Epicarp

Fruit anatomy refers to the interior structure of fruit as a plant. The mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers are called fruits. There are three types of aggregate fruits: many fruits, simple fruits, and aggregate fruits. Aggregate fruits are made up of several ovaries or fruitlets and are created from a single compound flower. The fused ovaries of several flowers or inflorescences yield many fruits. mulberry and pineapple are some examples.

 Simple fruits are made up of one or more seeds and are generated from a single ovary. They come in two varieties: fleshy and dry. The pericarp (ovary wall) and other accessory elements of fleshy fruit evolve into the fleshy section of the fruit throughout development. Berries, pomes, and drupes are examples of fleshy fruits.

Epicarp

Epicarp is the botanical word for the pericarp’s outermost layer (or fruit). If the fruit has one, the epicarp forms the strong outer skin. The epicarp is sometimes known as the exocarp or, in the case of citrus, the flavedo.

Flavedo

Essential oils, paraffin waxes, steroids and triterpenoids, fatty acids, pigments (carotenoids, chlorophylls, flavonoids), bitter principles (limonin), and enzymes are all found in Flavedo.

The flavedo makes up the pericarp’s peripheral surface in citrus fruits. It is made up of numerous cell layers that become thicker as the fruit ripens; the epidermic layer is wax-coated and includes a few stomata, which are often closed when the fruit is ripe.

The flavedo cells contain carotenoids (mainly xanthophyll) inside chromoplasts that previously contained chlorophyll when they were developing. The shift in colour of the fruit from green to yellow as it ripens is due to this hormonally controlled development.

Mesocarp

The mesocarp is the fleshy middle layer of the pericarp of a fruit, located between the epicarp and the endocarp (from Greek: meso-, “middle” + -carp, “fruit”). It is usually the edible section of the fruit. The mesocarp, for example, makes up the majority of the edible portion of a peach and a significant portion of a tomato Any fruit with a fleshy interior is referred to as a “mesocarp.”

The mesocarp of a hesperidium, such as that seen in citrus fruit, is also known as albedo or pith. It’s the inside of the peel that’s typically removed before eating. It is utilised to produce succade in citron fruit, where the mesocarp is the most prominent component.

Endocarp

The inside layer of the pericarp (or fruit), which directly surrounds the seeds, is known as the endocarp (from Greek: endo-, “inside” + -carp, “fruit”). It can be membranous, as in citrus, where it’s the sole component eaten, or thick and rigid, as in the Pyrenees of Rosaceae drupe fruits like peaches, cherries, plums, and apricots.

It’s the rocky coating that surrounds the kernel of pecans, walnuts, and other nuts, and it’s removed before eating.

The endocarp of citrus fruits is divided into segments, which are called sections. Juice vesicles, which contain the fruit’s juice, are found inside these segments.

Types of fleshy fruits and examples 

Berries, drupes, and pomes are the three basic varieties of fleshy fruits. Berries are simple fruits with many seeds that are made up of one carpel or a syncarpous ovary. They are all fleshy, but the exocarp varies in texture: soft, thin exocarps like tomatoes (a berry); leathery exocarps like oranges (a hesperidium); and a somewhat firm exocarp like pumpkins (a hesperidium) (a pepo). In drupes or stone fruits, each carpel or locule normally contains only one seed. Drupes are fleshy fruits with a rocky or woody inner endocarp that attaches to the seed (peaches, plums, and cherries). Each unit of aggregate fruit of this sort is referred to as a druplet (e.g., raspberries and blackberries).

Dehiscent and indehiscent dry fruits are the two types of dry fruits. Follicles and legumes are made from a single carpel ovary, while capsules are made from multiple joined carpels. The pericarp dries out as the fruit matures, and the fruit splits. Unlike milkweeds, columbines, and magnolias, which split along a single side of the fruit, legumes, like the bean family, split along both sides. Capsules have two or more carpels and split apart in a variety of ways to release their seeds. As in the agave, they can open lengthwise to disclose the seeds within each locule (cavity) or longitudinally along each septum between the locules (Agave; Asparagaceae). Others, such as the Brazil nut family, produce an operculum (a lid) at the top of the ovary (Lecythidaceae).

Single carpels or compound ovaries give rise to indehiscent fruits. The achene, samara, and caryopsis are all single carpel forms. Nuts and schizocarps are two forms formed from a complex ovary. An achene is a fruit in which only a single seed is fastened to the cavity by a single point. The strawberry, for example, is an aggregate fruit with achenes as “seeds. The seed attaches to the fruit wall in the caryopsis, or grain (pericarp). Caryopsis can be found in cereal grasses such as corn. Acorns of oaks (Quercus; Fagaceae) and hazelnuts have a rocky pericarp, and usually, only one seed matures in each carpel (Corylus avellana; Betulaceae). Schizocarps are fruits in which a compound ovary’s carpels divide into two or more sections, each bearing a single seed. Schizocarps are a type of schizocarp that belongs to the carrot family (Apiaceae). Maples are home to winged schizocarps.

Examples: Grapes, tomatoes, papaya, pomegranate, sapote, persimmon, guava, banana, avocado, etc. 

Conclusion

Epicarp is a botanical word for the pericarp’s outermost covering (from Greek: epi-, “on” or “upon” + -carp, “fruit”) (or fruit). If the fruit has one, the epicarp produces strong outer skin. The epicarp is sometimes known as the exocarp or, in the case of citrus, the flavedo.