fruit
Top
(frūt) 
n., pl., fruit, or fruits.
To produce or cause to produce fruit.
n., pl., fruit, or fruits.
- The ripened ovary or ovaries of a seed-bearing plant, together with accessory parts, containing the seeds and occurring in a wide variety of forms.
- An edible, usually sweet and fleshy form of such a structure.
- A part or an amount of such a plant product, served as food: fruit for dessert.
- The fertile, often spore-bearing structure of a plant that does not bear seeds.
- A plant crop or product: the fruits of the earth.
- Result; outcome: the fruit of their labor.
- Offspring; progeny.
- A fruity aroma or flavor in a wine.
- Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for a homosexual man.
To produce or cause to produce fruit.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin frūctus, enjoyment, fruit, from past participle of fruī, to enjoy.]
Top
Botanically speaking, the fruit of a plant is what develops when the flower's ovary has been fertilized, and is what protects the ovules that have become seeds. The word "fruit" is usually applied to sweet foods eaten for dessert, breakfast or as snacks. Some vegetables, however, such as eggplant, tomato, squash, olive, avocado and nuts, are also fruits. Until the 18th century, vegetables were also called "fruits," as they formed part of what were called the "fruits of the earth."
Tips for storing fruits
Fruits are fragile; they continue living after they are picked and are said to "breathe."
At room temperature
Environmental temperature has a great impact on fruits' breathing rhythm. The higher the temperature, the more the fruits breathe, which leads to water loss and speeds up the ripening process. Not all fruits are fragile, however; oranges, for example, keep more easily than strawberries. Fruits need a certain level of humidity and coolness to stay fresh for longer periods; the more humid the surrounding air, the slower the dehydration rate. To speed up the ripening process, keep fruits at room temperature away from sunlight, while making sure they do not become too ripe, as many fruits spoil very quickly. Fruits are ripe when they yield to gentle finger pressure and become fragrant. They should then be kept in the fridge and used quickly.
Fruits produce a large amount of ethylene, a gas that speeds up the ripening process. Place fruit in a bag to trap the gas and accelerate ripening. Remove fruits from the bag when they are ready to eat, otherwise they will become overripe. Do not keep fruits in a plastic airtight container, as plastic keeps in air and humidity, which will lead fruits to rot. Fruit juices are best kept in sealed, nontransparent containers to limit the loss of nutrients.
In the fridge
The ethylene gas emitted by fruits affects vegetables, so it is better to store fruits and vegetables separately. (Ethylene gas can, however, be used to stimulate flowering in plants that are not blooming. Placing a plant in a bag with a fruit, especially an apple or banana, will encourage blooming.) Handle fruits carefully, as any bruising leads them to deteriorate more quickly and accelerates the ripening process. Keep fruits away from strong-smelling foods, as most fruits have a tendency to absorb odors.
In the freezer
Almost all fruits can be frozen, with the exception of pears and sweet cherries, which become too soft when defrosted. During the freezing process, certain enzymes cause fruits to brown, so they should be sprinkled with sugar or acidic substances (lemon juice, ascorbic acid) to slow down this process. This is especially the case with small fruits, such as strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.
Canned
To can good-quality fruits, it is essential to use a sterilizer with boiling water, even if fruits are very acidic, to destroy all bacteria, molds and yeasts. Make sure to only use ripe, firm and well-formed fruits. Well-made home-canned fruits keep for up to a year, preferably kept in a dark and cool place.
Dried
Drying ensures the keeping quality of fruit because dried fruits no longer contain enough water to enable microorganisms to grow. The most commonly dried fruits are apricots, dates, figs and grapes (raisins). Drying fruits involves a certain amount of preparation, as enzymes in fruits can affect their color and flavor during the drying process. They are thus either blanched or treated with sulfur for a certain period of time. Fruits are then dried until there is no more water at their center. They then have a flexible texture, like leather. Drying times range from 5 to 15 hr, depending on the variety of the fruit and the size of the pieces.
Browse other fruits: Introduction |
Browse other foods: Vegetables | Legumes | Fruits | Nuts and Seeds | Seaweeds | Mushrooms | Cereals and Grains | Fish | Crustaceans | Mollusks | Herbs, Spices and Seasonings | Meats | Variety Meats | Delicatessen Meats | Poultry | Dairy Products | Sugars, Cocoa and Carob | Fats and Oils | Binders and Leavenings | Coffee, Tea and Herbal Teas
Top
In its strict botanical sense, the fleshy or dry ripened ovary (enlarged portion of the pistil) of a flowering plant, enclosing the seed or seeds. Apricots, bananas, and grapes, as well as bean pods, corn grains, tomatoes, cucumbers, and (in their shells) acorns and almonds, are all technically fruits. Popularly, the term is restricted to the ripened ovaries that are sweet and either succulent or pulpy. The principal botanical purpose of the fruit is to protect and spread the seed. There are two broad categories of fruit: fleshy and dry. Fleshy fruits include berries, such as tomatoes, oranges, and cherries, which consist entirely of succulent tissue; aggregate fruits, including blackberries and strawberries, which form from a single flower with many pistils, each of which develops into fruitlets; and multiple fruits, such as pineapples and mulberries, which develop from the mature ovaries of an entire inflorescence. Dry fruits include the legumes, cereal grains, capsules, and nuts. Fruits are important sources of dietary fiber and vitamins (especially vitamin C). They can be eaten fresh; processed into juices, jams, and jellies; or preserved by dehydration, canning, fermentation, and pickling.
For more information on fruit, visit Britannica.com.
A matured carpel or group of carpels (the basic units of the gynoecium or female part of the flower) with or without seeds, and with or without other floral or shoot parts (accessory structures) united to the carpel or carpels. Carpology is the study of the morphology and anatomy of fruits. The ovary develops into a fruit after fertilization and usually contains one or more seeds, which have developed from the fertilized ovules. Parthenocarpic fruits usually lack seeds. Fruitlets are the small fruits or subunits of aggregate or multiple fruits. Flowers, carpels, ovaries, and fruits are, by definition, restricted to the flowering plants (angiosperms), although fruitlike structures may enclose seeds in certain other groups of seed plants. The fruit is of ecological significance because of seed dispersal. See also Seed.
