For other uses, see Berry (disambiguation).

Four fruits that are true berries (size not to scale). Clockwise from right:
Concord grapes, persimmon, red gooseberries, red currants (top)

The botanical definition of a berry is a simple fruit produced from a single ovary, such as a grape. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. The flowers of these plants have a superior ovary formed by the fusion of two or more carpels. The seeds are embedded in the flesh of the ovary.

In everyday English, a berry is a term for any small edible fruit. These 'berries' are usually juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, and don't have a stone or pit, although many seeds may be present.

Many berries, such as the tomato are edible, but others in the same family, such as the fruits of the deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) and the fruits of the potato (Solanum tuberosum) are poisonous to humans. A plant that bears berries is said to be bacciferous.

[edit] Types of berries

[edit] True berries

Several types of common "berries", none of which is a berry by botanical definition:
The blueberry is a false berry, blackberries are aggregate fruit, and strawberries are accessory fruit.

In botanical language, a berry or true berry is a simple fruit having seeds and pulp produced from a single ovary. The true berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. The flowers of these plants had a superior ovary and one or more carpels within a thin covering and fleshy interiors. The seeds are embedded in the common flesh of the ovary.

Examples of true berries include

[edit] Modified berries, juicy berries

The fruit of citrus, such as the orange, kumquat and lemon, is a modified berry called a hesperidium.

[edit] Not a botanical berry

Many "berries" are not actual berries by the scientific definition, but fall into one of these categories:

[edit] Drupes

Drupes are fruits produced from a single-seeded ovary or achene.

• Hackberry (Celtis spp.; Cannabaceae)
• Açaí (Euterpe), a palm fruit native to the Amazon region

[edit] Epigynous fruits

Epigynous fruits are berry-like fruits formed from inferior ovaries, in which the receptacle is included. Notable examples are the fruits of the Ericaceae, including blueberry, huckleberry and cranberry.

• Bearberry (Arctostaphylos spp.), Crowberry (Empetrum spp.) and Cranberry
• Lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)
• Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo), not to be confused with the actual strawberry (Fragaria)
• Sea Grape (Coccoloba uvifera; Polygonaceae)
• The fruit of cucumbers, melons and their relatives are modified berries called "pepoes".

[edit] Compound fruits

Compound fruits are groups or aggregates of multiple individual fruits, and include:

• Aggregate fruits are multiple fruits with seeds from different ovaries of a single flower, such as blackberry, raspberry, bayberry, and boysenberry
• Multiple fruit, are the fruits of separate flowers, packed closely together. The mulberry, for example, is essentially like a cluster of grapes, but tiny and compressed into one "berry"^[1].
• Other accessory fruit, where the edible part is not generated by the ovary, such as the strawberry for which the seed-like achenes are actually the "fruit" derived from the ovary.

Raspberries are not true berries, but aggregate fruits composed of many drupes

[edit] Color and medical benefits

By contrasting in color with their background, berries are more attractive to animals that eat them, aiding in the dispersal of the plant's seeds.

Berry colors are due to natural plant pigments. Many are polyphenols such as the flavonoids, anthocyanins, and tannins localized mainly in berry skins and seeds. Berry pigments are usually antioxidants and thus have oxygen radical absorbance capacity ("ORAC") that is high among plant foods.^[2] Together with good nutrient content, ORAC distinguishes several berries within a new category of functional foods called "superfruits" and is identified by DataMonitor as one of the top 10 food categories for growth in 2008^[3].

Alaska wild "berries" from the Innoko National Wildlife Refuge.

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Berries

• List of fruits
• Epigynous berry
• Accessory fruit
• Aggregate fruit
• Multiple fruit
• Drupe

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• The National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens – Description of berries
• Encarta.msn.com (Archived 2009-10-31) – Differentiation between true berries, pepos, and hesperidia
• United States National Berry Crops Initiative
• Berry Health Benefits Network – Scientists working on the health properties of berries