Monday, July 16, 2007

Seedless fruits

Seedlessness is a significant feature of some fruits of commerce. Marketable cultivars of bananas and pineapples are examples of seedless fruits. Some cultivars of citrus fruits especially navel oranges and mandarin oranges, table grapes, grapefruit, and watermelons are appreciated for their seedlessness. In some type, seedlessness is the result of parthenocarpy, where fruits set without fertilization. Parthenocarpic fruit set may or may not need pollination. Most seedless citrus fruits need a pollination stimulus; bananas and pineapples do not. Seedlessness in table grapes consequences from the abortion of the embryonic plant that is fashioned by fertilization, an occurrence known as stenospermocarpy which requires normal pollination and fertilization.

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