Morphology
A fruit develops from one or more carpels. Usually only part of the gynoecium, the ovary, develops into a fruit; the style and stigma wither. Accessory (extracarpellary or noncarpellary) structures may be closely associated with the carpel or carpels and display various degrees of adnation (fusion) to them, thus becoming part of the fruit. Such accessory parts include sepals (as in the mulberry), the bases of sepals, petals, and stamens united into a floral tube (apple, banana, pear, and other species with inferior ovaries), the receptacle (strawberry), the pedicel and receptacle (cashew), the peduncle (fleshy part of the fig), the involucre composed of bracts and bracteoles (walnut and pineapple), and the inflorescence axis (pineapple). See also Flower.
A fruit derived from only carpellary structures is called a true fruit, or, because it develops from a superior ovary (one inserted above the other floral parts), a superior fruit (corn, date, grape, plum, and tomato). Fruits with accessory structures are called accessory (or inaptly, false or spurious) fruits (pseudocarps), or, because of their frequent derivation from inferior ovaries (inserted below the other floral parts), inferior fruits (banana, pear, squash, and walnut).
Fruits can be characterized by the number of ovaries and flowers forming the fruit. A simple fruit is derived form one ovary, an aggregate fruit from several ovaries of one flower (magnolia, rose, and strawberry). A multiple (collective) fruit is derived from the ovaries and accessory structures of several flowers consolidated into one mass (fig, pandan, pineapple, and sweet gum).
The fruit wall at maturity may be fleshy or, more commonly, dry. Fleshy fruits range from soft and juicy to hard and tough. Dry fruits may be dehiscent, opening to release seeds, or indehiscent, remaining closed and containing usually one seed per fruit. Fleshy fruits are rarely dehiscent.
The pericarp is the fruit wall developed from the ovary. In true fruits, the fruit wall and pericarp are synonymous, but in accessory fruits the fruit wall includes the pericarp plus one or more accessory tissues of various derivation. Besides the fruit wall, a fruit contains one or more seed-bearing regions (placentae) and often partitions (septa).
Anatomy
Anatomically or histologically, a fruit consists of dermal, ground (fundamental), and vascular systems and, if present, one or more seeds. After fertilization the ovary and sometimes accessory parts develop into the fruit; parthenocarpy is fruit production without fertilization. The fruit generally increases in size and undergoes various anatomical changes that usually relate to its manner of dehiscence, its mode of dispersal, or protection of its seeds. The economically important, mainly fleshy fruits have received the most histological and developmental study.
Size increase of fruits is hormonally controlled and results from cell division and especially from cell enlargement. Cell number, volume, and weight thus control fruit weight. Cell division generally is more pronounced before anthesis (full bloom); cell enlargement is more pronounced after.
Functional aspects
Large fruits generally require additional anatomical modifications for nutrition or support or both. The extra phloem in fruit vascular bundles and the often increased amount of vascular tissue in the fruit wall and septa supply nutrients to the developing seeds and, especially in fleshy fruits, to the developing walls. Large, especially fleshy fruits (apple, gourd, and kiwi) usually contain proportionally more vascular tissue than small fruits. Vascular tissue also serves for support and in lightweight fruits may be the chief means of support.
Crystals, tannins, and oils commonly occur in fruits and may protect against pathogens and predators. The astringency of tannins, for example, may be repellent to organisms. With fruit maturation, tannin content ordinarily decreases, so the tannin repellency operative in early stages is superseded in fleshy fruits by features (tenderness, succulence, sweetness through odor and increased sugar content, and so on) attractive to animal dispersal agents. Many fruits are dispersed by hairs, hooks, barbs, spines, and sticky mucilage adhering the fruit to the surface of the dispersal agent. Lightweight fruits with many air spaces or with wings or plumes may be dispersed by wind or water. Gravity is always a factor in dispersal of fruits and seeds.
Top
The fleshy seed-bearing part of plants (including tomato and cucumber, which are usually called vegetables). They contain negligible protein and fat, with carbohydrate varying from 3% in melon to 25% in banana, and supply varying amounts of vitamin C. Yellow- and orange-coloured fruits (e.g. apricot, peach, papaya) are sources of vitamin A (as carotene).
Roget's Thesaurus:
Top
fruit
noun
- The produce harvested from the land: crop, fruitage, harvest, yield. See ingestion.
- Something brought about by a cause: aftermath, consequence, corollary, effect, end product, event, harvest, issue, outcome, precipitate, ramification, result, resultant, sequel, sequence, sequent, upshot. See cause/effect.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
Top
fruit
fruit, matured ovary of the pistil of a flower, containing the seed. After the egg nucleus, or ovum, has been fertilized (see fertilization) and the embryo plantlet begins to form, the surrounding ovule (see pistil) develops into a seed and the ovary wall (pericarp) around the ovule becomes the fruit. The pericarp consists of three layers of tissue: the thin outer exocarp, which becomes the "skin"; the thicker mesocarp; and the inner endocarp, immediately surrounding the ovule. A flower may have one or more simple pistils or a compound pistil made up of two or more fused simple pistils (each called a carpel); different arrangements give rise to different types of fruit. A new variety of fruit is obtained as a hybrid in plant breeding or may develop spontaneously by mutation.
