Did You Know…Bananas Are Berries But Strawberries Are Not!
Wait, What?!
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Did you know that in the world, there are over 2000 different kinds of fruit?
Probably not, as the Western diet normally includes just 10% of them.¹ Who knows what we are missing out…
However, the most baffling part is that there’s so much we don’t know about fruits for some reason.
Is that part of a big conspiracy? 🤔
For instance, did you know that avocados were originally called “alligator pears” because of their bumpy green skin?
Or that each pineapple plant produces only one pineapple per year, and it takes up to three years for a single pineapple to reach full maturity?
But mostly, did you know that bananas are berries, and despite their misleading name, strawberries are not?
Well, that’s a big plot twist!
Yes, you read it right, basically according to botanical classification, bananas qualify as berries but strawberries do not as they are part of a completely different family of fruit.
Usually, people think of berries as small, squishy fruits that can be picked off plants, but the scientific classification is far more complex.
In a nutshell, in the botanical world, fruits are classified by the way they would reproduce.
A berry is a fruit produced from the ovary of a single flower that has two or more seeds embedded in the flesh.
Bananas meet these criteria as it is produced by a single flower with multiple ovaries, each containing seeds.
Therefore, tomatoes, eggplants, and kiwis are also berries.
And, surprise surprise, even oranges are considered a subtype of berries since they have two or more seeds and develop from one flower with one ovary.
Whereas strawberries, raspberries, etc. belong to the family of aggregate fruits as they have flowers with more than one ovary.
I know it seems confusing, and that actually, it does not matter much at the end of the day, I just find it fascinating that things aren’t always as they seem.
No worries though, the blueberry is a true berry 😅
🤗 Thank you for reading! 🤗
Reference:
[1]: Free Learning Platform For a Better Future https://www.javatpoint.com/list-of-fruits
[2]: Laura Geggel. Live Science (Jan 24, 2024), Why are bananas berries but strawberries aren’t? https://www.livescience.com/57477-why-are-bananas-considered-berries.html
