Fruits are one of nature’s bountiful gifts to mankind. They are juicy, delicious and filled with nutritional goodness to help us enjoy a healthy and happy life. The interesting part about this food group? There are many types of fruits that come in a variety of shapes, sizes and flavors to tickle our taste buds and improve our physical and psychological well being.

In this article, we shall delve deep into the subject of the different kinds of fruits, their properties and 25 most popularly consumed fruits across the world. Before you get ready to sink in your teeth into these delicious treats, you must read these interesting facts to appreciate these humble fruits even more!

What is a Fruit?

A fruit is a product of the tree that bears seeds and is consumed as a food for its sweet, edible flesh. They can be eaten in a raw form as a whole or cooked into a stew, juiced, diced or even dried and frozen forms. Technically, even avocadoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and other sweet-tasting vegetables can also be treated as fruits.

What are the Different Types of Fruits?

Fruits are divided into groups depending on the number of ovaries they have developed from. Here are some of the major classification of fruits to know about:

Simple Fruits:

Simple fruits are those which are developed from the single ovary or one pistil of a flower. They are further divided into dry and fleshy, where dry fruits can be dehiscent or indehiscent and fleshy ones can be semi pericarp or full.

• Examples of simple fruits include fleshy fruits like apples, cherries, plums or dry ones like hazelnuts, walnuts etc.

Aggregate Fruits:

These types of fruits are developed from multiple ovaries of a single flower. They are categorized into follicles, achenes, drupelets, berries and also called compound fruits.

• Examples: Custard Apple, Raspberry, Blackberry etc.

Multiple Fruits:

These fruits are developed from a cluster of flowers, which merge to become one large fruit.