Seedless fruits are something of a paradox, as fruits are usually defined in a botanical sense as mature ovaries containing seeds. Among the widely grown seedless fruits are grapes, numerous Citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, limes, etc.), and bananas. Seedless watermelons have only recently been developed by a Japanese professor Kihara. Seedless fruits are commercially valuable as seeds are considered a nuisance by consumers and seedless fruits are easier to eat and thus preferred over otherwise similar seeded fruits. Most commercially produced seedless fruits have been developed from plants whose fruits normally contain numerous relatively large hard seeds that are distributed throughout the flesh of the fruit; there would be little commercial benefit to a seedless peach or apple. Similarly, fruits with small and unobtrusive seeds, such as strawberries and kiwi fruits, would be little improved by being seedless. And in species whose seed is the commercial or culinary product, such as sesame, most legumes, or grains of all kinds, seedless fruits would be considered a serious flaw. Fruit stall in Barcelona, Catalonia. ... Human female internal reproductive anatomy Ovaries are a part of a female organism that produces eggs. ... This writeup is about biological seeds; for other meanings see Seed (disambiguation). ... Species Vitis acerifolia Vitis aestivalis Vitis amurensis Vitis arizonica Vitis x bourquina Vitis californica Vitis x champinii Vitis cinerea Vitis x doaniana Vitis girdiana Vitis labrusca Vitis x labruscana Vitis monticola Vitis mustangensis Vitis x novae-angliae Vitis palmata Vitis riparia Vitis rotundifolia Vitis rupestris Vitis shuttleworthii Vitis tiliifolia Vitis... Species & major hybrids Species Citrus maxima- Pomelo Citrus medica- Citron Citrus reticulata- Mandarin & Tangerine Major hybrids Citrus × sinensis- Sweet Orange Citrus × aurantium- Bitter Orange Citrus × paradisi- Grapefruit Citrus × limon- Lemon Citrus × latifolia- Persian lime Citrus × aurantifolia- Key lime See also main text for other hybrids Citrus is a common term... RDA percentages are US recommendations for adults Orange—specifically, sweet orange—refers to the citrus tree Citrus sinensis (syn. ... Binomial name Citrus × limon (L.) Burm. ... Lime, or baby lemon, is an ambiguous term in the context of fruit, referring to a number of different citrus hybrids and cultivars with typically round, green to yellow fruit, 3–6 cm in diameter, generally containing sour pulp, and frequently associated with the lemon. ... Species Hybrid origin; see text Banana is the common name used for herbaceous plants in the genus Musa, which because of their size and structure, are often mistaken for trees. ... Binomial name Citrullus lanatus (Thunb. ... Binomial name Sesamum indicum L. Sesame (Sesamum indicum) is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. ... Varieties of soybean seeds, a popular legume Pea pods The term legume has two closely related meanings in botany, a situation encountered with many botanical common names of useful plants, whereby an applied name can refer to either the plant itself, or to the edible fruit (or useful part). ... The word grain has several meanings, most being descriptive of a small piece or particle. ...

Seedless fruits can develop in one of two ways: either the fruit develops without any fertilization (parthenocarpy), or pollination triggers fruit development but the ovules or embryos abort without producing mature seeds (stenospermocarpy). Seedless fruits of banana and watermelon are produced on triploid plants, whose three sets of chromosomes prevent meiosis from taking place and thus do not produce fertile gametes. Such plants can arise by spontaneous mutation or by hybridization between diploid and tetraploid individuals of the same or different species. Some species produce seedless fruit if not pollinated but seeded fruit if pollination occurs, e.g. pineapple and cucumber. Categories: Biology stubs ... In botany and horticulture, parthenocarpic literally means virgin fruit; the fruit develops without fertilization of ovules, therefore it is seedless. ... Stenospermocarpy is the biological mechanism that produces seedlessness in some fruits, notably table grapes. ... Polyploid (in Greek: πολλαπλόν - multiple) cells or organisms contain more than one copy (ploidy) of their chromosomes. ... Figure 1: Chromosome. ... For the article on the figure of speech, see meiosis (figure of speech). ... Gametes, from the ancient Greek γαμετης (spouse), are the specialized germ cells that come together during fertilization (conception) in organisms that reproduce sexually. ...

A common question is how, if they do not produce seeds, such plants can be propagated. In most cases the plants are propagated vegetatively from cuttings, by grafting, or in the case of bananas, from "pups" (offsets). In such cases the resulting plants are genetically identical clones. Oddly enough, seedless watermelons are grown from seeds. These seeds are produced by crossing diploid and tetraploid lines of watermelon, with the resulting seeds producing sterile triploid plants. Fruit development is triggered by pollination and these plants must be grown alongside a diploid strain to provide pollen. Grafted apple tree Grafting is a method of plant propagation widely used in horticulture, where the tissues of one plant are encouraged to fuse with those of another. ... As a word, clone was first coined by J.B.S. Haldane as subject for theoretical replication of a frog, though the term clone is derived from κλων, the Greek word for twig. In horticulture, the spelling clon was used until the twentieth century. ...

One disadvantage of most seedless crops is that, as genetically identical clones, a pest or disease that can harm one individual can harm every individual of that clone. For example, the vast majority of commercially produced bananas come from a single clone, the 'Cavendish' cultivar, which is currently threatened worldwide by a newly discovered fungal disease to which it is highly susceptible.

See also

• Parthenocarpy
• Stenospermocarpy

In botany and horticulture, parthenocarpic literally means virgin fruit; the fruit develops without fertilization of ovules, therefore it is seedless. ... Stenospermocarpy is the biological mechanism that produces seedlessness in some fruits, notably table grapes. ...

External links

• Can This Fruit be Saved? (discusses the disease threat to banana crops)
• Growing Seedless Watermelon
• Where Do Seedless Watermelons Come From?

Bibliography

• Woong-jin-we-in-jun-gi #30 Woo Jang-Choon by Baek Sukgi. (C) Woongjin Publishing Co., Ltd. 1987.