Question

It will not be any advantage to produce seedless fruits in
A) Mangoes
B) Watermelons
C) Pomegranate
D) Oranges

Answer 1

Hint:Seedlessness is a desirable trait in edible fruits with hard seeds. Seedless fruits can occur when the ovary develops directly without fertilization.

Complete Answer:
To know whether there will be any advantage to produce seedless fruits in the choices above, we need to know what is the phenomenon of seedlessness and what are its implications in plants-
1) Production of seedless fruit is known as parthenocarpy. This is either natural or artificially induced production of fruit where there is no fertilization of ovules hence resulting in seedless fruits. However, pomegranate, or Punica granatum, produces a red fruit which is categorized as a berry. The fruit is about 5-12 cm (2-5 inches) in diameter with hundreds of edible seeds called as arils within.
2) Pomegranate is fruit which has leathery-skinned berry within which it contains many seeds. Each seed is surrounded by a juicy and fleshy aril. It contains hundreds of edible seeds. So, it will not be any advantage to produce seedless fruit in pomegranate. Remaining all other fruits here, Mangoes, Watermelons and Oranges can have the advantages over producing seedless fruits.

Additional information:
As we learnt from the discussion above, the condition in which fruits are developed without the formation of seeds is called parthenocarpy. Let’s know more about the condition, we will look into this process of fruit production which was introduced in the year 1902. This is mainly due to the absence of fertilization in plants, pollination and embryo development. In botany, parthenocarpic fruit means “virgin fruit”. These types of fruits are generally seedless.

Hence, the correct answer is C (Pomegranate).

Note:Parthenocarpy is induced artificially by the use of plant growth regulators. The development of parthenocarpic fruits is stimulated when the plant hormones such as gibberellins, auxin and cytokinin are sprayed on flowers.