We all love to eat apples as it is a fruit nobody can ignore. Sweet, crunchy, and contains a lot of health benefits. But there is some debate over whether the apple is a fruit or not.
Is an apple a fruit? Yes, an apple is a fruit as it grows from the ripened ovary after the fertilization of the flower and contains seeds. Apples also have pulpy flesh surrounding the seeds and have a sweet taste which all makes them a fruit.
You now know the apple is a fruit, but why is it? What are the technical things which make apple fruit and not a vegetable or any other thing? Let’s discuss this in detail.
What Is A Fruit?
A fruit is a fleshy or dry ripened ovary of a flower, containing a seed or seeds. The term is restricted to the ripened ovaries that are sour or sweet and pulpy
Botanically, a fruit is a ripened mature ovary. The fruit usually contains seeds that are developed due to fertilization but can be developed without the fertilization with the help of a process called parthenocarpy which happens in banana fruit.
Fertilization has various effects on the flower as the anthers and stigma wither and the petals drop from the flower and the ovules develop into seeds.
The main task for the fruit is to protect the seed or seeds from dissemination.
Fruits are a very good source of vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants. Fruits can be processed into different types of dietary products like juices, jams, and jellies and various drugs also come from fruits such as morphine from the opium poppy.
What Is An Apple?
An apple scientifically known as Malus is an edible fruit that is grown in apple trees (Malus Domestica). Apples are grown worldwide and it is a very popular fruit in the world. The origin of apple trees is from central Asia, where it’s still growing in very large quantities. Apple has been grown for thousands of years and holden’s religious value in some cultures like Greek, Norse, etc.
The apple trees can grow from 2 to 5 meters tall and can grow around 9 meters tall in the wild. The flowers are produced in spring and are white five-petaled leaves. After that, the fruit comes and matures around late summer or autumn. The color of apples can be different in different parts of the world. The color can range from red, yellow, green, and pink. When harvested, the apple fruits are usually roundish 5 to 10cm in diameter.
There are thousands of varieties of apple found all around the world, but all of these varieties come under three main varieties to use in consumption:
- Cider
- Cooking
- Dessert
Apples are very nutritious and provide a lot of essential nutrients and vitamins. Apple fruit provides Vitamin A and C and is very high in carbohydrates and is a terrific source of fiber.
Health Benefits Of Apples
Apples are some of the most popular fruits in the world and have a lot of nutrients in them and other health benefits. There is a saying that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”.
Here are some health benefits of apples.
- Apples Are Nutritious – A small serving of apples with around 1.5 cups of fruit contains a lot of nutrients which can be very beneficial. A small apple may contain the following nutrients:
- A small apple contains around 95 calories
- 25 grams of carbs
- 4 grams of fiber
- Vitamin C: 14% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
- Potassium: 6% of the RDI
- Vitamin K: 5% of the RDI
Apples are also a rich source of polyphenols and fiber and contain vitamins A, E, B1, B2, and B6. Eating apples with the skin is more beneficial than removing the skin as the outer layer also contains some beneficial nutrients and antioxidants.
- Good for Weight Loss – Apple is a fruit that is very high in fiber and water and eating an apple as a meal can be a thing as people feel fuller after eating apples before a meal. And apples have been found to have some benefits of losing weight or weight loss.
- Good for Your Heart – Apple has also been linked as a good food source with lower heart disease. One reason can be the high fiber in it which can help lower your blood cholesterol levels. The antioxidants contained in the peel can also lower blood pressure.
- Bone Protection – Some researchers believe that a flavonoid called phloridzin which is only found in apples can protect you from weakening bones and consuming apples can increase bone density. Boron, another ingredient found in apples, also strengthens bones.
Apples are a very good source of nutrients and minerals and eating them can reduce some of the very commonly found diseases.
Is An Apple A Fruit?
After discussing what fruit is and understanding all the things about fruits and how they grow, we can certainly call an apple fruit as it grows from the ovary after the fertilization of the flower and contains seeds. The puppy flesh of the apple and sweet taste also justify that this is a fruit and not other things like vegetables, etc. So Botanically apple is a fruit, but what about in culinary.
In culinary, some edible plants and fruits are regarded as vegetables, for example, tomato, cucumber, and pumpkin all are fruits Botanically but regarded as vegetables in culinary.
“In culinary terminology, a fruit is usually any sweet-tasting plant part, especially a botanical fruit […] and a vegetable is any savory or less sweet plant product.”
Wikipedia
By this definition, we can say apple is a fruit from a culinary point of view as it is sweet and can sometimes be savory.
Is An Apple A Vegetable?
No, an apple is not a vegetable as the vegetable grows from the plant and stems and not from the fertilization of the flower and doesn’t contain seeds which is not the case in apple fruit which grows from the flower after the fertilization of the ovary and contains seeds.
Why Is An Apple Called A False Fruit?
As we know, fruits are produced by the flowering plants in the ovary. The produce comes from a long process of pollination, fertilization, and the formation of ovaries, and then the ovary starts to become the fruit itself. But there are two types of fruits. True fruit and false fruit.
- True fruit – the true fruit is a fruit, which is wholly grown from the fertilized ovary of the flower and not from any other parts of the plant. Some of the examples of true fruits are watermelon, lemon, cherry, etc.
- False fruit – false fruit is a fruit which is formed from the fertilized ovary of the flower but along with it some other parts of the flower of the plant-like base or perianth etc. Some examples of false fruit are apples and bananas.
Apple is called a false fruit and not a true fruit because it doesn’t grow wholly from the ovary of the flower but grows with two or more parts of the flower. The false fruits are formed from the ovary along with other floral parts making them different from a true fruit that only grows from the ovary.
Is An Apple A Simple Or Compound Fruit?
The apple fruit is simple as it develops from a single ovary containing one or more carpels and the core is composed of modified tissue from the ripened ovary wall while the pulp is composed of tissue from the base of the floral tube and receptacle.
Conclusion
Apple is a fruit from both a botanical and culinary perspective and backed by the scientific definition of fruit. Apple has all the quality of fruit as it grows from a ripened ovary of a flower and has a sweet taste and also contains seed.
