Iris Cohen replied to Jeff Root:

What distinguishes fruits which taste fruity from those which
do not? For example, apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries,
and grapes usually taste fruity when ripe, while bell peppers,
tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, olives, and squash generally do not.

It's an oversimplification, but the most obvious difference is the
presence of sugar.

As I said to "PvR", I strongly doubt that. It doesn't fit my
experience at all. Many things are sugary without being fruity,
and many things are fruity without being sugary. I've eaten
oranges that tasted orangy, but had no detectable sweetness at
all. I've also eaten oranges that were quite sweet, but had
very little orange flavor.

Iris Cohen replied to P van Rijckevorsel:

Could you give me examples of:
Parts of plants which taste fruity, but are not fruits.
(The only example I can think of is rhubarb.)

cashew (not the nut), juniperberry, yew berry, etc

Juniper and yew berries are fruits. They are called cones, but they
contain seeds if they are fertilized.

The fruity part of a strawberry is an achene. The actual fruits are
those little things all over the outside which contain the seeds.
The edible part of a pineapple is also a holder. Our modern pineapples
are seedless. Not sure which part you would call a fruit.

I didn't know that pineapples are seedless. The whole notion
of developing plants with seedless fruits is mind-boggling. It
poses a problem for my description of "fruit":

An ovary of a plant, containing the seed or seeds,
together with its envelope and any closely-connected parts.

Do I need to leave out the part about containing the seed?

One notable example is the Japanese raisin tree, Hovenia dulcis.
The fruits don't amount to much, but when they ripen, the fruiting
twigs become soft, tasty, & edible.

I'll look it up. Thanks!

Nature is varied and ingenious. Fruits evolve and are further
cultivated to enhance the reproductive ability of the plant. Any
part of a plant may become a storage organ to tide the plant over
the winter or the dry season. This can be leaves, stems, sap, or
roots. If they are used to store sugar, people (and animals) may
find them tasty, and possibly fruity.

I find rhubarb stalks to taste fruity. Do you? Do you think
they contain significant amounts of sugar?

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

Subtract 1 from my e-mail address above for my real address.
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