Types of Fruits
Fruits are classified according to the arrangement from which they derive. There are four types-simple, aggregate, multiple, and accessory fruits. Simple fruits develop from a single ovary of a single flower and may be fleshy or dry. Principal fleshy fruit types are the berry, in which the entire pericarp is soft and pulpy (e.g., the grape, tomato, banana, pepo, hesperidium, and blueberry) and the drupe, in which the outer layers may be pulpy, fibrous, or leathery and the endocarp hardens into a pit or stone enclosing one or more seeds (e.g., the peach, cherry, olive, coconut, and walnut). The name fruit is often applied loosely to all edible plant products and specifically to the fleshy fruits, some of which (e.g., eggplant, tomatoes, and squash) are commonly called vegetables. Dry fruits are divided into those whose hard or papery shells split open to release the mature seed (dehiscent fruits) and those that do not split (indehiscent fruits). Among the dehiscent fruits are the legume (e.g., the pod of the pea and bean), which splits at both edges, and the follicle, which splits on only one side (e.g., milkweed and larkspur); others include the dry fruits of the poppy, snapdragon, lily, and mustard. Indehiscent fruits include the single-seeded achene of the buttercup and the composite flowers; the caryopsis (grain); the nut (e.g., acorn and hazelnut); and the fruits of the carrot and parsnip (not to be confused with their edible fleshy roots).
An aggregate fruit (e.g., blackberry and raspberry) consists of a mass of small drupes (drupelets), each of which developed from a separate ovary of a single flower. A multiple fruit (e.g., pineapple and mulberry) develops from the ovaries of many flowers growing in a cluster. Accessory fruits contain tissue derived from plant parts other than the ovary; the strawberry is actually a number of tiny achenes (miscalled seeds) outside a central pulpy pith that is the enlarged receptacle or base of the flower. The core of the pineapple is also receptacle (stem) tissue. The best-known accessory fruit is the pome (e.g., apple and pear), in which the fleshy edible portion is swollen stem tissue and the true fruit is the central core. The skin of the banana is also stem tissue, as is the rind of the pepo (berrylike fruit) of the squash, cucumber, and melon.
The Role of Fruits in Seed Dispersal
The structure of a fruit often facilitates the dispersal of its seeds. The "wings" of the maple, elm, and ailanthus fruits and the "parachutes" of the dandelion and the thistle are blown by the wind; burdock, cocklebur, and carrot fruits have barbs or hooks that cling to fur and clothing; and the buoyant coconut may float thousands of miles from its parent tree. Some fruits (e.g., witch hazel and violet) explode at maturity, scattering their seeds. A common method of dispersion is through the feces of animals that eat fleshy fruits containing seeds covered by indigestible coats.
Top
1. A general viticulture term for grapes. 2. In wine tasting, fruit refers to flavor and aroma characteristics (see fruity).
Top
The mature or ripened ovary of a flower, containing one or more seeds.
Word Tutor:
Top
fruit
IN BRIEF: The edible reproductive body of a seed plant.
Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is.
— Arthur F. Lenenhan.
LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!
The Dream Encyclopedia:
Top
Fruit
Fruits are complex symbols, representing everything from transcendence, to the self, to abundance, to spiritual knowledge. (See also See entries on particular fruits for more information) The dreaming mind often literalizes common verbal expressions in an effort to convey something to the conscious mind, so fruit dreams can also indicate anything along the lines of "first fruits," "forbidden fruit," "fruitcake," and so on.
In botany, the part of a seed-bearing plant that contains the fertilized seeds capable of generating a new plant (see fertilization). Fruit develops from the female part of the plant. Apples, peaches, tomatoes, and many other familiar foods are fruits.
Top
noun
noun, dated
1: A person easily deceived; a dupe. (1895 — 1931).
2:orig US A male homosexual. (1935 —) .
Guardian He is a fruit, which means...that he is a queer (1970). See also old fruitnoun .
noun, dated
1: A person easily deceived; a dupe. (1895 — 1931).
2:
Guardian He is a fruit, which means...that he is a queer (1970). See also old fruit
| frozen limit, frost, frosh | |
| fruit salad, fruit-cake, fruit-loop |
Top
The part of the plant that produces the fertilized ovary of the flower, where the ovules become seeds for the propagation of new plants. Fruits are usually sweet foods and are usually consumed as snacks, desserts, or at breakfast. Fruits have a limited use as additions to meats and other foods. Lemon is the most popular fruit for use in these areas. Foods that are considered vegetables but are really hulls are eggplant, tomato, squash, olive, avocado, and nuts. (Note - Peanuts are legumes, not nuts.) Until the 1900s, vegetables were all thought to be fruits (fruits of the earth). Fruits can be prepared in many varieties other than fresh - candied, dehydrated, pureed, juice concentrates, fruit juice essences, and as syrups. Categories of fruits are the berries, stone fleshy fruits, pomme fleshy fruits, citrus, tropical, and melons. Fruits are good sources of vitamins (A, B6, C) and minerals. Rhubarb, considered to be a fruit, is really a vegetable related to the sorrel or buckwheat. See Fruit Juice Concentrates, Fold, Vegetative.
Top
the structure that develops from the fertilized ovary of a flowering plant and contains the ripening seed or seeds. It may be fleshy or dry; the term is often extended to include other associated parts such as a fleshy receptacle.
| fructosuria, fructose-bisphosphatase, fructose-2,6-bisphosphate 2-phosphatase | |
| fruit fly, fruit sugar, ftz |
Random House Word Menu:
Top
categories related to 'fruit'
- Botany and Plant Parts - fruit: mature ovary of flowering plant, sometimes edible; see list under Foods
- Kinship and Ancestry - fruit: descendants
- Types of Food - fruit: edible portion of mature, flowering plant
- Fruits - fruit: edible portion of mature flowering plant
- Farming and Crops - fruit: edible plant structure of mature ovary of flowering plant or tree, usu. sweet and pulpy
- Plants and Plant Parts - fruit: mature ovary of flowering plant, usu. edible
- Sexuality or Gender
- Homosexuality - fruit: Derogatory slang. male homosexual
See crossword solutions for the clue
Top
For other uses, see Fruit (disambiguation).
