An aggregate fruit, or etaerio, develops from a flower with numerous simple pistils.[14] 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.[15] The strawberry is also an aggregate-accessory fruit, only one in which the seeds are contained in achenes. 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.
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.[17] Examples are the pineapple, edible fig, mulberry, osage-orange, and breadfruit.
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.[18]
There are also many dry multiple fruits, e.g.
- Tuliptree, multiple of samaras.
- Sweet gum, multiple of capsules.
- Sycamore and teasel, multiple of achenes.
- Magnolia, multiple of follicles.
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
| True berry | Pepo | Hesperidium | False berry (Epigynous) | Aggregate fruit | Multiple fruit | Other accessory fruit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackcurrant, Redcurrant, Gooseberry, Tomato, Eggplant, Guava, Lucuma, Chili pepper, Pomegranate, Kiwifruit, Grape, | Pumpkin, Gourd, Cucumber, Melon | Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit | Banana, Cranberry, Blueberry | Blackberry, Raspberry, Boysenberry, Hedge apple | Pineapple, Fig, Mulberry | Apple, Apricot, Peach, Cherry, Green bean, Sunflower seed, Strawberry, plu |
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.
Seed dissemination
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.
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 plan
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
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.[20]
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.[20]
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.[23]
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. 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.[25] Olive fruit is pressed for olive oil. Spices like vanilla, paprika, allspice and black pepper are derived from berries.[26]
[edit] 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.[27]
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, pyracantha, viburnum, skimmia, beautyberry and cotoneaster.[28]
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. Osage orange fruits are used to repel cockroaches. Bayberry fruits provide a wax often used to make candles.[31] Many fruits provide natural dyes, e.g. walnut, sumac, cherry and mulberry. 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.
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
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