Question

Choose the correct pair of fruit and its edible portion.

• A. Tomato : only mesocarp
• B. Maize : only cotyledons
• C. Guava : only epicarp
• D. Date palm : entire pericarp

Answer 1

The correct option is D Date palm : entire pericarp

The fruit wall is called the pericarp and is made of three layers: outer epicarp, middle mesocarp and inner endocarp. In date palm, the fruit is berry. It is a small pulpy and edible fruit in which the entire pericarp is edible. The fleshy pericarp has outer thin epicarp. The mesocarp and endocarp have fused to become the fleshy pulp in which the seeds are embedded.


Tomato and guava are examples of a berry and its edible part is the pericarp, placenta and seed.

Maize fruit is a caryopsis and the edible part in maize is the endosperm and embryo. The pericarp is fused to the seed coat.
Caryopsis is a dry, single-seeded, indehiscent fruit. Indehiscent fruit is a type of fruit where the fruit will not open naturally after it is ripened.