In botany, a fruit is a part of a flowering plant that derives from specific tissues of the flower, mainly one or more ovaries. Fruits are the means by which many plants disseminate seeds. Many plants bearing edible fruits, in particular, have propagated with the movements of humans and animals in a symbiotic relationship as a means for seed dispersal and nutrition, respectively; in fact, humans and many animals have become dependent on fruits as a source of food.[1] Fruits account for a substantial fraction of the world's agricultural output, and some (such as the apple and the pomegranate) have acquired extensive cultural and symbolic meanings.
The section of a fungus that produces spores is also called a fruiting body.[2]
In common language usage, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of a plant that are sweet and edible in the raw state, such as apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, and bananas.[3] On the other hand, the botanical sense includes many structures that are not commonly called "fruits", such as bean pods, corn kernels, wheat grains, and tomatoes.[4]
|
Contents
|
Botanic fruit and culinary fruit
In the culinary sense of these words, a fruit is usually any sweet-tasting plant product, especially those associated with seeds; a vegetable is any savoury or less sweet plant product; and a nut is any hard, oily, and shelled plant product.[5]
These culinary vegetables that are botanically fruit include cucurbits (e.g., squash, pumpkin, and cucumber), tomatoes, peas, beans, corn, eggplant, and sweet pepper. In addition, some spices, such as allspice and chilies, are fruits, botanically speaking.[6] In contrast, rhubarb is often referred to as a fruit, because it is used to make sweet desserts such as pies, though only the petiole of the rhubarb plant is edible.[7] Edible gymnosperm seeds are often given fruit names, e.g., pine nuts, ginkgo nuts.
Botanically, a cereal grain, such as corn, wheat or rice, is also a kind of fruit, termed a caryopsis. However, the fruit wall is very thin, and is fused to the seed coat, so almost all of the edible grain is actually a seed.[8]
Many common terms for seeds and fruit do not correspond to the botanical classifications. In botany, seeds are ripened ovules; fruits are the ripened ovaries or carpels that contain the seeds and a nut is a type of fruit and not a seed.[6]
Fruit development
Main article: Fruit anatomy
A fruit results from maturation of one or more flowers, and the gynoecium of the flower(s) forms all or part of the fruit.[9]
Inside the ovary/ovaries are one or more ovules where the megagametophyte contains the egg cell.[10] After double fertilization, these ovules will become seeds. The ovules are fertilized in a process that starts with pollination, which involves the movement of pollen from the stamens to the stigma of flowers. After pollination, a tube grows from the pollen through the stigma into the ovary to the ovule and two sperm are transferred from the pollen to the megagametophyte. Within the megagametophyte one of the two sperm unites with the egg, forming a zygote, and the second sperm enters the central cell forming the endosperm mother cell, which completes the double fertilization process.[11][12] Later the zygote will give rise to the embryo of the seed, and the endosperm mother cell will give rise to endosperm, a nutritive tissue used by the embryo.
As the ovules develop into seeds, the ovary begins to ripen and the ovary wall, the pericarp, may become fleshy (as in berries or drupes), or form a hard outer covering (as in nuts). In some multiseeded fruits, the extent to which the flesh develops is proportional to the number of fertilized ovules.[13] The pericarp is often differentiated into two or three distinct layers called the exocarp (outer layer, also called epicarp), mesocarp (middle layer), and endocarp (inner layer). In some fruits, especially simple fruits derived from an inferior ovary, other parts of the flower (such as the floral tube, including the petals, sepals, and stamens), fuse with the ovary and ripen with it. In other cases, the sepals, petals and/or stamens and style of the flower fall off. When such other floral parts are a significant part of the fruit, it is called an accessory fruit. Since other parts of the flower may contribute to the structure of the fruit, it is important to study flower structure to understand how a particular fruit forms.[3]
There are three general modes of fruit development:
- Apocarpous fruits develop from a single flower having one or more separate carpels, and they are the simplest fruits.
- Syncarpous fruits develop from a single gynoecium having two or more carpels fused together.
- Multiple fruits form from many different flowers.
Plant scientists have grouped fruits into three main groups, simple fruits, aggregate fruits, and composite or multiple fruits.[14] The groupings are not evolutionarily relevant, since many diverse plant taxa may be in the same group, but reflect how the flower organs are arranged and how the fruits develop.
Simple fruit
Simple fruits can be either dry or fleshy, and result from the ripening of a simple or compound ovary in a flower with only one pistil. Dry fruits may be either dehiscent (opening to discharge seeds), or indehiscent (not opening to discharge seeds).[15] Types of dry, simple fruits, with examples of each, are:
- achene - Most commonly seen in aggregate fruits (e.g. strawberry)
- capsule – (Brazil nut)
- caryopsis – (wheat)
- Cypsela - An achene-like fruit derived from the individual florets in a capitulum (e.g. dandelion).
- fibrous drupe – (coconut, walnut)
- follicle – is formed from a single carpel, and opens by one suture (e.g. milkweed). More commonly seen in aggregate fruits (e.g. magnolia)
- legume – (pea, bean, peanut)
- loment - a type of indehiscent legume
- nut – (hazelnut, beech, oak acorn)
- samara – (elm, ash, maple key)
- schizocarp – (carrot seed)
- silique – (radish seed)
- silicle – (shepherd's purse)
- utricle – (beet)
Fruits in which part or all of the pericarp (fruit wall) is fleshy at maturity are simple fleshy fruits. Types of fleshy, simple fruits (with examples) are:
- berry – (redcurrant, gooseberry, tomato, cranberry)
- stone fruit or drupe (plum, cherry, peach, apricot, olive)
An aggregate fruit, or etaerio, develops from a single flower with numerous simple pistils.[16]
- Magnolia and Peony, collection of follicles developing from one flower.
- Sweet gum, collection of capsules.
- Sycamore, collection of achenes.
