Question

Distinguish between simple fleshy fruits and simple dry fruits. Give an example of each type. What is an aggregate fruit? A multiple fruit?

Answer 1

Fruit is a seed-bearing structure in flowering plants formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate seeds.

• Fleshy fruits: It refers to fruits that produce plentiful flesh and are highly desirable as edible produce for both humans and other species. Nature intended many fleshy fruits to be eaten by animals, to aid dispersion of the seeds. Fleshy fruits include berries, certain vegetables such as eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.
• Dried fruit: It is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Types of dry fruits include raisins, dates, prunes, figs, apricots, etc.
  
• Aggregate fruit: An aggregate fruit results from the joining together of several ovaries of the same flower. This process starts with a flower that contains several carpels with an equal number of ovaries.
• Multiple fruits: Multiple fruits, also called collective fruits, are fruiting bodies formed from a cluster of fruiting flowers, the inflorescence. Each flower in the inflorescence produces a fruit, but these mature into a single mass in which each flower has produced a true fruit.