What are Parthenocarpic Fruits?

Dear Student,

@Rebecca:

Parthenogenesis is a form of reproduction in which an unfertilized egg develops into a new individual or it can also be defined as reproduction without fertilization. Thus, fruit developed by this process is called parthenocarpic fruit.
 
Hope this helps,
 
@Anusha: Good answer!! Your answers are really helpful to all the users of this community. Keep writing!
 
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A parthenocarpy fruit is a kind of fruit which is artificially grown, it is a seedless fruit which cannot reproduce by sexual means but only by asexual ones.parthenocarpy (literally meaning virgin fruit) is the natural or artificially induced production of fruit without fertilization of ovules. The fruit is therefore seedless. Stenospermocarpy may also produce apparently seedless fruit, but the seeds are actually aborted while still small. Parthenocarpy (or stenospermocarpy) occasionally occurs as a mutation in nature, but if it affects every flower, then the plant can no longer sexually reproduce but might be able to propagate by vegetative means.

However, parthenocarpy of some fruits on a plant may be of value. Up to 20% of the fruits of wild parsnip are parthenocarpic. The seedless wild parsnip fruit are preferred by certain herbivores so serve as a "decoy defense" against seed predation.[1] Utah juniper has a similar defense against bird feeding.[2] Being able to produce seedless fruit when pollination is unsuccessful may be an advantage to a plant because it provides food for the plant's seed dispersers. Without a fruit crop, the seed dispersing animals may starve or migrate.

A seedless watermelon.

In some plants, pollination or other stimulation is required for parthenocarpy. This is termed stimulative parthenocarpy. Plants that do not require pollination or other stimulation to produce parthenocarpic fruit have vegetative parthenocarpy. Seedless cucumbers are an example of vegetative parthenocarpy, seedless watermelon is an example of stenospermocarpy.

Plants moved from one area of the world to another may not always be accompanied by their pollinating partner and the lack of pollinators has spurred human cultivation of parthenocarpic varieties. Some parthenocarpic varieties have been developed as genetically modified organisms.


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Thanxxx...Anusha..!!@@!! :)

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Thank u mam..!!@@!! :):):)

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