- Teasel, collection of cypsellas
- Tuliptree, collection of samaras.
The pome fruits of the family Rosaceae, (including apples, pears, rosehips, and saskatoon berry) are a syncarpous fleshy fruit, a simple fruit, developing from a half-inferior ovary.[17]
Schizocarp fruits form from a syncarpous ovary and do not really dehisce, but split into segments with one or more seeds; they include a number of different forms from a wide range of families.[14] Carrot seed is an example.
Aggregate fruit
Aggregate fruits form from single flowers that have multiple carpels which are not joined together, i.e. each pistil contains one carpel. Each pistil forms a fruitlet, and collectively the fruitlets are called an etaerio. Four types of aggregate fruits include etaerios of achenes, follicles, drupelets, and berries. Ranunculaceae species, including Clematis and Ranunculus have an etaerio of achenes, Calotropis has an etaerio of follicles, and Rubus species like raspberry, have an etaerio of drupelets. Annona have Etaerio of berries.[18][19]
The raspberry, whose pistils are termed drupelets because each is like a small drupe attached to the receptacle. In some bramble fruits (such as blackberry) the receptacle is elongated and part of the ripe fruit, making the blackberry an aggregate-accessory fruit.[20] The strawberry is also an aggregate-accessory fruit, only one in which the seeds are contained in achenes.[21] In all these examples, the fruit develops from a single flower with numerous pistils.
Multiple fruits
Main article: Multiple fruit
A multiple fruit is one formed from a cluster of flowers (called an inflorescence). Each flower produces a fruit, but these mature into a single mass.[22] Examples are the pineapple, fig, mulberry, osage-orange, and breadfruit.
In the photograph on the right, stages of flowering and fruit development in the noni or Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia) can be observed on a single branch. First an inflorescence of white flowers called a head is produced. After fertilization, each flower develops into a drupe, and as the drupes expand, they become connate (merge) into a multiple fleshy fruit called a syncarpet.
Berries
Main article: Berry
Berries are another type of fleshy fruit; they are simple fruit created from a single ovary. The ovary may be compound, with several carpels. Type include (examples follow in the table below):
- Pepo – Berries where the skin is hardened, cucurbits
- Hesperidium – Berries with a rind and a juicy interior, like most citrus fruit
Aggregate fruit
Main article: Aggregate fruit
Aggregate fruit are formed from the merger of different ovaries of a single flower.
Accessory fruit
Main article: Accessory fruit
Some or all of the edible part of accessory fruit is not generated by the ovary.
Table of fruit examples
| True berry | Pepo | Hesperidium | Aggregate fruit | Multiple fruit | Accessory fruit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackcurrant, Redcurrant, Gooseberry, Tomato, Eggplant, Guava, Lucuma, Chili pepper, Pomegranate, Kiwifruit, Grape, Cranberry, Blueberry | Pumpkin, Gourd, Cucumber, Melon | Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit | Blackberry, Raspberry, Boysenberry | Pineapple, Fig, Mulberry, Hedge apple | Apple, Rose hip, Strawberry |
Seedless fruits
Seedlessness is an important feature of some fruits of commerce. Commercial cultivars of bananas and pineapples are examples of seedless fruits. Some cultivars of citrus fruits (especially navel oranges), satsumas, mandarin oranges, table grapes, grapefruit, and watermelons are valued for their seedlessness. In some species, seedlessness is the result of parthenocarpy, where fruits set without fertilization. Parthenocarpic fruit set may or may not require pollination but most seedless citrus fruits require stimulus from pollination to produce fruit.
Seedless bananas and grapes are triploids, and seedlessness results from the abortion of the embryonic plant that is produced by fertilization, a phenomenon known as stenospermocarpy which requires normal pollination and fertilization.[23]
Seed dissemination
Variations in fruit structures largely depend on the mode of dispersal of the seeds they contain. This dispersal can be achieved by animals, wind, water, or explosive dehiscence.[24]
Some fruits have coats covered with spikes or hooked burrs, either to prevent themselves from being eaten by animals or to stick to the hairs, feathers or legs of animals, using them as dispersal agents. Examples include cocklebur and unicorn plant.[25][26]
The sweet flesh of many fruits is "deliberately" appealing to animals, so that the seeds held within are eaten and "unwittingly" carried away and deposited at a distance from the parent. Likewise, the nutritious, oily kernels of nuts are appealing to rodents (such as squirrels) who hoard them in the soil in order to avoid starving during the winter, thus giving those seeds that remain uneaten the chance to germinate and grow into a new plant away from their parent.[6]
Other fruits are elongated and flattened out naturally and so become thin, like wings or helicopter blades, e.g. maple, tuliptree and elm. This is an evolutionary mechanism to increase dispersal distance away from the parent via wind. Other wind-dispersed fruit have tiny parachutes, e.g. dandelion and salsify.[24]
Coconut fruits can float thousands of miles in the ocean to spread seeds. Some other fruits that can disperse via water are nipa palm and screw pine.[24]
Some fruits fling seeds substantial distances (up to 100 m in sandbox tree) via explosive dehiscence or other mechanisms, e.g. impatiens and squirting cucumber.[27]
Uses
Many hundreds of fruits, including fleshy fruits like apple, peach, pear, kiwifruit, watermelon and mango are commercially valuable as human food, eaten both fresh and as jams, marmalade and other preserves. Fruits are also used in manufactured foods like cookies, muffins, yogurt, ice cream, cakes, and many more. Many fruits are used to make beverages, such as fruit juices (orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, etc.) or alcoholic beverages, such as wine or brandy.[28] Apples are often used to make vinegar. Fruits are also used for gift giving, Fruit Basket and Fruit Bouquet are some common forms of fruit gifts.
