In botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary—together with seeds—of a flowering plant. In many species, the fruit incorporates the ripened ovary and surrounding tissues. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds.   Evolution has led plants to adopt certain basic mechanisms, seemingly without close regard to the tissues involved.

No one terminology really fits the enormous variety that is found among plant fruits. Botanical terminology for fruits is inexact and will remain so.

In cuisine, when discussing fruit as food, the term usually refers to just those plant fruits that are sweet and fleshy, examples of which include plum, apple and orange. However, a great many common vegetables, as well as nuts and grains, are the fruit of the plant species they come from.

The term false fruit (pseudocarp, accessory fruit) is sometimes applied to a fruit like the fig (a multiple-accessory fruit; see below) or to a plant structure that resembles a fruit but is not derived from a flower or flowers. Some gymnosperms, such as yew, have fleshy arils that resemble fruits and some junipers have berry-like, fleshy cones.

With most fruits pollination is a vital part of fruit culture, and the lack of knowledge of pollinators and pollenizers can contribute to poor crops or poor quality crops. In a few species, the fruit may develop in the absence of pollination/fertilization, a process known as parthenocarpy. Such fruits are seedless. A plant that does not produce fruit is known as acarpous, meaning essentially "without fruit".

1. Simple fruit
2. Aggregate fruit
3. Multiple fruit

Simple fruit

Simple fruits can be either dry or fleshy and result from the ripening of a simple or compound ovary with only one pistil. Dry fruits may be either dehiscent (opening to discharge seeds), or indehiscent (not opening to discharge seeds). Types of dry, simple fruits (with examples) are:

• achene - (buttercup)
• capsule - (Brazil nut)
• caryopsis - (wheat)
• fibrous drupe - (coconut, walnut)
• follicle - (milkweed)
• legume - (pea, bean, peanut)
• loment
• nut - (hazelnut, beech, oak acorn)
• samara - (elm, ash, maple key)
• schizocarp - (carrot)
• silique - (radish)
• utricle

Fruits in which part or all of the pericarp (fruit wall) is fleshy at maturity are simple fleshy fruits. Types of fleshy, simple fruits (with examples) are:

• berry - (tomato, avocado)
• Stone fruit drupe (plum, cherry, peach, olive)
• false berry - accessory fruits (banana, cranberry)
• pome - accessory fruits (apple, pear, rosehip)

Aggregate fruit

An aggregate fruit, or etaerio, develops from a flower with numerous simple pistils. An example is the raspberry, whose simple fruits are termed drupelets because each is like a small drupe attached to the receptacle. In some bramble fruits (such as blackberry) the receptacle is elongate and part of the ripe fruit, making the blackberry an aggregate-accessory fruit. The strawberry is also an aggregate-accessory fruit, only one in which the seeds are contained in achenes. In all these examples, the fruit develops from a single flower with numerous pistils.

Multiple fruit

A multiple fruit is one formed from a cluster of flowers (called an inflorescence). Each flower produces a fruit, but these mature into a single mass. Examples are the pineapple, edible fig, mulberry, osage-orange, and breadfruit.

In the photograph on the right, stages of flowering and fruit development in the noni or Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia) can be observed on a single branch. First an inflorescence of white flowers called a head is produced. After fertilization, each flower develops into a drupe, and as the drupes expand, they connate (merge) into a multiple fleshy fruit called a syncarp.

Seedless Fruits

Seedlessness is an important feature of some fruits of commerce. Commercial cultivars of bananas and pineapples are seedless. Some cultivars of citrus fruits (especially navel oranges and mandarin oranges), table grapes, grapefruit, and watermelons are valued for their seedlessness. In some species, seedlessness is the result of parthenocarpy, where fruits set without fertilization. Parthenocarpic fruit set may or may not require pollination. Most seedless citrus fruits require a pollination stimulus; bananas and pineapples do not. Seedlessness in table grapes results from the abortion of the embryonic plant that is produced by fertilization, a phenomenon known as stenospermocarpy which requires normal pollination and fertilization.

