In botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary—together with seeds—of a flowering plant. In many species, the fruit incorporates the ripened ovary and surrounding tissues. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds. Evolution has led plants to adopt certain basic mechanisms, seemingly without close regard to the tissues involved. No one terminology really fits the enormous variety that is found among plant fruits. Botanical terminology for fruits is inexact and will remain so. In cuisine, when discussing fruit as fo ...

Including:

• Fruit - Botanic fruits and culinary fruits
• Fruit - Fruit development
• Fruit - Simple fruit
• Fruit - Aggregate fruit
• Fruit - Multiple fruit
• Fruit - Seedless Fruits
• Fruit - Seed dissemination
• Fruit - Uses

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See also:

Fruit, Fruit - Botanic fruits and culinary fruits, Fruit - Fruit development, Fruit - Simple fruit, Fruit - Aggregate fruit, Fruit - Multiple fruit, Fruit - Seedless Fruits, Fruit - Seed dissemination, Fruit - Uses

Read more here: » Fruit: Encyclopedia II - Fruit - Botanic fruits and culinary fruits

After an ovule is fertilized in a process known as pollination, the ovary begins to expand. The petals of the flower fall off and the ovule develops into a seed. The ovary eventually comes to form, along with other parts of the flower in many cases, a structure surrounding the seed or seeds that is the fruit. Fruit development continues until the seeds have matured. With some multiseeded fruits the extent of development of the flesh of the fruit is propo ...

See also:

Fruit, Fruit - Botanic fruits and culinary fruits, Fruit - Fruit development, Fruit - Simple fruit, Fruit - Aggregate fruit, Fruit - Multiple fruit, Fruit - Seedless Fruits, Fruit - Seed dissemination, Fruit - Uses

Read more here: » Fruit: Encyclopedia II - Fruit - Fruit development

Vitis acerifolia Vitis aestivalis Vitis amurensis Vitis arizonica Vitis x bourquina Vitis californica Vitis x champinii Vitis cinerea Vitis x doaniana Vitis girdiana Vitis labrusca Vitis x labruscana Vitis monticola Vitis mustangensis Vitis x novae-angliae Vitis palmata Vitis riparia Vitis rotundifoliaIncluding:

• Grape - Raisins Currants and Sultanas
• Grape - Seedlessness in grapes

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Raisins are dried grapes. Raisins can be eaten raw or used in cooking and baking. Raisins are very sweet due to the high concentration of their sugars, and if they are stored for a long period the sugar crystallises inside the fruit. This makes the fruit gritty, but does not affect the usability. To decrystalise raisins, they can be soaked in liquid (alcohol, fruit juice, or boiling water) for a short period, dissolving the sugar. In the United States, the term 'raisin' refers to any form of dried grape. California raisins – ...

Including:

• Raisin - Nutritional Value
• Raisin - Raisins and tooth decay

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The Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), Malayalam: kada-chakkai, Hawaiian: ‘ulu; is a tree and fruit native to the east Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean islands. It has also been widely planted in tropical regions elsewhere. It was first collected and distributed by Lieutenant William Bligh as one of the botanical samples collected by HMS Bounty in the late 18th century, on a quest for a cheap high-energy f ...

Including:

• Breadfruit - Uses
• Breadfruit - Reference

Read more here: » Breadfruit: Encyclopedia - Breadfruit

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus, Family Cucurbitaceae) is the fruit and plant of a vine-like (climber and trailer) herb originally from southern Africa. This flowering plant bears an accessory fruit of a type that botanists call a false berry. The watermelon fruit, loosely considered a type of melon (although not in the genus Cucumis), has a smooth exterior rind and a juicy, sweet, usually red interior flesh. The species descriptor Citrullus vulgaris is sometimes, synonymously, used to refer to this plant (Including:

• Watermelon - History
• Watermelon - Culture
• Watermelon - Watermelon as symbolism
• Watermelon - Watermelon as food and drink
• Watermelon - Trivia

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Ref: ITIS 22364 The cucumber is the edible fruit of the cucumber plant Cucumis sativus, which belongs to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, as do melons and squash. The plant has been cultivated for 3000 years and is widely cultivated today. The cucumber plant has large leaves that form a canopy over the fruit. The vine is grown on the ground or on trellises, often in greenhouses. The fruit is commonly harvested while still green, and eaten as a vegetable, whether raw, cooked, or made into pickled cucumbers. A ...

