Have you ever looked at your grocery cart and played a little game of “I Spy”? What if we played a different game? I call it “Berry or Not a Berry?”
I was chatting about food with friends the other day when we got into a surprisingly tricky discussion: What really makes something a berry? It turns out, the answer is full of delicious surprises!
The Great Berry Misunderstanding
So, what is the secret to being a true berry? From my biology days, I remember it has to do with how the fruit develops. The official botanical definition says a berry is a fleshy fruit that grows from a single flower with one ovary.
Think of it like this:
- The berry’s outer skin is called the exocarp.
- The fleshy, often yummy part in the middle is the mesocarp.
- The seeds are held safely inside that fleshy middle part.
The food that kicked off this whole conversation? An avocado! That’s right, an avocado is technically a single-seed berry. This berry club also includes some other surprising members like grapes, currants, tomatoes, and even watermelons. Less obvious members are cucumbers, eggplants, and bananas. And what about pineapples? They are a collection of many single ovaries fused together to form one big fruit!
So, What Isn’t a Berry?
Here’s the plot twist. Despite their names and what the coupons at the grocery store might say, strawberries and raspberries are not true berries. They are known as “aggregate fruits” because they develop from a single flower that has multiple ovaries. It’s a small difference, but in the world of botany, it’s a big deal!
And what about peppers? The Capsicum species we love, from bell peppers to jalapeños, are also berries. They’re an exception to the “fleshy middle” rule because they have air between the seeds and the skin instead of pulp.
When a Berry Isn’t a Snack
While we love to eat berries, from sweet to savory, it’s important to remember that not all of them are safe for us. Some plants produce berries that are poisonous to people. For example, the potato plant can produce small, green, tomato-like fruits that are toxic. I’ve personally never seen one, but it’s a great reminder to only eat fruits and veggies we know are safe!
This brings us to another question: if a vegetable-like fruit such as an eggplant is a berry, what is a vegetable? A vegetable is any other part of the plant we eat, like the roots (carrots), stems (celery), or leaves (lettuce).
The world of plants is full of fascinating facts. Now that you’re armed with this berry good knowledge, go ahead and enjoy the huge variety of berries out there—from avocados to watermelons!
Just as there are amazing stories behind the food we eat, there are incredible tales about the animals we share our world with. Discover the surprising secrets of Sonoran Desert creatures in the “Don’t” book series! Explore the “Don’t” Series Today!