.
5. ^ McGee. On Food and Cooking . pp. 367.
6. ^ For a Supreme Court of the United States ruling on the matter, see Nix v. Hedden.
7. ^ Lewis. CRC Dictionary of Agricultural Sciences . pp. 238.
8. ^ http://www.palaeos.com/Plants/Lists/Glossary/GlossaryL.html#M
9. ^ Mauseth, James D. (2003). Botany: an introduction to plant biology. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. pp. 258. ISBN 978-0-7637-2134-3.
10. ^ Rost, Thomas L.; Weier, T. Elliot; Weier, Thomas Elliot (1979). Botany: a brief introduction to plant biology. New York: Wiley. pp. 135–37. ISBN 0-
471-02114-8.
11. ^ Mauseth. Botany . Chapter 9: Flowers and Reproduction.
12. ^ Schlegel. Encyclopedic Dictionary . pp. 123.
13. ^ Schlegel. Encyclopedic Dictionary . pp. 16.
14. ^ McGee. On Food and Cooking . pp. 361–362.
15. ^ McGee. On Food and Cooking . pp. 364–365.
16. ^ Schlegel. Encyclopedic Dictionary . pp. 282.
17. ^ Parker, Philip M. (December 1, 2004). Morinda Citrifolia - A Medical Dictionary, Bibliography, and Annotated Research Guide to Internet
References . ICON Group. ISBN 0-497-00758-4.
18. ^ Spiegel-Roy, P.; E. E. Goldschmidt (August 28, 1996). The Biology of Citrus . Cambridge University Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN 0-521-33321-0.
19. ^ a b c Capon, Brian (February 25, 2005). Botany for Gardeners . Timber Press. pp. 198–199. ISBN 0-88192-655-8.
20. ^ Heiser, Charles B. (April 1, 2003). Weeds in My Garden: Observations on Some Misunderstood Plants . Timber Press. pp. 93–95. ISBN 0-88192-
562-4.
21. ^ Heiser. Weeds in My Garden . pp. 162–164.
22. ^ Feldkamp, Susan (2002). Modern Biology. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. pp. 634. ISBN 0-88192-562-4.
23. ^ McGee. On Food and Cooking . Chapter 7: A Survey of Common Fruits.
24. ^ McGee. On Food and Cooking . Chapter 6: A Survey of Common Vegetables.
25. ^ Farrell, Kenneth T. (November 1 1999). Spices, Condiments and Seasonings . Springer. pp. 17–19. ISBN 0-8342-1337-0.
26. ^ "Health benefits of fruit and vegetables are from additive and synergistic combinations of phytochemicals - Liu 78 (3): 517S - American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition ".
27. ^ Adams, Denise Wiles (February 1, 2004). Restoring American Gardens: An Encyclopedia of Heirloom Ornamental Plants, 1640-1940 . Timber
Press. ISBN 0-88192-619-1.
28. ^ Booth, Martin (June 12 1999). Opium: A History . St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-20667-4.
29. ^ Cothran, James R. (November 1, 2003). Gardens and Historic Plants of the Antebellum South . University of South Carolina Press. pp. 221. 
ISBN 1-57003-501-6.
30. ^ K, Amber (December 1, 2001). Candlemas: Feast of Flames . Llewellyn Worldwide. pp. 155. ISBN 0-7387-0079-7.
31. ^ Adrosko, Rita J. (June 1, 1971). Natural Dyes and Home Dyeing: A Practical Guide with over 150 Recipes . Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0-
486-22688-3.
32. ^ Wake, Warren (March 13, 2000). Design Paradigms: A Sourcebook for Creative Visualization . John Wiley and Sons. pp. 162–163. ISBN.
33. ^ "The Many Uses of the Coconut ". The Coconut Museum. Retrieved 2006-09-14.
 34. ^ Food Safety Basics for Fruits and Vegetables at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
35. ^ Why Cold Chain for Fruits: Kohli, Pawanexh (2008). "Fruits and Vegetables Post-Harvest Care: The Basics ". Crosstree Techno-visors.

External links
Images of fruit development from flowers at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
Look up Fruit in Wiktionary, the
Fruit and seed dispersal images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
free dictionary.
Fruit Facts from California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
Encyclopedia Britannica 1911 on Fruit
Photo ID of Fruits by Capt. Pawanexh Kohli Wikimedia Commons has media
related to: Fruit

Wikibooks Cookbook has a

recipe/module on
Fruit

v   • d  • e Types of fruits [show]

v   • d  • e Botany [show]

v   • d  • e Cuisine [show]

Categories: Fruit | Plant morphology | Pollination | Snack foods | Vegan snacks | Vegan cuisine | Vegetarian cuisine

This page was last modified on 20 October 2009 at 18:39. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers