Fruits and Their Kinds

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After fertilization, the ovary of flower begins to grow and develops into the fruit. Hence a fruit may be regarded as a mature or ripened ovary. A fruit consists of two parts; the pericarp developed from the ovary wall and the seeds developed from the ovules. The wall of the ovary from the pericarp then differentiates into 3 parts;

Epicarp forms the outer skin,

Mesocarp forms the edible fleshy region and

Endocarp forms the innermost hard region that encloses the seed. In dry fruits pericarp is thin, papery or thick and woody but not divided into three regions.

True fruit: a true fruit develops from a ripened ovary, e.g. mango

False fruit: it is fruit in which the edible portion is not the wall of ovary but a floral part like thalamus. The thalamus becomes fleshy and succulent. The actual fruit lies within the pericarp and is thin and discarded, e.g. apple

Parthenocarpic fruit: a fruit that develops without fertilization from ovary is called parthenocarpic fruit. Fruit is generally seedless or has non-viable seeds, e.g. banana, grapes.

Kinds of Fruits - There Are Three Basic Types

Simple fruits: they develop from syncarpous gynoecium of a single flower, e.g. pea, tomato

Aggregate fruits: they develop from Apocarpous gynoecium of a single flower, e.g. Calotropis

Composite or multiple fruits: they develop from an inflorescence, e.g. mulberry, pineapple

Simple Fruits

Two types; dry fruits (dry membranous/leathery pericarp), fleshy/succulent fruits (fleshy pericarp)

Table Showing Types of Simple Dry and Simle Fleshy Fruits.
Table showing types of simple dry and simle fleshy fruits.
Simple dry fruits	Indehiscent fruit (single seeded)	-Nut: hard and woody pericarp, e.g. Cashew nut, Litchi -Cypsela: develops from inferior ovary(pericarp free), e.g. sunflower -Caryopsis: develops from superior ovary(pericarp fused), e.g. wheat -Samara: pericarp is winged, e.g. Hiptage, Holeoptela
	Schizocarpic fruits (dehisce into one sided compartments)	-Cremocarp: dehisces into two mericarps, e.g. Coriandrum -Regma: dehisces into three mericarps, e.g. Ricinus -Carcerules: dehisces into four or more mericarps, e.g. Labiatae -Lomentum: dehisces into 1 seeded segments, e.g. Acacia
	Dehiscent fruits (many seeded)	-Follicle: develops from monocarpellary ovary and dehisces by single suture, e.g. Delphinium -Legume: develops from monocarpellary ovary and dehisces by both the sutures from apex downward, e.g. pea, groundnut -Siliqua: develops from bicarpellary, bilocular ovary, e.g. mustard -Capsule: develops from bi to multicarpellary superior ovary e.g. bhindi
Simple fleshy fruits	-Berry: develops from a superior ovary, e.g. tomato, banana -Pepo: develops from an inferior ovary, e.g. cucumber, watermelon -Drupe: single seeded, stony endocarp, e.g. mango, coconut -Hesperidium: epicarp and mesocarp fused to form the rind, e.g. Orange, lemon -Pome: syncarpous and inferior ovary, e.g. apple, pear -Balausta: carpels arranged in two rings, ovary inferior, hard pericarp, e.g. Pomegranate

Aggregate and Composite or Multiple Fruits

Table Showing Types of Aggregate and Multiple Fruits.
Table showing types of aggregate and multiple fruits.
Aggregate fruits (develop from an Apocarpous ovary, each carpel develops into a simple fruit)	-Etaerio of achenes, e.g. Naravelia, Clematis, Ranunculus -Etaerio of nuts, e.g. Nelumbo -Etaerio of samaras, e.g. Liriodendron -Etaerio of follicles, e.g. Cabomba, Magnolia, Michelia -Etaerio of berries, e.g. Annona, Artabotrys -Etaerio of drupes, e.g. Rubus
Composite or multiple fruits	-Sorosis: develops from spadix or catkin inflorescence, e.g. jack fruit, pineapple -Syconus: develops from Hypanthodium inflorescence, e.g. Ficus

Common Fruits and Their Edible Parts

Table Showing Common Fruits and Their Edible Parts.
Table showing common fruits and their edible parts.
Name	Type	Edible Part
Banana	Berry	Mesocarp and Endocarp
Date palm	Berry	Pericarp
Tomato	Berry	Pericarp, seed and Placentae
Apple	Pome	Fleshy thalamus
Pear	Pome	Fleshy thalamus
Coconut	Drupe	Endosperm
Mango	Drupe	Mesocarp
Custard Apple	Etaerio of Berries	Pericarp
Lotus	Etaerio of nuts	Cotyledons and thalamus
Strawberry	Etaerio of achenes	Succulent thalamus
Cashew Nut	Nut	Peduncle and Cotyledons
Litchi	Nut	Juicy aril
Orange	Hesperidium	Endocarpic hairs
Lemon	Hesperidium	Endocarpic hairs
Jack fruit	Sorosis	Outer axis, bract, perianth, seed
Pineapple	Sorosis	Outer axis, bract, perianth, pericarp
Ficus	Syconus	Fleshy receptacle
Monkey fruit	Syconus	Fleshy receptacle
Wheat	Caryopsis	Endosperm and embryo
Maize	Caryopsis	Endosperm and embryo
Coriander	Cremocarp	Entire fruit
Tamarind	Lomentum	Mesocarp
Gram	Legume	Seed
Green gram	Legume	Seed
Lady finger	Capsule	Entire fruit
Cucumber	Pepo	Mesocarp, endocarp, placenta, seed
Pumpkin	Pepo	Pericarp, cotyledons
Watermelon	Pepo	Mesocarp, endocarp, cotyledons
Pomegranate	Balausta	Testa