13+ Berry Fruit Examples: Detailed Explanations and Images

With a few berry fruit examples let’s see how the botanical term ‘berry’ is fundamentally different from the colloquial usage of the word in the English language.

Scientifically berries are fruits born form a single pistil with a fleshy mesocarp, multiple seeds and lack the presence of stony endocarp or ‘pit’ which causes the seeds to stay freely inside the pulp. Hence, bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, pumpkins or even watermelons are actually berry fruit examples.

Whereas, commonly known berries are either having a stony endocarp, such as Cherry; or are being developed from different parts of the flower, such as Strawberries. In some cases, like for blackberry they develop from multiple ovaries and known as aggregate fruits.

Let’s discuss a few examples of berries;

Tomato-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Asteranae, Order: Solanales, Family: Solanaceae, Genus: Solanum,Species: lycopersicum. Long and tender, vine like plant of tomato is an angiosperm from Solanaceae family. It is perennial and produces yellow, bisexual flowers and red pulpy fruit.

Tomato is native to South America and had grown popular as a food item due to colonization. It is a good source of energy (18 kcal/100g), vitamin C & E. Tomato plants are susceptible to blight, mosaic viruses, bacterial wilt, Fusarium wilt, tomato hornworm etc.

Eggplant-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Asteranae, Order: Solanales, Family: Solanaceae, Genus: Solanum, Species: melongena. This South Asian native plant is being cultivated worldwide and also known as Aubergine, Brinjal etc. A tropical perennial herb with prickly stem, radially symmetrical flower blue to purple in color.

The fruit is fleshy, generally purple in color and a moderate source of essential nutrients like magnesium, manganese etc. With the help of genetic modification a few different varieties of eggplant are created like BT-brinjal, white variety, snake variety etc. A few common pests of eggplant are Aphids, Flea beetles, Moths, Hornworms etc.

Guava-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Rosanae, Order: Myrtales, Family: Myrtaceae, Genus: Psidium, Species: guajava. A small perennial, woody tree with greenish-brown to whiteish bark, 4-angled young branches and opposite, elliptic simple leaves. It produces small, white & fragrant flowers and yellowish oval-shaped berry fruits. Having rich nutrient contents like vitamin C, A and various antioxidants; guava is treated as herb for hypertension, indigestion, inflammation etc. in various cultures. Guava plants are susceptible to root rot, fungal Mucor rot, fruit flies, thrips, leaf-eating caterpillar etc.

Chili pepper-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Asteranae, Order: Solanales, Family: Solanaceae, Genus: Capsicum. Small perennial herbs with irregular stem, alternate simple leaves and small purplish flower. Fruits are non-pulpy berries that differ in sizes and color. It is native to Mexico. Capsicum rich in vitamin C, beta carotene and antioxidants, and is good for eye health, reduces risk of anxiety and anemia, boosts immune system.

Except major pests like aphids, thrips, mites, fruit flies etc. these plants are also susceptible to Cucumber mosaic cucumovirus, Potato y potyvirus, tobamovirus group etc.

Grape-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Rosanae, Order: Vitales, Family: Vitaceae, Genus: Vitis,Species: vinifera. Long woody vine that is rooted to the ground and is a climber supported by tendrils. Flowers are small, grouped and fruits are pulpy berry. Except fruits, the leaves, flower and even seeds of grape plant can be consumed and are rich in flavonoids, gallic acid, catechin, vitamin E etc. Radicole grape phylloxera is a common ailment for grape plants beside crown gall, botrytis bunch rot, downy mildew etc.

Pomegranate-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Rosanae, Order: Myrtales, Family: Lythraceae, Genus: Punica, Species: granatum. Small shrub with 4-angled stems and red flowers with solitary o cymose inflorescences. The fruits of pomegranate have a hard pericarp and white spongy mesocarp in which seeds are seated inside sarcotestas, that is the edible part. These fruits are native to Middle East and Southern Asia. They contain rich source of vitamin C, K, folate, Granatin B and also fruit rind contains high fiber contents. Leaf spot, root rot and various insects are usual threat to pomegranate plants.

