Fruits - Formation, Parts and Types of Fruits: Definition, Classification, Examples, & Facts
What Is A Fruit?
Fruits are the mature ovary of a flowering plant, usually containing seeds, serving as a vital means of seed protection and dispersion until they are ready to germinate in the life cycle of plants. They have a great variety of shapes and sizes. They differ in the way of dispersal, like being fleshy fruits, for example, apples and berries, or dry, for example, nuts and grains.
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Fruits are one of the essential components in human diets that provide an extensive range of nutrient resources available in the form of vitamins, minerals, and other dietary fibres that maintain sound and healthy appeal through good health and well-being. Fruits also are enriched with agricultural profitability, they contribute to economic activity by offering a living to people through trade and industries spread across the world in fresh consumption, processing, and related by-products.
Formation Of Fruits
Fruit formation is explained below-
Pollination And Fertilisation
Definition and process of pollination.
It is the transfer of pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma thereby leading to fertilization.
Types of pollination:
self-pollination and cross-pollination: Self-pollination takes place either in the exact flower or among flowers on the exact plant. On the other hand, cross-pollination occurs among various plants.
Fertilisation process in plants
After the process of pollination, one of the pollen grains germinates onto the stigma and grows down a pollen tube to the ovary, where the sperm cells can fertilise the ovules.
Development Of The Ovary Into Fruit
Fruit development is explained below-
Post-fertilisation changes in the ovary
After fertilisation, the ovary undergoes much change whereby it becomes a fruit which acts to protect the seeds under development.
Role of hormones in fruit development.
The hormones auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins control fruit development by promoting cell division and cell expansion.
Stages of fruit development:
The development of fruit involves the primary growth of individual cells subject to an initial increase in their number by cell division and is followed by cell extension that finally leads to mature and ripe fruits ready for seed dispersal.
Parts Of A Fruit
The fruit parts are explained below-
Pericarp
The pericarp refers to that portion of fruit developed after fertilisation from the wall of the ovary, usually surrounding seeds.
Layers of the pericarp
The pericarp consists of three layers: the exocarp, a skin covering the outer surface of the ovary; the mesocarp, a fleshy layer beneath the exocarp; and the endocarp, the innermost layer around the seed.
Seed
Formation and structure
A seed may be defined as the fertilised ovule primarily comprising the embryo, endosperm, and seed coat.
Importance of seeds in the reproduction of plants
The seed has a huge significance to a plant's life and its dispersal and further proliferation in species. It is how plants produce their next generation.
Accessory Parts
The accessory parts are explained below-
Definition and examples.
Additional structures of the fruit that form a part of the fruit but are not the derivative of the ovary. Examples include apple hypanthium and strawberry receptacle.
Role of accessory parts in some fruits.
Besides protecting seeds from injury, sometimes fruits provide for the ease of dispersal
Example: Apple (hypanthium), Strawberry (receptacle).
Types Of Fruits
The fruit types are explained below-
Simple Fruits
For simple fruits derived from one ovary, the pericarp might be fleshy or dry.
Examples:
Berries (tomato, grape), Drupes (cherry, peach), Pomes (apple, pear).
Aggregate Fruits
Fleshy fruit from several ovaries of a single flower, with each ovary, swelled to give a small fruitlet.
Examples:
Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry.
Multiple Fruits
Multiple fruits are formed from the ovaries of multiple flowers that grow in a cluster
Examples:
Pineapple, fig, mulberry.
Classification Based On Dehiscence
Dehiscent fruits:
These are fruits which open at maturity, releasing the seeds, which they bear. Examples are peas and beans.
Indehiscent fruits:
Such fruits do not open at maturity. Examples would be nuts and the seeds of sunflowers.
Recommended video on "Fruits"
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The fruits are the ripened ovary of a plant, which comprises seeds that it carries inside it. The vegetables are the other parts of the plant like the roots, stems, or even the leaves.
Culinary classification: Under this classification, most things fall under the fruit category. These are the items that are majorly sweet or sour and go into making the dessert dishes. The vegetables on the other hand are the savory elements and thus appear in the main course.
Examples: Tomatoes and cucumbers, amongst others, are botanically classified as fruits, but are called vegetables.
Parthenocarpy: Almost all seedless fruits are the result of parthenocarpy, or fruit growth without fertilization.
Hormonal treatments: Other times people spray plants with giberelins, a type of synthetic plant hormone, to create seedless fruit.
Gene mutations: Some plants have undergone specific types of genetic mutations and are grown to produce seedless fruits; seedless fruits include some varieties of grapes and bananas.
A powerhouse of nutrients: By nature itself, fruits are powerhouses of many essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that help your health.
Sources of dietary fibre: Most fruit is a good source of fibre, thus supporting digestion and a healthy weight.
Disease prevention: Eating fruits regularly will help prevent chronic illness; including heart diseases, cancers, and diabetes.
Structure of the ovary: The number of seeds might be determined by the structure of the ovary and the number of ovules inside its chamber.
Evolutionary adaptation: The more seeds in the fruit, the more it ensures it will reproduce, whereas a single-seeded fruit may show greater efficiency in the dispersal process.
Examples: Drupes like peaches are single-seeded, but berries like tomatoes are multiseeded.
Fruits attract animals: Most fruits are colourful and sweet attracting fruit-eating animals which are capable of consuming the fruits, and the seeds they cannot digest or break down in their systems are excreted, and mixed with faeces often hardy and ready to sprout.
Fleshy mechanisms of fruits: There exist varieties of structures in some fruits, which help in their dispersion. Wings and hooks allow them to pass through the wind and attach to the bodies of animals.
Aquatic seed dispersal: Some fruits float and are moved by water, where their seeds start new areas.
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