The world of fruits

Summer, Winter, and Tropicals

what is a fruit?

In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.

how do chefs use fruit in the kitchen?

Although most fruits are edible raw and typically served that way, some fruits can also be cooked. Commonly used cooking methods are broiling and grilling, baking, sautéing, deep-frying, poaching, simmering and preserving.

a brief history of fruit

Russian scientists claim to have grown a plant from the fruit of an arctic flower that froze 32,000 years ago in the Arctic. That’s about the same time the last Neanderthals roamed the Earth. This particular plant doesn’t produce an edible fruit analogous to an apple or nectarine, but rather a dry capsule that holds its seeds. Did hominids eat fruits and veggies during the Neanderthal era?

They definitely ate fruit. Last year, paleoanthropologists found bits of date stuck in the teeth of a 40,000-year-old Neanderthal. There’s evidence that several of the fruits we enjoy eating today have been around for millennia in much the same form.

For example, archaeologists have uncovered evidence of 780,000-year-old figs at a site in Northern Israel, as well as olives, plums, and pears from the paleolithic era. Researchers have also dug up grapes that appear to be 7 million years old in northeastern Tennessee (although, oddly, the grapes are morphologically more similar to today’s Asian varieties than the modern grapes considered native to North America).

Apple trees blanketed Kazakhstan 30,000 years ago, oranges were common in China, and wild berries grew in Europe. None of these fruits were identical to the modern varieties, but they would have been perfectly edible.

types of fruit used in the kitchen

fruit types

Scientifically speaking, a fruit is an organ that develops from the ovary of a flowering plant and contains one or more seeds. From a culinary perspective, fruit can be the perfect snack food, or the basis of a dessert, colorful sauce, or soup, or an addition to meat, fish, shellfish, or poultry.

No food group offers a greater variety of colors, flavors, and textures than fruit.

Fruit is often used in sweet dishes, such as puddings, pies, and jellies. It can also be found in salads or appetizers. Fruit is used to cut the richness of meats like pork and duck, or brighten the delicate flavor of fish or veal.

summer fruits

Summer fruits include berries, grapes, melons, peaches, nectarines, plums and pears. Most summer fruits are delicious when eaten raw. They are also popular baked or cooked in different foods.

Fruits that have a central pit enclosing a single seed are known as drupes. Cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines, and apricots are examples of drupes.

Plums range in size from as small as an apricot to as large as a peach.

There are two categories: dessert and cooking. Cooking plums are generally drier and more acidic than dessert plums.

Plum varieties include: Red Beauty, Black Beauty, and Santa Rosa.

winter fruits

Though summer fruits are plentiful, winter also offers a good selection of fruit that provides plenty of nutrition and great taste. Winter fruits include apples, and citrus fruits, such as oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes, and tangerines.

Apples are among the most commonly used and available fruits. They have smooth skin and firm flesh and can be tender or crisp.

The flavor of apples ranges from very tart, like the Granny Smith, to the very sweet, like the Golden Delicious.

Apple varieties include: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Rome, McIntosh, and Granny Smith.

tropical fruits

Tropical fruits are named for the climatic conditions under which they are grown. None of these fruits can tolerate frost.

Tropical fruits include figs, dates, kiwis, mangos, bananas, papayas, pomegranates, guava, star fruit, and passion fruit.

Figs are a very versatile fruit. They are green or black. Figs are best when eaten raw.

Figs have a sweet, delicate flavor and edible seeds. They are often used in baking pies, cookies, and cakes.

Fig varieties include: Mission, Kadota, and Brown Turkey.

"Fine fruit is the flower of commodities. It is the most perfect union of the useful and the beautiful that the earth knows. Trees full of soft foliage; blossoms fresh with spring bounty; and, finally, fruit, rich, bloom-dusted, melting, and luscious." ---Andrew Jackson Downing

Andrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer, horticulturist, writer, prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine. Downing is considered to be a founder of American landscape architecture.

in conclusion

Many common language terms used for fruit and seeds differ from botanical classifications. For example, in botany, a fruit is a ripened ovary or carpel that contains seeds, e.g., an apple, pomegranate, tomato or a pumpkin. A nut is a type of fruit (and not a seed), and a seed is a ripened ovule.

In culinary language, a fruit is the sweet- or not sweet- (even sour-) tasting produce of a specific plant (e.g., a peach, pear or lemon); nuts are hard, oily, non-sweet plant produce in shells (hazelnut, acorn).

All fruits benefit from proper post-harvest care, and in many fruits, the plant hormone ethylene causes ripening. Therefore, maintaining most fruits in an efficient cold chain is optimal for post-harvest storage, with the aim of extending and ensuring shelf life.

Various culinary fruits provide significant amounts of fiber and water, and many are generally high in vitamin C. An overview of numerous studies showed that fruits (e.g., whole apples or whole oranges) are satisfying (filling) by simply eating and chewing them.

The dietary fiber consumed in eating fruit promotes satiety, and may help to control body weight and aid reduction of blood cholesterol, a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Fruit consumption is under preliminary research for the potential to improve nutrition and affect chronic diseases. Regular consumption of fruit is generally associated with reduced risks of several diseases and functional declines associated with aging.

Page updated

Report abuse