Fruit

Fruits are the parts of flowering plants that hold seeds. They help plants grow in new places by spreading their seeds. Many animals, including humans, eat fruits for nutrition. This helps both the plants and the animals.

In everyday life, fruits are often sweet or sour parts of plants we can eat raw, like apples, bananas, grapes, lemons, oranges, and strawberries. In plant science, "fruit" also includes other things, such as nuts, bean pods, corn kernels, tomatoes, and wheat grains. Fruits are important in farming and have special meanings for many cultures.

Botanical vs. culinary

See also: Vegetable § Terminology

In science, a fruit is a part of a plant that grows from the flower and holds seeds, like an orange or a tomato. But when we cook, we often call foods like cucumbers or peppers "vegetables" even though they are fruits in science.

For example, in the kitchen, fruits are usually sweet foods like peaches, while vegetables are savory foods like lettuce. But this isn’t always true — tomatoes can taste sweet or savory, and rhubarb is often used like a fruit in pies even though it’s really a plant stem.

Structure

The outer part of most fruits, which we eat, is called the pericarp. It comes from the ovary and surrounds the seeds. In some fruits, other parts help make up what we eat. The pericarp has three layers: the outer epicarp, the middle mesocarp, and the inner endocarp.

Sometimes, fruits have a pointy end and are called beaked.

Development

A fruit grows from a flower after it has been fertilized. Inside the flower, there is a special part called the gynoecium, which includes the ovary. The ovary contains tiny structures called ovules. When a flower is pollinated, pollen moves from the part called the stamens to the stigma. This leads to fertilization, and the ovules become seeds.

As the seeds form, the ovary also changes. It can become soft and fleshy, like in berries, or hard, like in nuts. The wall of the ovary, called the pericarp, has different layers. Sometimes, other parts of the flower, like petals or sepals, stay and become part of the fruit, as in apples or strawberries. Fruits can develop in different ways, from a single flower or from many flowers together.

Classification

Plants make fruits in different ways. Scientists sort them into three main groups: simple fruits, aggregate fruits, and multiple fruits. These groups help us learn how fruits grow from flowers.

Simple fruits grow from one flower with one part called a pistil. They can be dry, like nuts, or soft, like apples. Dry fruits might open to let seeds out. Soft fruits often need animals to eat them so the seeds can spread.

Aggregate fruits come from one flower with many pistils. Each pistil makes a tiny fruit, and all together they make the final fruit. Examples are raspberries and blackberries. Multiple fruits, like figs, grow from many flowers joining together into one fruit.

Seedless fruits

Some fruits we enjoy every day don’t have seeds inside them. Bananas, pineapples, many kinds of citrus fruits, table grapes, and some watermelons are examples of seedless fruits that people grow and sell widely. These fruits can be seedless because of natural processes. One way this happens is called parthenocarpy, where the fruit grows without being fertilized. Another way is that the tiny plant inside the seed doesn’t develop fully, even though pollination and fertilization happen normally.

Seed dispersal

Fruits help their seeds spread in many ways. Some fruits have hooks or spines that stick to animals, so the seeds can travel far. Other fruits are tasty and attract animals that eat them and carry the seeds to new places.

Some fruits have wings or parachutes that help them float away in the wind. There are also fruits, like coconuts, that can float in water to spread their seeds to faraway lands.

Food uses

Many fruits, like apples, berries, watermelon, and coconuts, are important for food. We enjoy them fresh or in jams. They are also used in cakes, ice cream, and drinks. Some fruits, like olives, are pressed to make oils.

Fruits are also used for special occasions, such as in fruit baskets or bouquets. They are sold in markets and used in kitchens to make meals. Proper storage helps keep fruits fresh longer. Eating fruits can be good for health because they have fiber, water, and vitamin C. It's important to handle and prepare fruits safely. Some people can have allergies to certain fruits.

Nonfood uses

Fruits have many uses besides being eaten. For example, bayberry fruits can make wax for candles, and dry fruits like annual honesty and cotoneaster are used in decorations. Some fruits, like opium poppy, give us substances for medicines, while others, like Osage orange, help keep pests away.

Fruits also give us natural colors for dyeing, and dried gourds can become bird houses or musical instruments. Pumpkins are carved for Halloween fun, and the fiber from luffa fruits works as a sponge. The coconut shell can be crafted into many items, from bowls to souvenirs, and the fiber from coconut shells is used in many household items.