Many vegetables are botanical fruits, including tomato, bell pepper, eggplant, okra, squash, pumpkin, green bean, cucumber and zucchini.[29] Olive fruit is pressed for olive oil. Spices like vanilla, paprika, allspice and black pepper are derived from berries.[30]
Nutritional value
Fruits are generally high in fiber, water, vitamin C and sugars, although this latter varies widely from traces as in lime, to 61% of the fresh weight of the date.[31] Fruits also contain various phytochemicals that do not yet have an RDA/RDI listing under most nutritional factsheets, and which research indicates are required for proper long-term cellular health and disease prevention. Regular consumption of fruit is associated with reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease (especially coronary heart disease), stroke, Alzheimer disease, cataracts, and some of the functional declines associated with aging.[32]
Diets that include a sufficient amount of potassium from fruits and vegetables also help reduce the chance of developing kidney stones and may help reduce the effects of bone-loss. Fruits are also low in calories which would help lower one's calorie intake as part of a weight-loss diet.[33]
Nonfood uses
Because fruits have been such a major part of the human diet, different cultures have developed many different uses for various fruits that they do not depend on as being edible. Many dry fruits are used as decorations or in dried flower arrangements, such as unicorn plant, lotus, wheat, annual honesty and milkweed. Ornamental trees and shrubs are often cultivated for their colorful fruits, including holly, pyracantha, viburnum, skimmia, beautyberry and cotoneaster.[34]
Fruits of opium poppy are the source of opium which contains the drugs morphine and codeine, as well as the biologically inactive chemical theabaine from which the drug oxycodone is synthysized.[35] Osage orange fruits are used to repel cockroaches.[36] Bayberry fruits provide a wax often used to make candles.[37] Many fruits provide natural dyes, e.g. walnut, sumac, cherry and mulberry.[38] Dried gourds are used as decorations, water jugs, bird houses, musical instruments, cups and dishes. Pumpkins are carved into Jack-o'-lanterns for Halloween. The spiny fruit of burdock or cocklebur were the inspiration for the invention of Velcro.[39]
Coir is a fibre from the fruit of coconut that is used for doormats, brushes, mattresses, floortiles, sacking, insulation and as a growing medium for container plants. The shell of the coconut fruit is used to make souvenir heads, cups, bowls, musical instruments and bird houses.[40]
Fruit is often used as a subject of still life paintings.
Safety
For food safety, the CDC recommends proper fruit handling and preparation to reduce the risk of food contamination and foodborne illness. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be carefully selected. At the store, they should not be damaged or bruised and pre-cut pieces should be refrigerated or surrounded by ice. All fruits and vegetables should be rinsed before eating. This recommendation also applies to produce with rinds or skins that are not eaten. It should be done just before preparing or eating to avoid premature spoilage. Fruits and vegetables should be kept separate from raw foods like meat, poultry, and seafood, as well as utensils that have come in contact with raw foods. Fruits and vegetables, if they are not going to be cooked, should be thrown away if they have touched raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs. All cut, peeled, or cooked fruits and vegetables should be refrigerated within two hours. After a certain time, harmful bacteria may grow on them and increase the risk of foodborne illness.[41]
Storage
The plant hormone ethylene causes ripening of many types of fruit. Maintaining most fruits in an efficient cold chain is optimal for post harvest storage, with the aim of extending and ensuring shelf life. All fruits benefit from proper post harvest care.[42]
See also
References
- ^ Lewis, Robert A. (January 1, 2002). CRC Dictionary of Agricultural Sciences. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-2327-4. http://books.google.com/?id=TwRUZK0WTWAC&pg=PA375&lpg=PA375&dq=fruit.
- ^ "Sporophore from Encyclopædia Britannica". http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/560984/sporophore.
- ^ a b Mauseth, James D. (April 1, 2003). Botany: An Introduction to Plant Biology. Jones and Bartlett. pp. 271–272. ISBN 0-7637-2134-4. http://books.google.com/?id=0DfYJsVRmUcC&pg=PA271&lpg=PA271.
- ^ Schlegel, Rolf H J (January 1, 2003). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Plant Breeding and Related Subjects. Haworth Press. p. 177. ISBN 1-56022-950-0. http://books.google.com/?id=7J-3fD67RqwC&pg=PA177&lpg=PA177&vq=fruit&dq=acarpous.
- ^ For a Supreme Court of the United States ruling on the matter, see Nix v. Hedden.
- ^ a b c McGee, Harold (November 16, 2004). On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Simon and Schuster. pp. 247–248. ISBN 0-684-80001-2. http://books.google.com/?id=iX05JaZXRz0C&pg=PA247&lpg=PA247&vq=Fruit&dq=On+Food+And+Cooking.
- ^ McGee (2004-11-16). On Food and Cooking. p. 367. ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1. http://books.google.com/?id=iX05JaZXRz0C&pg=PA367&lpg=PA367&vq=rhubarb&dq=On+Food+And+Cooking.
- ^ Lewis (2002). CRC Dictionary of Agricultural Sciences. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-8493-2327-0. http://books.google.com/?id=TwRUZK0WTWAC&pg=PA238&lpg=PA238&vq=cereal&dq=fruit.
- ^ Esau, K. 1977. Anatomy of seed plants. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Mauseth, James D. (2003). Botany: an introduction to plant biology. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-7637-2134-3.
- ^ Rost, Thomas L.; Weier, T. Elliot; Weier, Thomas Elliot (1979). Botany: a brief introduction to plant biology. New York: Wiley. pp. 135–37. ISBN 0-471-02114-8.
- ^ Mauseth (2003-04-25). Botany. Chapter 9: Flowers and Reproduction. ISBN 978-0-7637-2134-3. http://books.google.com/?id=0DfYJsVRmUcC&pg=PP14&lpg=PP11.
- ^ a b Singh, Gurcharan (2004). Plants Systematics: An Integrated Approach. Science Publishers. p. 83. ISBN 1-57808-351-6. http://books.google.com/?id=In_Lv8iMt24C&pg=PA83.
