Question

Banana is a parthenocarpic fruit whereas oranges show polyembryony. How are they different from each other with respect to seeds?

Answer 1

Hint: The parthenocarpic fruits are the fruits which do not either have a seed or lack a viable seed. The polyembryony fruit is the fruit which contains more than one seed.

Complete answer:
We are already aware of the fact that the fruit is a ripened ovary and the ovules become the seeds. The seeds are enclosed within the fruit.

Banana fruit does not have a seed whereas the fruit of an orange or other citrus fruits have various seeds.

In case of banana- The fruit is obtained as a result of asexual reproduction. As the plant does not have seed, it is known as parthenocarpic fruit. The new banana plant grows from the vegetative parts of the plants.

In case of orange- Various nucellar cell embryo exist along with the sexually produced embryo. So there are multiple seeds present in the orange fruit.

Parthenocarpy	Polyembryony
In this case, seedless fruit is produced as a result of the unfertilised ovule.	In this fruit with multiple seeds are produced due to the sexually produced embryo and also the embryos are produced by the vegetative cells.
The other examples of parthenocarpic fruits are pineapple.	All citrus fruits are polyembryonic.

Note: As the parthenocarpic fruits are produced without fertilisation, they do not require pollination or fertilisation. The shelf life of these fruits are greater as they do not produce seeds. The plants obtained are the clones of the parent plant as they are not formed by sexual reproduction.