SEEDLESS FRUITS

Fruit is the ripened ovary of a flower

INTRODUCTION Fruit incorporates the ripened ovary and surrounding tissues TO Fruits are also the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds FRUITS
Seeds are ripened ovules

A hormone called Ethylen causes the ripening to occur

Fruits may develop in the absence of pollination

This process is called Parthenocarpy These fruits set without fertilization

Fruit Development

A plant that does not produce fruit is known as Acarpous

TWO WAYS

WHAT ARE SEEDLESS

PARTHENOCARPY

FRUITS?

STENOSPERMOCARPY

In botany and horticulture, parthenocarpy (literally meaning virgin fruit) is the natural or artificially induced production of fruit without fertilization of ovules.

Parthenocarpy (or stenospermocarpy) occasionally occurs as a mutation in nature, but if it affects every flower The plant can no longer sexually reproduce but might be able to propagate by vegetative means Up to 20% of the fruits of wild parsnip are parthenocarpic.

PARTHENOCARPY

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The seedless wild parsnip fruit are preferred by certain herbivores, and thus serve as a "decoy defense" against seed predation Utah juniper has a similar defense against bird feeding .[Being able to produce seedless fruit when pollination is unsuccessful may be an advantage to a plant because it provides food for the plant's seed dispersers. Without a fruit crop, the seed dispersing animals may starve or migrate.

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In some plants, pollination or other stimulation is required for parthenocarpy. This is termed stimulative parthenocarpy Plants that do not require pollination or other stimulation to produce parthenocarpic fruit have vegetative parthenocarpy Seedless cucumbers are an example of vegetative parthenocarpy, Some parthenocarpic varieties have been developed as genetically modified organisms.

Stenospermocarpy is the biological mechanism that produces parthenocarpy (seedlessness) in some fruits, notably many table grapes. In stenospermocarpic fruits, normal pollination and fertilization are still required to ensure that the fruit 'sets', i.e. continues to develop on the plant; however subsequent abortion of the embryo that began growing following fertilization leads to a near seedless condition. The remains of the undeveloped seed are visible in the fruit The fruit of seedless grapes is smaller than normal because seeds produce the plant hormone gibberellin, which causes fruit enlargement.

Stenospermocarpy

Most commercial seedless grapes are sprayed with gibberellin to increase the size of the fruit and also to make the fruit clusters less tightly packed. A new cultivar, 'Melissa', has naturally larger fruit so does not require gibberellin sprays. Grape breeders have developed some new seedless grape cultivars by using the embryo rescue technique. Before the tiny embryo aborts, it is removed from the developing fruit and grown in tissue culture until it is large enough to survive on its own. Embryo rescue allows the crossing of two seedless grape cultivars.

Commercial Importance

Disadvantages of eating seedless fruits

Since seedless fruits are genetically modified, it's important to know the disadvantages of eating genetically modified foods: The safety of genetically modified foods is not proven. There are early links between consumption of genetically modified food and cancer in humans. Genetically modified foods may be linked to the development of allergies. Genetically modified foods may introduce animal by-products into fruits and vegetables, which will cause significant issues for people with dietary restrictions. Genetically modified foods cannot be recalled. Foods modified to resist disease tend to pass along this quality to humans, which may be contributing to the decrease in the effectiveness of antibiotics.
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Genetically modified foods change the soil's flora and fauna, which make it difficult for long-term viability of the soil to grow future crops. The genetically modified genes of the food may impact the genes of the person eating it. This can create long-term and possibly irreversible health problems. Insects pollinating or eating genetically modified foods can develop the same types of resistance, which can throw agricultural ecosystems out of balance. All of the above challenges may be irreversible

MISCONCEPTIONS

CONCLUSION