- ^ Schlegel (2003-05-13). Encyclopedic Dictionary. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-56022-950-6. http://books.google.com/?id=7J-3fD67RqwC&dq=acarpous&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123.
- ^ Schlegel (2003-05-13). Encyclopedic Dictionary. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-56022-950-6. http://books.google.com/?id=7J-3fD67RqwC&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&vq=Aggregate+fruit&dq=acarpous.
- ^ Evolutionary trends in flowering plants. New York: Columbia University Press. 1991. p. 209. ISBN 0-231-07328-3. http://books.google.com/?id=c11HBwElG-4C&pg=PA209.
- ^ Gupta, Prof. P.K.. Introduction to Biology. p. 2134. ISBN 978-81-7133-896-2. http://books.google.com/?id=uIfSEdff6YgC&pg=RA1-PA2134
- ^ http://www.rkv.rgukt.in/content/Biology/47Module/47fruit.pdf
- ^ McGee (2004-11-16). On Food and Cooking. pp. 361–362. ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1. http://books.google.com/?id=iX05JaZXRz0C&pg=PA361&lpg=PA361&vq=raspberry&dq=On+Food+And+Cooking.
- ^ McGee (2004-11-16). On Food and Cooking. pp. 364–365. ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1. http://books.google.com/?id=iX05JaZXRz0C&pg=PA364&lpg=PA364&vq=strawberry&dq=On+Food+And+Cooking.
- ^ Schlegel (2003-05-13). Encyclopedic Dictionary. p. 282. ISBN 978-1-56022-950-6. http://books.google.com/?id=7J-3fD67RqwC&pg=PA282&lpg=PA282&vq=Multiple+fruit&dq=acarpous.
- ^ Spiegel-Roy, P.; E. E. Goldschmidt (August 28, 1996). The Biology of Citrus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN 0-521-33321-0. http://books.google.com/?id=SmRJnd73dbYC&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=parthenocarpy.
- ^ a b c Capon, Brian (February 25, 2005). Botany for Gardeners. Timber Press. pp. 198–199. ISBN 0-88192-655-8. http://books.google.com/?id=Z2s9v__6rp4C&pg=PA198&lpg=PA198&dq=coconut+dispersal.
- ^ Heiser, Charles B. (April 1, 2003). Weeds in My Garden: Observations on Some Misunderstood Plants. Timber Press. pp. 93–95. ISBN 0-88192-562-4. http://books.google.com/?id=nN1ohECdSC8C&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=cocklebur.
- ^ Heiser (2003-04-01). Weeds in My Garden. pp. 162–164. ISBN 978-0-88192-562-3. http://books.google.com/?id=nN1ohECdSC8C&pg=PA164&lpg=PA162&vq=unicorn&dq=cocklebur.
- ^ Feldkamp, Susan (2002). Modern Biology. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. p. 634. ISBN 0-88192-562-4.
- ^ McGee (2004-11-16). On Food and Cooking. Chapter 7: A Survey of Common Fruits. ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1. http://books.google.com/?id=iX05JaZXRz0C&pg=PA350&lpg=PA350.
- ^ McGee (2004-11-16). On Food and Cooking. Chapter 6: A Survey of Common Vegetables. ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1. http://books.google.com/?id=iX05JaZXRz0C&pg=PA300&lpg=PA299.
- ^ Farrell, Kenneth T. (November 1, 1999). Spices, Condiments and Seasonings. Springer. pp. 17–19. ISBN 0-8342-1337-0. http://books.google.com/?id=ehAFUhWV4QMC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17.
- ^ Hulme, A.C (editor) (1970). The Biochemistry of Fruits and their Products. Volume 1. London & New York: Academic Press
- ^ Health benefits of fruit and vegetables are from additive and synergistic combinations of phytochemicals - Liu 78 (3): 517S - American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- ^ "Why is it Important to eat Fruit?". http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/fruits_why.html.
- ^ Adams, Denise Wiles (February 1, 2004). Restoring American Gardens: An Encyclopedia of Heirloom Ornamental Plants, 1640-1940. Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-619-1. http://books.google.com/?id=J30SOqPLMOEC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3.
- ^ Booth, Martin (June 12, 1999). Opium: A History. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-20667-4. http://books.google.com/?id=kHRyZEQ5rC4C.
- ^ Cothran, James R. (November 1, 2003). Gardens and Historic Plants of the Antebellum South. University of South Carolina Press. p. 221. ISBN 1-57003-501-6. http://books.google.com/?id=s8OcSmOKeCkC&pg=PA221&lpg=PA221&dq=cockroaches.
- ^ K, Amber (December 1, 2001). Candlemas: Feast of Flames. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 155. ISBN 0-7387-0079-7. http://books.google.com/?id=WQL4W13EYlUC&pg=PA155&lpg=PA155&dq=bayberry.
- ^ Adrosko, Rita J. (June 1, 1971). Natural Dyes and Home Dyeing: A Practical Guide with over 150 Recipes. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-22688-3. http://books.google.com/?id=EElNckPn0FUC.
- ^ Wake, Warren (March 13, 2000). Design Paradigms: A Sourcebook for Creative Visualization. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 162–163. ISBN 978-0-471-29976-9. http://books.google.com/?id=j2n1BCqxWjcC&pg=PA162&lpg=PA162.
- ^ "The Many Uses of the Coconut". The Coconut Museum. http://www.coconut.com/museum/uses.html. Retrieved 2006-09-14.
- ^ Food Safety Basics for Fruits and Vegetables at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- ^ Why Cold Chain for Fruits: Kohli, Pawanexh (2008). "Fruits and Vegetables Post-Harvest Care: The Basics". Crosstree Techno-visors. http://crosstree.info/Documents/Care%20of%20F%20n%20V.pdf.
