Taking into account some scientific concepts, we came to the conclusion that many vegetables that we call fruits are not fruits, and others that we don't even imagine are fruits, are. But, after all, why does this happen?
O fruit that we call true originates from the ovary of the flower, but not all vegetable species develop their fruits from this structure. In some plants, in addition to the ovary, other parts of the flower can become fruit. These fruits that originated from other plant structures than the flower's ovary, we call pseudofruit, which means false fruit (pseudo = false).
One pseudofruit very appreciated is the cashew. The juicy part we eat from cashews originated from the flower pedicel and the part that originated from the ovary is the cashew nut.. If we take the scientific rule into account, the real cashew fruit is the nut.
Cashew is a pseudo-fruit that originated from the flower's pedicel.
two others pseudofruits, also very well known and appreciated, they are the Apple and the pear. In reality, the part that originated from the flower's ovary is the one where we find the seeds, being the edible part originated from the floral receptacle.
Apple and pear are pseudo-fruits that developed from the floral receptacle
O Strawberry is also considered a pseudofruit, but its flower is a little different from the flowers we've seen before, as they have multiple ovaries. Thus, the strawberry is called added fruit, as it originates from a single flower with multiple ovaries. In the strawberry flower, each ovary gives rise to a tiny fruit, which are those dark dots that we can see on the surface of the strawberry. The succulent and edible part originates from the flower receptacle, as well as in apple and pear.
The black dots we see on the strawberry are the real fruits
Pineapple, quince, raspberry, fig and Blackberryare also considered pseudofruits.
By Paula Louredo
Graduated in Biology