Kiwi fruit-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Asteranae, Order: Ericales, Family: Actinidiaceae, Genus: Actinidia, Species: deliciosa. These woody climber shrubs are native to China. Alternative deciduous leaves with hairy downside. Flowers are fragrant, unisexual and whitish yellow in color. Thick pericarp of kiwi fruits is covered with short brown hairs and with juicy flesh upon ripening. Fruits are rich source of vitamin C and potassium. Caterpillars, scales, box elder bug etc. generally threatens the plant.

Hesperidium: Multi chambered fruit where epicarp and mesocarp form a separable rind by fusing.

Orange-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Rosanae, Order: Sapindales, Family: Rutaceae, Genus: Citrus, Species: sinensis. Small, shallow-rooted trees are mainly agricultural product. The fruits are high in vitamin C and antioxidant contents. Fruits are eaten raw, the fruit peel is used to make essentials oils, rind is used as flavoring agent, flowers are processed and used as tea. Orangewood is used as flavoring agent and insect repellant. Giant swallowtail caterpillars are a common threat of orange plant.

Key lime-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Rosanae, Order: Sapindales, Family: Rutaceae, Genus: Citrus, Species: aurantiifolia. Small, densely branched, evergreen tree. Flowers are small, yellow to purplish white and fruits are pulpy with hard smooth skin. This aromatic herb is not only used as a flavoring agent but also used to treat minor ailments like cold, fever, digestive issues. Key lime has a high concentration of vitamin C.

Grapefruit-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Rosanae, Order: Sapindales, Family: Rutaceae, Genus: Citrus, Species: paradisi. Tall, woody, thorny, evergreen trees with Asian origin. The fruits that are usually consumed raw, has high vitamin C and mineral contents. Peels & flowers are used as flavoring agents. Essential oils can also be obtained from seeds. Fruit fly A.suspensa is a natural enemy of grapefruits.

Pepo: Fruits with a tough rind and elongated body.

Cucumber-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Rosanae, Order: Cucurbitales, Family: Cucurbitaceae, Genus: Cucumis, Species: sativus. Cucumber is an annual ‘creeping vine’ like plant that grows by ‘climbing’ and ‘crawling’ with help of ‘tendrils’. Flowers are yellow, unisex and produce slender and long berry fruit with a hard rind. Cucumber contains very little amount of nutrition except a little amount of vitamin K, and mainly consumed for its texture. The plant is susceptible to various microbe pathogens like CMV, Erwinia tracheiphila (Bacterial wilt), Pseudomonas syringae (Angular leaf spot) etc.

Pumpkin-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Rosanae, Order: Cucurbitales, Family: Cucurbitaceae, Genus: Cucurbita, Species: maxima. Pumpkin, also known as winter squash is a vine like plant that grows annually. Vines are mostly ‘climbing’ type and prickly, with broad hairy leaves. Flowers are yellow, large, unisex and shows solitary inflorescence. Large, orange fruits of pumpkin plant are edible and so is the flowers and seeds. Pumpkin seeds are rich in lipid content. Plants usually suffer from insect manifestation by aphids, beetles etc.

Watermelon-

Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Rosanae, Order: Cucurbitales, Family: Cucurbitaceae, Genus: Citrullus, Species: lanatus. Watermelon is a ‘crawling’ vine type seasonal-annual plant with hairy stems and big rough leaves. Solitary monoecious flowers that produce large fleshy fruit with high water and sugar content.  Seeds can also be consumed or made into vegetable oil. Various pests like beetles, mites, aphids, worms and various microbial pathogens cause ailments in the plant.

Also Read:

• Channel protein transport
• Intracellular enzyme examples
• Hexapoda characteristics
• Cytoskeleton structure
• Are fatty acids proteins
• Anaerobic respiration in yeast
• Monomer of protein example
• Restriction enzyme examples
• Are globular proteins soluble
• Is adenine sugar