Fruits and Their Kinds
Download PDF of This Page (Size: 155K) ↧
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)
| 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
| 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
| 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 |