types of fruits

If we speak in botanical terms, the fruit is the organ that is formed from the flower, whether complete or from some of its parts, and which is responsible for protect the seed or seeds while they mature.

doHow the fruit is formed? The fruit usually forms when the egg is fertilized. From there the ovary hardens and the fruit begins to form. The walls of the ovary give rise to the pericarpwhich in turn is formed by the outermost part of the fruit, which is the epicarp, the middle layer, which is the mesocarp, and the endocarp, which is the inner layer that protects the seed.

There are several ways to classify the fruits according to the criteria that we take as a reference, as we will see in the following sections.

In this classification we will focus on the characteristics of the fruit pericarp. There are two main groups: dried fruits and fleshy fruits.

• dried fruits they are those whose pericarp is thin, since it contains little reserve substances or none at all. They have a water content below 50%. As food, they are very rich in fiber and minerals, in addition to offering a high energy value.
• The fleshy fruitsOn the other hand, they do contain a large amount of reserve substances, which are sometimes used to attract animals that consume them in order to help the propagation of the seeds when they are expelled after passing through the digestive tract. They have a water content above 50%.
• We can also find oily fruitswhich are those with a high fat content, such as olives and sunflower seeds.

This classification is very simple and only focuses on whether the fruit contains a single seed or whether it contains several seeds.

• Monospermous fruit: each fruit of this plant or tree contains only one seed. An example of this type of fruit is the avocado.
• polyspermous fruit: the fruits of this plant or tree have several seeds inside. An example of this type of fruit is the tangerine.

Dehiscent fruits are those that are capable of opening spontaneously to release their seeds. Thus, this classification divide the fruits into dehiscent and indehiscent. In turn, there are many types of dehiscent fruitsamong which we can distinguish the following:

• Simple sutural: the fruit opens at its carpelar suture.
• Double sutural: it opens longitudinally both through the carpelar suture and through the middle vein of the carpel, as occurs with many legumes.
• Septicicide: when the carpel walls that give rise to the septa separate.
• Loculicidal: when the opening occurs along the middle nerve of the carpels.
• Septífraga: here the opening occurs in the septa, in planes parallel to the axis of the fruit.
• Placenticide: the fruit opens from the middle part of the placentas, lengthwise.
• Placentriphagous: two parallel cracks or slits are created in the fruit, near the placentas.
• Poricidal: these are those fruits in which holes are created through which the seeds escape.
• Transversal: a transverse opening is produced to the wall of the fruit.
• Dental: Some apical portions of the carpels separate, forming teeth.

We find in this type of classification the simple and complex fruits:

• Simple fruits: which are those that develop from a single pistil in the flower, regardless of whether it has one or more carpels. As an example we can mention oranges and grapes.
• Complex fruits: which are those in whose formation process not only the ovary is involved, but also other parts of the flower. Pomegranates and sons are examples of complex fruits.

In this classification system, we will look at whether the fruit comes from a single carpel, in which case it is a monocarpic fruitor if it has several carpels, being a polycarpic fruit. In turn, polycarpic fruits can be apocarpic or syncarpic depending on whether the carpels that have given rise to them were free or welded and, finally, the syncarpous ones can be open or closed depending on whether or not they have internal partitions.

As a final detail, it should be noted that all these classification systems are independent and non-exclusive, that is, a fruit can be described with several of them at the same time. Now that you have known the different classifications of the types of fruitswe recommend you learn more about them with these curious posts about the Difference between fruit and vegetables and 30 names of rare tropical fruits.

Also, if you want to know more about other parts of plants and trees, we recommend reading about the Types of leaves and the Types of flowers.

If you want to read more articles similar to types of fruitswe recommend that you enter our category .