Seed dissemination

Variations in fruit structures largely relate to the mode of dispersal of the seeds they contain.

Some fruits have coats covered with spikes or hooked burrs, either to prevent themselves from being eaten by animals or to stick to the hairs of animals, using them as dispersal agents. Other fruits are elongated and flattened out naturally and so become thin, like wings or helicopter blades. This is an evolutionary mechanism to increase dispersal distance away from the parent.

The sweet flesh of many fruits is "deliberately" appealing to animals, so that the seeds held within are "unwittingly" carried away and deposited at a distance from the parent. Likewise, the nutritious, oily kernels of nuts are appealing to rodents (such as squirrels) who hoard them in the soil in order to avoid starving during the winter, thus giving those seeds that remain uneaten the chance to germinate and grow into a new plant away from their parent.

Uses

Many fruits, including fleshy fruits like apples and mangos, and nuts like walnut, are commercially valuable as human food, eaten both fresh and made into jams, marmalade and other preserves for future consumption. Fruits are also found commonly in such manufactured foods as cookies, muffins, yoghurt, ice cream, cakes, and many more.

Mediterranean and subtropical fruits

Fruits in this category are not hardy to extreme cold, as the preceding temperate fruits are, yet tolerate some frost and may have a modest chilling requirement. Notable among these are natives of the Mediterranean:
Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas; Cornaceae)

• Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera; Arecaceae)

• Fig (Ficus spp. Moraceae)

• Grape, called raisin, sultana, or currant when it is dried (Vitis spp.; Vitaceae)

• Jujube (Ziziphus zizyphus; Rhamnaceae)

• Black mulberry (Morus nigra; Moraceae)

• Olive (Olea europea; Oleaceae)

• Pomegranate (Punica granatum; Punicaceae)

In the important genus Citrus (Rutaceae), some members are tropical, tolerating no frost. All common species of commerce are somewhat hardy:

• Pomelo (also known as the shaddock) (Citrus paradisi)

• Citron (Citrus medica)

• Grapefruit and its predecesor the

• Lemon (Citrus limon)

• Limes
  • Key Lime (Citrus aurantifolia)
  • persian lime Also known as thaiti lime.
  • kaffir lime (Citrus hystix)
• Mandarin (Citrus reticulata),

• Key Lime (Citrus aurantifolia)

• persian lime Also known as thaiti lime.

• kaffir lime (Citrus hystix)

• Mandarin (Citrus reticulata),

• Clementine (Citrus reticulata var. Clementine),

• Tangerine, and similar

• Orange, of which there are sweet (Citrus sinensis) and sour (Citrus aurantium) species

• Hybrids of the preceding species, such as the Orangelo, Tangelo, rangpur and Ugli fruit

Other subtropical fruits:

• Avocado (Persea americana; Lauraceae)

• Feijoa (Feijoa sellowiana; Myrtaceae)

• Guava (Psidium guajava; Myrtaceae)

• Kumquat (Fortunella spp.; Rutaceae)

• Longan (Euphoria longan; Sapindaceae, the same family as maples and buckeyes)

• Lychee (Litchi chinensis; Sapindaceae)

• Passion fruit or Grenadilla (Passiflora edulis and other Passiflora spp.; Passifloraceae)

• Strawberry guava (Psidium litorale; Myrtaceae)

• Tamarillo or Tree Tomato (Cyphomandra betacea; Solanaceae)

Tropical fruits

Tropical fruit grow on plants of all habitats. The only characteristic that they share is an intolerance of frost.