Further reading
- Books
- Gollner, Adam J. (2010). The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession. Scribner. ISBN 978-0-7432-9695-3
- Watson, R.R. / Preedy, V.R. (2010, eds.). Bioactive Foods in Promoting Health: Fruits and Vegetables. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-374628-3
External links
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Fruit |
 |
Look up Fruit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fruit |
 |
Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on |
- Images of fruit development from flowers at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
- Fruit and seed dispersal images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
- Fruit Facts from California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
- Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 on Fruit
- Photo ID of Fruits by Capt. Pawanexh Kohli
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Translations:
Top
Fruit
Dansk (Danish)
n. - frugt, friskhed
v. intr. - bære frugt
v. tr. - få til at bære frugt
idioms:
- fruit cake frugtkage, skør kugle
- fruit cocktail frugtcocktail
- fruit machine spilleautomat
- fruit salad frugtsalat
Nederlands (Dutch)
vrucht, fruit, opbrengst, resultaat, kroost, mietje, vrucht dragen, vrucht doen dragen
Français (French)
n. - (Bot) fruit, (fig) fruit, (US) pédé (injur)
v. intr. - donner des fruits, porter des fruits (un arbre)
v. tr. - donner des fruits, porter des fruits (un arbre)
idioms:
- fruit cake gâteau/tarte aux fruits, (GB) cinglé/fou (fam)
- fruit cocktail (Culin) macédoine de fruits
- fruit machine machine à sous
- fruit salad salade de fruits
Deutsch (German)
n. - Frucht, Obst, Früchte
v. - Früchte tragen
idioms:
- fruit cake englischer Teekuchen
- fruit cocktail Früchtecocktail
- fruit machine Spielautomat
- fruit salad Obstsalat
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - καρπός, οπώρα, φρούτο
n. pl. - καρποί
v. - καρποφορώ, καρπίζω
idioms:
- fruit cake (καθομ.) παλαβιάρης, βλαμμένος
- fruit cocktail κοκτέιλ με φρούτα
- fruit machine κερματοβόρο μηχάνημα τυχερών συνδυασμών, "ληστής με το ένα χέρι"
- fruit salad (μαγειρ.) φρουτοσαλάτα
Italiano (Italian)
fruttare, frutto
idioms:
- fruit cake dolce di frutta
- fruit cocktail macedonia di frutta
- fruit machine slot machine
- fruit salad macedonia di frutta
Português (Portuguese)
n. - fruta (f), homossexual (m) (pej.)
n. pl. - frutas (f pl)
v. - frutificar
idioms:
- fruit cake bolo (m) de frutas
- fruit cocktail prato (m) de entrada composto de frutas (Culin.)
- fruit machine caça-níqueis (m pl) (máquina de apostas)
- fruit salad salada (f) de frutas
Русский (Russian)
фрукты, плод, ребенок, тип
idioms:
- fruit cake фруктовый торт, торт с сухими фруктами и орехами, псих
- fruit cocktail фруктовый салат
- fruit machine игорный автомат
- fruit salad фруктовый салат
Español (Spanish)
n. - fruto, fruta
v. intr. - fructificar, dar fruto, producir frutas
v. tr. - fructificar, dar fruto, producir frutas, hacer dar frutos
idioms:
- fruit cake pastel con frutas secas
- fruit cocktail ensalada de frutas
- fruit machine máquina tragaperras o tragamonedas
- fruit salad ensalada de frutas
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - frukt, produkt, resultat, homosexuell (amer.), avkomma (bibl.)
n. pl. - fruktsorter
v. - bära frukt
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
水果, 结果, 果类, 结果实, 使结果实
idioms:
- fruit cake 水果蛋糕
- fruit cocktail 什锦水果色拉
- fruit machine 吃角子老虎, 赌博机
- fruit salad 水果色拉
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 水果, 結果, 果類
v. intr. - 結果實
v. tr. - 使結果實
idioms:
- fruit cake 水果蛋糕
- fruit cocktail 什錦水果沙拉
- fruit machine 吃角子老虎, 賭博機
- fruit salad 水果沙拉
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 과일, 열매, 성과
v. intr. - 열매를 맺다
v. tr. - 열매를 맺게 하다
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 果物, 実, 結果, 農作物
v. - 実を結ぶ
idioms:
- fruit cake 奇妙んな人々
- fruit cocktail フルーツカクテル
- fruit growing 果物生産
- fruit machine スロットマシン
- fruit salad フルーツサラダ
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) فاكهه (الجمع) فواكه (فعل) يثمر
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - פרי, פירות
v. intr. - נתן פרי
v. tr. - הביא לנתינת פרי
If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
Visual Food Lover's Guide
Copyright © 2009 QA International. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Wiley and the Wiley logo are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Used here by license.
Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
McGraw-Hill Science & Technology Encyclopedia
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Oxford Food & Nutrition Dictionary
A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.
Read more
Roget's Thesaurus
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
Read more
Gale Encyclopedia of Food & Culture
Encyclopedia of Food and Culture. Copyright © 2003 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Barron's Wine Lover's Companion
Wine Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2003 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more
Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners
Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners, by Frances Tenenbaum. Copyright © 1997 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Read more
Word Tutor
Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved.
eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; sign up free. Read more
eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; sign up free. Read more
The Dream Encyclopedia
The Dreams Encyclopedia. 1995 ©Visible Ink Press (VisibleInkPress.com). All rights reserved.
Read more
Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: Science
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Read more
Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang
Oxford University Press. © 1997, 2008, 2010
All rights reserved.
Read more
Wiley Dictionary of Flavors
Copyright © 2008 by Wiley-Blackwell. Wiley and the Wiley logo are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Used here by license. Read more
Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry
Oxford University Press. Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology © 1997, 2000, 2006 All rights reserved.
Read more
Random House Word Menu
© 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier.
Write Brothers Inc.
All rights reserved.
Read more
Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary
Collins Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary © Anne Bradford, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008
HarperCollins Publishers
All rights reserved.
Read more
Wikipedia on Answers.com
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Fruit.
Read more
