# @science on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DRGR4uMk9Ij
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/37016175-science-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/16d9954e79.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-11-16T01:00:21.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Science 🧬 (@science) — https://gondola.cc/science

## Caption

It turns out berry is actually a botanical term, not a common English one. Blackberries, mulberries, and raspberries are not berries at all, but bananas, pumpkins, avocados, and cucumbers are. So what makes a berry?⁠
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Well, a berry has seeds and pulp that develop from the ovary of a flower. The pericarp of all fruit is actually subdivided into 3 layers. The exocarp is the skin of the fruit, and in berries, it’s often eaten but not always. The mesocarp is the part of the fruit we usually eat, like the white, yummy part of an apple, or the bulk of a plum, though in citrus fruits, the mesocarp is actually the white, sort of inner peel that we remove. Last is the endocarp, which is the closest layer that envelopes the seeds. In stone fruits, it’s a stone. In many fruits, it’s actually a membrane that we don’t really notice, often because it’s been bred to be thin, like in bananas. In citrus, the endocarp is actually the membrane that holds the juicy parts of the fruit, that is, the part you don’t want to pierce unless you want to get sticky.⁠
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If most fruits have these 3 layers, then why are berries special? It’s mostly due to the nature of their endocarps. Although not exactly quantified, berries generally have thin endocarps and fleshy pericarps. Of course, these rules aren’t rigid, as watermelons and citrus fruits are berries, and neither is thought to have especially thin skins.⁠
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So if your favorite fruit isn’t a berry, what might it be? If it has a thick, hard endocarp, it’s probably a drupe, a fancy term for stone fruit. This group encompasses apricots, mangoes, cherries, olives, avocados, dates, and most nuts. Basically, if you wouldn’t want to just bite into it, it’s probably a drupe.⁠
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#fruits #fruit #banana #strawberry #berries #berry #raspberries #biology #science⁠

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## Tags

strawberry, banana, science, fruit, fruits, berries, raspberries, biology, berry

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