ACCESSORY FRUITS

An accessory fruit is referred to one that has more than ovary wall as part of fruit body. The other part of the flower swells along with expanding ovary wall. Very frequently the receptacle also participates. Ovaries that are inferior or that are in perigynous flower some time have accessory tissues surrounding the true fruit. The true fruit is red and accessory is white. An actual fruit is dry achene; and the accessory is red and juicy at the time of maturity.

In other words accessory fruits are composed of material not just form the ovary but also participate to form other parts of the flower such as the receptacle. To understand even better an accessory fruit is a fruit where the fleshy part is derived not form the ovary but form some adjacent tissue.

Few very good examples of accessory fruits are strawberry, watermelon, apple etc. Most accessory fruits are simple fruits that are developed from inferior ovaries.

Strawberry

The strawberry is a accessory fruit as discussed earlier; that is, the fleshy part is derived not from the ovaries (which are the "seeds", actually achene) but from the peg at the bottom of the hypanthia that held the ovaries. So from a technical standpoint could be, the seeds that are the actual fruits of the plant, and the flesh of the strawberry is a vegetable. It is greenish-white as it develops and in most species turns red when ripe.

The rosette growth of the plants is a well-known characteristic. Most of the species send out long slender runners that actually produce a new bud at the extremity. The leaves typically have three leaflets, but the number of leaflets may be five or one

Watermelon

Watermelon is the fruit and also plant of a vine-like (climber and trailer) herb originally from southern Africa. This flowering plant bears an accessory fruit of a type that are actually botanist’s call a false berry. The watermelon fruit are, loosely considered a type of melon (although not in the genus Curcumas) it has a smooth exterior rind and a juicy, sweet, usually carries red interior flesh. The species descriptor Catullus vulgaris is sometimes, synonymously, used to refer to this plant (vulgaris meaning "common”).

Fresh watermelon could be eaten in a variety of ways and is also often used to flavor summer drinks and smoothies all taste good. The simplest way to cut a watermelon is to slice it crossways and then to slice the resulting round slabs into halves or quarters. This method is generally used in a casual setting where people do not mind the juices flowing everywhere. Since the rind provides a handle, no utensils are needed.

If the watermelon is to be eaten in conjunction with a meal, it is generally cut into bite-sized squares or balled with a melon baler. The resulting pieces are often mixed with other melons and fruits and possibly syrup to form a fruit salad.

Apple

The apple is a tree and its promiscuous fruit, of the species Mauls domestic in the rose family Rosaceous. It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits. It is a small deciduous tree reaching 5-12 m tall, with a broad, often densely twiggy crown. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple oval with an acute tip and serrated margin, slightly downy below, 5-12 cm long and 3-6 cm broad on a 2-5 cm petiole. The flowers are produced in spring with the leaves, white, usually tinged pink at first, 2.5-3.5 cm diameter, with five petals. The fruit matures in autumn, and is typically 5-8 cm diameter (rarely up to 15 cm).

Apples have always long been considered healthy, as indicated by the proverb "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". It is suggested that apples may reduce the risk of colon cancer, prostate cancer and lung cancer. Like many other fruits facts, Apples contain Vitamin C as well as a host of antioxidant compounds, which explains the reduced risk of cancer (with the free radical explanation of reduced cancer risk to due prevented DNA damage). The fiber in the fruit (while less than most other fruits) helps keep the bowels healthy, which may be a factor in the reduced risk of colon cancer. They may also help with heart disease, weight loss and controlling cholesterol, as they do not have any cholesterol, have fiber (which reduces cholesterol by preventing re absorption), and are bulky for their caloric content like most fruits and vegetables.