Do All Fruits Have Seeds?– Yes, they do. As per definition, A fruit is part of a plant that bears the seeds. The development and protection of seed is the main objective of a fruit. The term fruit in biology specifies the plant structures that contain seeds. It is the ovary of a fertilized flower that usually swells to become a fruit.
Sometimes You may find fruits without seeds but it’s not common. In nature, no fruit develops without seed. We usually modify the structure of the fruit chemically by hybridizing the plants. It is done to get something with less or no seed. Seedless fruits are either mutated for their appearance or may have degenerated seed production by selective reproduction. In either case we humans are responsible for the outcome. It can happen in nature but the fruit thus produced will never become 100% seedless. Either the seeds will reduce in size or in number. This is the final outcome of most seedless fruit varieties.
If you observe a dessert banana, they don’t have any seeds. Although you can trace down the presence of seeds as tiny black marks on the central ring. This is the spot that should have to develop into seeds but they don’t. Similarly, all seedless fruits have reduced their seeds in quality and quantity just to fulfill customer needs. It is not done for the betterment of the plant, it can never help the plant. Therefore, No fruit can be truly seedless. If it is a fruit, it must have some seed in it.
Check out my Previous post: Which Fruits Develop seeds on the Outside?
Do All Fruits Have Seeds?
Every Fruit must have some Seed. We can consider a plant part as a fruit if it contains some seeds. Most importantly it should have developed from a flower. A fertilized female flower turns into a fruit. The basal portion of a flower has one or many ovaries inside it. This section swells to produce the flesh of the fruits along with its seeds. According to the botanical definition, A fruit is a plant Structure that contains seeds.
Therefore A fruit must contain some seed inside it. If it’s not then we can’t call it a true fruit. Do you like fruits- Yes Then Check out my favorite fruit seed for your garden.
Do all fruits Contains the Same Number of Seeds?
No, Different fruits contain different amounts of seeds. Some fruits contain a lot more seeds than others. Tomato, cucumber, Chilli pepper, Okra, gourds, and strawberries can have 100s of seeds in a single fruit. Similarly some other fruit like Mango, Peach, Avocado has only 1 seed.
The number of seeds is significant for the plant. As bigger seeds are more viable during adverse climatic conditions. Although they remain less in quantity their survival rate is high. Small plants use quantity to sustain harsh conditions. They simply develop lots of small seeds instead of 1 or two big seeds. The quantity here can increase the survival chances by many folds.
So different plants adapt to a different mechanism of seed development. Their growth rate and survival determine the number of seeds they will produce.
You may notice that plants in an abundance of resources rely on producing a lot of seeds. Not all of those are viable. Few of those seeds germinate while others rot in the soil. But plants growing in harsh climatic conditions usually produce fewer seeds. Most of them are strong and viable to sustain tough conditions. So we can say that number is a coping mechanism to maintain successful heredity for a plant.
Read this: What are seedless Berries?
Why do Fruits have seeds?
Seeds are the starting point of plant life. They can reproduce sexually without flowers. Flowers produce seeds. So seeds are the outcome of the successful fertilization of a flower.
Fruits are simply the container fr these seeds. No matter how beautiful or juicy a fruit looks, it has no direct use for the plant.
On the other hand, seeds are the first method to reproduce. Indeed there are several other methods available for a plant to reproduce. But none of them can evolve the plant’s characters. A new character can only evolve through sexual reproduction. Seed is an important part of it. A plant species can easily perish due to a minor disease or natural calamity if it doesn’t evolve. Evolution is essential to adapt to ever-changing conditions.
Changes are inevitable in nature. If anyone including plants don’t comply with these changes then they will extinct. This has happened to 1000s of species in the past and will continue to happen in the future. Old species end and the new one takes their position with better compatibility with current circumstances.
In-plant kingdom seeds play the role of a gateway of characters moving from one generation to another. It is the beginning of plant life along with all of its inherited characters.
Check out: Where Do Carrot Seeds Come From?
Importance of Fruit for the seed
We have already discussed how important a seed is for the fruit or the plant itself. Now it’s time for the importance of fruit for the seeds. What exactly is the requirement of fruits if seeds are complete on their own
You know seeds have all the essential proteins and the genetic material to develop a new plant. Although it will need protection and some nutrition just to keep the tiny germ alive inside it.
Therefore the main objective of a fruit is to keep its seed safe from all external factors Once safety is ensured, the fruit serves the purpose of nutrition. Lastly, the seed needs to reach the soil where the conditions are ideal for plant growth. Of course, the fruit also serves this need by attracting animals who can carry seeds to distant places.
Even big trees like banyan, figs, or Peepal trees also get benefited from these characteristics. They develop lots of small fruits. Animals and birds feed on these fruits. They carry the fruit along with the seed to distant places. Sometimes they eat the fruits and disperse the seeds with their droppings. So fruit can help the seed to travel through a really long distance.
In this way, fruit and its seeds are in a symbiotic relationship. They are essential for the existence of one another.
Interestingly some fruits don’t have that glorious look or sweet juicy taste still they successfully serve the purpose. Keep in mind every fruit must have a seed. There are some GMO seedless fruits available but they are not 100% true to their description. They usually have a reduced seed size that most of us ignore.
