What Exactly Is a Fruit?

In botany, a fruit tree is simply the underground stems of a flowering plant which is generally formed in the earth by the pressure of its environment, usually by soil. The uppermost foliage is called the bract; it is used as a garden tool and the lower foliage, called the branch, is used as food supply. A fruit tree can be found almost everywhere; in fact, there are nearly 7 billion trees on earth. They come in a variety of colors, and some fruits are more popular than others, depending on their color and size.

Fruits, like seeds, are covered with an outer cover called the pulp that protects the interior of the seed. When the fruit reaches maturity it can either drop from the vine or float down in water. Sometimes the water may even spill out onto the ground, attracting birds who will eat the seeds. Fruits themselves have no taste, but they contain sugars that are extracted from the pulp to produce the flavor.

Fruits are classified according to whether they are seeds, such as mangoes, grapes and dates; or whether they are fleshy, such as apples and pears. Seeds are enclosed within a hard outer shell, while fleshy fruits are exposed to air. Fruits include both water and solid forms. Fruit trees take several years before they begin to bear fruit; therefore, they are usually sold as a fruit tree in the early summer, just before they are ready to harvest. Fruits can be harvested by hand, with a fork or pail, by picking them with hands, or with a hand-held Fruit Scraper.

The various cultivars of tropical fruits are the hybrids between related species. These fruits are called monocots and have been developed to be successful in planting in the wild. Some of these flowers have many flowers on one stem and the fruit lies directly beneath the flowering stem. Other species have only a single flower on a short stem. Some of these flowers become a fruit, others form a cluster of several flowers. The fruits have soft skins and are used for eating, storing or pickling.

All tropical fruit trees begin life as an underground stem. As the plant grows upward, the lateral shoots grow out and find their way into the light of the sun. This process creates new shoots and roots and the plant forms a structure known as a rhizome. From the rhizome rises a support structure known as a papaya that encloses the fruit. The papaya supports the entire root system, including the fertilization process. Once fertilization occurs, the fruit begins to mature.

Some tropical fruits develop berries at maturity. Others develop seeds. The most widely grown ones are the acupressure-type fruits, which consist of just a single pearl-shaped fruit at maturity. The fruits are juicy and contain a mildly sweet pulp, which is the main flavor component. The seeds, surrounded by a sweet pulp, contain the valuable protein component. All fruits develop slowly and require special conditions to hasten their growth and produce delicious tropical fruits.