What is THE FRUIT?
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THE FRUIT
The characteristic feature of flowering plants is fruit. Fruit
is a mature or ripened ovary, developed after fertilisation.
During fertilisation, the important changes taking place in the
ovary are
(i) The ovules present in it develops into seeds.
(ii) The wall of the ovary thickens and ripens into
pericarp (fruit wall).
Knowledge Plus
• Fruit developed from the fertilised ovary is called true fruits. A
true fruit has two parts pericarp and the seeds.
• Fruit deve10ßEd from any part of the flower along with ovary is
called false fruits. The tlalamus grows along with the ovary to
form a false fruit, i.e., in Pyrus malus (apple).
• The fruits of mango and coconut are also known as as it
develops from monocarpellary superior ovaries and have only
one seed. In mango, pericarp is well-c.iifferentiated into an outer
thin epicarp, a middle fleshy edible mesæarp and an inner
stony hard endcxarp. In coconut, the mescurp is fibrous.
The ovary after these changes is known as the fruit. Ifa fruit
is formed without fertilisation, it is called parthenocarpic
banana, grapes, pineapple, etc. The
fruit, e.g.,
parthenocarpic fruits do not have seeds.
The fruit consists of wall or pericarp and seeds. The
pericarp may be dry or fleshy.
When pericarp is thick and fleshy, it is differentiated into
outer epicarp, the middle mesocarp and the inner
endocarp.
Types of Fruits
Fruits can be broadly classified into following three types
i. Simple Fruits
A simple fruit develops from the single simple or compound
ovary ofa flower. These can be dry fruits (pericarp dry) or
succulent fruits (pericarp fleshy).
ii. Aggregate (Etaerio) Fruits
An aggregate fruit is a group of fruitlets which develops
from a flower having polycarpellary apocarpous (free)
gynoecium. The aggregate fruit is also called etaerio.
iii. Multiple (Composite) Fruits
A composite (multiple) fruit develops from an entire
inflorescence. The multiple fruit is composed of a number
of closely associated fruits (which may or may not get fused)
along with its peduncle. Hence, these fruits are called
pseudocarpic fruits.
Pomology is the branch of horticulture that deals with the
study of fruits and their cultivation.
Importance of Fruits
(i) Fruits are a source of vitamins, organic acids,
minerals, pectin and sugars and some of them are
used as vegetables, e.g., Okra (lady’s finger), tomato,
pumpkin, cucumber, gourd, etc.
(ii) Cereals are one seeded dry fruits, form the stable
food of humans.
(iii) Fruits are important foods for fruit eating birds
(frugivorous) and some animals.
(iv) Some fruits are also used as medicines, e.g., Emblica
offcinalis (amla), Datura stramonium (datura),
Papaver somniferum (poppy), etc.
(v) They protect immature seeds against climatic
conditions till their maturity.
of
(vi) The unripe fruits are bitter due to the presence
tannins, bitter alkaloids, astringents, sour acids, etc.
This way they keep the animals away from eating
them.