Introduction

Fruit is defined as a food having a pulpy tissue that is associated with seeds. In botany, it is the ovary of a plant. According to this definition, eggplant, cucumbers, and pumpkins are all fruits. However, the USDA prefers to define fruit as any plant food eaten as a dessert, a snack between meals, or accompanying breakfast as opposed to being the main course of any meal. Because of domestication, many fruit-bearing plants have been altered so extensively that they cannot propogate without human intervention.

Fruits are often grouped as follows:

  1. Aggregate fruits: consist of many tiny seed-bearing fruits that combine into one mass but developed from many ovaries. Example: strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries.
  2. Berries: are fruits from a single ovary but may contain more than one seed. Example grapes and persimmons. According to this definition, bananas are berries that have lost the ability to form seeds.
  3. False berries: are seedless fruits that result from a fusion of an ovary and a receptacle. Example: blueberries and cranberries.
  4. Drupes: are fruits that contain a single seed and develop from a single ovary. Example: cherries and peaches.
  5. Hesperidium: usually refers to the multiseeded citrus-type fruits which are enclosed by a tough skin. Example: lemons and oranges.
  6. Multiple fruits: are those whose ovaries and receptacles are derived from a common base to become one fruit. Example: pineapple and figs.
  7. Pomes: are many-seeded fruits that result from a fusion of an ovary and a receptacle. Example: apples and pears.