Including:

• Cucumber - Flowering and pollination
• Cucumber - Non-Culinary Uses
• Cucumber - Other plants called cucumbers

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About 20-25 species, including: Carica candicans - Peruvian Papaya Carica cauliflora Carica cestriflora - Papaya de Terra Fria Carica chrysophylla Carica citriformis Carica microcarpa Carica monoica Carica papaya - Papaya Carica parviflora Carica peltata - Papaya de Mico Carica pentagona - Babaco Carica posopora Carica pubescens - Mountain Papaya Carica quercifolia - Oa ...

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Orange—specifically, sweet orange—refers to the citrus tree Citrus sinensis and its fruit. The orange is a hybrid of ancient cultivated origin, possibly between pomelo (Citrus maxima) and tangerine (Citrus reticulata). It is a small tree, growing to about 10 m tall, with thorny shoots and evergreen leaves 4-10 cm long. Oranges originated in southeast Asia, in either India or modern day Pakistan, Vietnam or southern China. The fruit of Citrus sinensis is called sweet orange to distinguish i ...

Including:

• Orange fruit - Cultivation and uses
• Orange fruit - World production
• Orange fruit - Juice and other products
• Orange fruit - The fruit
• Orange fruit - Etymology

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Colchicine Colchicine is a highly poisonous alkaloid, originally extracted from plants of the genus Colchicum (Autumn crocus, also known as the "Meadow saffron"). Originally used to treat rheumatic complaints and especially gout, it was also prescribed for its cathartic and emetic effects. Its present use is mainly in the treatment of gout. Colchicine - History. Colchicum extract was first described as a treatment for gout in De Materia Medica by Padanius Dioscorides in th ...

Including:

• Colchicine - History
• Colchicine - Pharmacology
• Colchicine - Biological function
• Colchicine - Colchicine as medicine
• Colchicine - Toxicity
• Colchicine - Botanical use

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For thousands of years, the fruit and plant of Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine, have been harvested for both medicinal and nutritional value; its history is intimately entwined with the history of wine. Vitis vinifera - History. Grapevines were originally native to Southwest Asia somewhere near the Caspian Sea in historic Armenia and in South Caucasus in Georgia. Grapevine cultivation for the purpose of wine production is also believed to have begun here. They were cultivated in ...

Including:

• Vitis vinifera - History
• Vitis vinifera - Uses

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The Date Palm Phoenix dactylifera is a palm, extensively cultivated for its edible fruit. Due to its long history of cultivation for fruit, its exact native distribution is unknown, but the date palm probably originated somewhere in the desert oases of north Africa, and perhaps also southwest Asia. It is a medium-sized tree, 15-25 m tall, often clumped with several trunks from a single root system, but also often growing singly. The leaves are pinnate, up to 3 m long, with spines on the petiole and about 150 leaflets; the leafl ...

Including:

• Date Palm - History of dates
• Date Palm - Fruit
• Date Palm - Cultivars of dates
• Date Palm - Production
• Date Palm - Food uses of Dates
• Date Palm - Other uses of Date Palms
• Date Palm - Traditional Medicinal Uses
• Date Palm - Diseases

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Hybrid origin; see text A banana plant is a herb in the genus Musa, which because of its size and structure, is often mistaken for a tree. Bananas are of the family Musaceae, and closely related to plantains. Globally, bananas rank fourth after rice, wheat and maize in human consumption; they are grown in 130 countries worldwide, more than for any other fruit crop. Bananas are native to tropical southeastern Asia. The stems grow to 4–8 m tall, with large leaves 2–3 m long. The term banana is a ...

