Why is strawberry a fruit

Grapes, tomatoes, kiwis, avocados, eggplants and persimmons are each examples of botanical berries. Strawberries are made of several fleshy fruit-producing ovaries; therefore, they are not classified as true berries.

Strawberries are not alone in having a misleading common name. Several of the most popular edible fruits referred to as berries are not berries, either. For example, raspberries and blackberries are aggregate drupes, with each drupe, or seed, containing one pit. If a fruit contains achenes or drupes, it does not classify as a berry in botany, though we can continue to call them berries freely in food preparation.

Claire Watson began web writing in spring , and has since contributed to various health and insurance sites. Watson also has experience in interior design, DIY projects and holds a degree in Illustration. Residing in art- and health-centered Asheville, N. Vegetables That Contain Silymarin. Related: What's the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? Botanically speaking, a berry has three distinct fleshy layers: the exocarp outer skin , mesocarp fleshy middle and endocarp innermost part, which holds the seeds.

For instance, a grape's outer skin is the exocarp, its fleshy middle is the mesocarp and the jelly-like insides holding the seeds constitute the endocarp, Jernstedt told Live Science. The same layered structure appears in other berries, including the banana and watermelon, although their exocarps are a bit tougher, taking the form of a peel and a rind, respectively.

The suffix "carp" comes from the word "carpel," which refers to the pistil , the female organ of the flower, Jernstedt said. In addition, to be a berry, a fruit must have two or more seeds. Thus, a cherry, which has just one seed, doesn't make the berry cut, Jernstedt said.

Rather, cherries, like other fleshy fruit with thin skin and a central stone that contains a seed, are called drupes, she said. Moreover, to be a berry, fruits must develop from one flower that has one ovary, Jernstedt said. Some plants, such as the blueberry, have flowers with just one ovary. Hence, the blueberry is a true berry, she said. Tomatoes, peppers, cranberries, eggplants and kiwis come from a flower with one ovary, and so are also berries, she said.

A strawberry is actually a multiple fruit which consists of many tiny individual fruits embedded in a fleshy receptacle. The brownish or whitish specks, which are commonly considered seeds, are the true fruits, called achenes, and each of them surrounds a tiny seed. These achenes also make strawberries relatively high in fiber. According to the Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition, one-half cup of strawberries supplies more fiber than a slice of whole wheat bread, and more than 70 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

The cultivated strawberry is a hybrid of two different parent species. Because they are hybrids, cultivated strawberries are often able to adapt to extreme weather conditions and environments. While California and Florida are the largest producers, strawberries are grown in all 50 states.

Strawberries are a significant crop in Pennsylvania, but they have a relatively short season. According to Carolyn Beinlich of Triple B Farms, a local pick-your-own berry farm in Monongahela, Pennsylvania's ideal strawberry season lasts three and one-half weeks.

The plants form their fruit buds in the fall, so adequate moisture at that time is vital. Since October was a rainy month, Beinlich is looking forward to a bountiful strawberry crop this season.