• Acai (Euterpe oleracea; Arecaceae)

• African cherry orange (Citropsis schweinfurthii; Rutaceae)

• Akee (Blighia sapida or Cupania sapida; Sapindaceae)

• Amazon Grape (Pourouma cecropiaefolia; Moraceae)

• Atemoya

• Banana (Musacea spp.; Musaceae); its starchy variant is the plantain;

• Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra L.; Malpighiaceae), also called Acerola, West Indian Cherry

• Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis; Moraceae)

• Burmese grape (Baccaurea sapida; Euphorbiaceae)

• Calabash (Crescentia cujete; Cucurbitaceae)

• CamuCamu (Myrciaria dubia; Myrtaceae)

• Carambola (Averrhoa carambola; Oxalidaceae), also called star fruit

• Cempedak (Artocarpus champeden; Moraceae)

• Cherimoya (Annona cherimola; Annonaceae)

• Coconut (Cocos spp.; Arecaceae)

• Custard apple (Annona reticulata; Annonaceae), also called Bullock's Heart

• Damson Plum (Chrysophyllum oliviforme; Sapotaceae), also called Satin Leaf

• Date-plum (Diospyros lotus)

• Dragonfruit (Hylocereus spp.; Cactaceae), also called pitaya

• Durian (Durio spp.; Bombacaceae)

• Eggfruit (Pouteria campechiana; Sapotaceae), also called canistel or yellow sapote

• Elephant apple (Dillenia indica; Dilleniaceae)

• Guarana (Paullinia cupana; Sapindaceae)

• Guavaberry or Rumberry; (Myrciaria floribunda; Myrtaceae)
  * Horned melon (Cucumis metuliferus; Cucurbitaceae)

• Indian Prune (Flacourtia rukan; Flacourtiaceae)

• Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Moraceae), also called nangka

• Jambul (Syzygium cumini)

• Jambo? (Eugenia malaccensis; Myrtaceae)

• Jatobá (Hymenae coubaril; ; Leguminosae Caesalpinioideae)

• Jenipapo (Genipa americana; Rubiaceae)

• Keppel fruit (Stelechocarpus burakol; Annonaceae)

• Kandis (Garcinia forbesii; Clusiaceae)

• Kundong (Garcinia sp.; Clusiaceae)

• Langsat (Lansium domesticum), also called longkong or duku

• Mabolo, (Diospyros discolor; Ebenaceae) also known as a velvet persimmon

• Mamey sapote (Pouteria sapota; Sapotaceae)

• Mamoncillo (Melicoccus bijugatus; Sapindaceae), also known as quenepa, genip or Fijian Longan

• Mango (Mangifera indica; Anacardiaceae)

• Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana; Clusiaceae)

• Marang (Artocarpus odoratissima; Moraceae), a breadfruit relative

• Naranjilla, Lulo (Solanum quitoense; Solanaceae)

• Papaya (Carica papaya; Caricaceae)

• Peanut butter fruit (Bunchosia argentea; Malpighiaceae)

• Pequi or Souari Nut (Caryocar brasiliense; Caryocaceae)

• Pineapple (Ananas comosus or Ananas sativas; Bromeliaceae)

• Pitomba (Talisia esculenta ; Sapindaceae)

• Pupunha or peach-palm (Bactris gasipaes; Palmae)

• Poha or Cape Gooseberry (Physalis peruviana; Solanaceae)

• Poisonleaf (Dichapetalum cymosum) (?)

• Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum; Sapindceae)

• Red momblin (Spondias purpurea; Anacardiaceae)

• Riberry (Syzygium luehmannii; Myrtaceae), also called Lilly Pilly, Lillipilli, Chinese Apple

• Rose apple (Eugenia/Syzygium aquem; Myrtaceae), also called Malay apple

• Salak (Salacca edulis), also called snakefruit

• Sapodilla (Achras/Manilkara zapota; Sapotaceae), also called chiku, mespel, naseberry, sapadilla, snake fruit, sawo

• Soursop (Annona muricata; Annonaceae), also called guanabana

• Star apple (Chrysophyllum cainito), also called caimito

• Sugar apple (Annona squamosa; Annonaceae)

• Surinam Cherry (Eugenia uniflora; Myrtaceae) also called Brazilian Cherry, Cayenne Cherry, Pitanga

• Tamarind (Tamarindus indica; Caesalpiniaceae)