Including:

• Banana - History
• Banana - Properties
• Banana - Banana trade
• Banana - Cultivation
• Banana - Banana pests and diseases
• Banana - Effects of banana diseases in East Africa
• Banana - Attitudes toward bananas
• Banana - Urban legends
• Banana - Reference

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Zakynthos (Ζάκυνθος, also known as Zante), the third largest of the Ionian Islands, covers an area of 410 square kilometers and its coastline is roughly 123 kilometers in length. The island is named after Zacynthus, son of a legendary Arcadian chief Dardanus. The name, like all similar names ending in -nthos, is pre-Mycenaean or Pelasgian in origin. Zakynthos - Description. Zakynthos has a varied terrain, with fertile plains in the southeastern part and mountainous terrain with ...

Including:

• Zakynthos - Description
• Zakynthos - Transportation
• Zakynthos - Population
• Zakynthos - Communications
• Zakynthos - Television
• Zakynthos - Municipalities
• Zakynthos - Persons

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A few varieties of cucumber are parthenocarpic, the blossoms creating seedless fruit without pollination. Pollination for these varieties degrades the quality. In the US, these are usually grown in greenhouses, where bees are excluded. In Europe, they are grown outdoors in some regions, and bees are excluded from these areas. Most cuke varieties however, are seeded and require pollination. Thousands of hives of bees are annually carried to cucumber fields just before bloom for t ...

See also:

Cucumber, Cucumber - Flowering and pollination, Cucumber - Non-Culinary Uses, Cucumber - Other plants called cucumbers

Read more here: » Cucumber: Encyclopedia II - Cucumber - Flowering and pollination

Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colours; most cultivars are yellow when ripe but some are red. The ripe fruit is easily peeled and eaten raw or cooked. Depending upon cultivar and ripeness, the flesh can be starchy to sweet, and firm to mushy. Unripe or 'green' plantains and bananas are used in cooking and are the staple starch of some tropical populations. While the original bananas contained rather large seeds, seedless and triploid cultivars have been selected for human consumption. These are propagated asexually from offsho ...

See also:

Banana, Banana - History, Banana - Properties, Banana - Banana trade, Banana - Cultivation, Banana - Banana pests and diseases, Banana - Effects of banana diseases in East Africa, Banana - Attitudes toward bananas, Banana - Urban legends, Banana - Reference

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For commercial plantings, one beehive per acre (4,000 m² per hive) is the minimum recommendation by the US Department of Agriculture for pollination of conventional, seeded varieties. Because seedless hybrids have sterile pollen, pollinizer rows of varieties with viable pollen must also be planted. Since the supply of viable pollen is reduced and pollination is much more critical in producing the seedless variety, the recommended number of hives per acre, or pollinator density, increases to thre ...

See also:

Watermelon, Watermelon - History, Watermelon - Culture, Watermelon - Watermelon as symbolism, Watermelon - Watermelon as food and drink, Watermelon - Trivia

Read more here: » Watermelon: Encyclopedia II - Watermelon - Culture

For commercial plantings, one beehive per acre (4,000 m² per hive) is the minimum recommendation by the US Department of Agriculture for pollination of conventional, seeded varieties. Because seedless hybrids have sterile pollen, pollinizer rows of varieties with viable pollen must also be planted. Since the supply of viable pollen is reduced and pollination is much more critical in producing the seedless variety, the recommended number of hives per acre, or pollinator density, increases to thre ...

See also:

Watermelon, Watermelon - History, Watermelon - Culture, Watermelon - Watermelon as Symbol, Watermelon - Watermelon as food and drink, Watermelon - Trivia

Read more here: » Watermelon: Encyclopedia II - Watermelon - Culture

The fruit of the Date Palm is known as a date. They are oval-cylindrical, 3-7 cm long, and 2-3 cm diameter, and when unripe, range from bright red to bright yellow in colour, depending on variety. Dates contain a single seed about 2-2.5 cm long and 6-8 mm thick. Three main types of date exist; soft (Barhee, Halawy, Khadrawy, Medjool), semi-dry (Dayri, Deglet Noor, Zahidi), and dry (Thoory). The type of fruit depends on the glu ...

See also:

Date Palm, Date Palm - History of dates, Date Palm - Fruit, Date Palm - Cultivars of dates, Date Palm - Production, Date Palm - Food uses of Dates, Date Palm - Other uses of Date Palms, Date Palm - Traditional Medicinal Uses, Date Palm - Diseases

Read more here: » Date Palm: Encyclopedia II - Date Palm - Fruit