Question

The edible part of a tomato is
(a) Epicarp
(b) Pericarp and placenta
(c) Mesocarp
(d) Thalamus

Answer 1

Hint In tomato, the pericarp can be differentiated into epicarp, mesocarp, and endocarp. So it is placed under fleshy fruits. In berries, the fleshy part i.e, the edible part is formed by the fusion of epicarp, mesocarp, and endocarp with the placenta.

Complete answer:
Based on the nature of pericarp fruits are divided into two types namely fleshy fruits and dry fruits. Fleshy fruits are subdivided into five types namely drupe, berry, hesperidium, pepo, and pome. Guava, grapes, and tomatoes are some examples of berries. Tomato is the same as a berry. It is developed from multicarpellary syncarpous gynoecium. The endocarp and mesocarp are fused to form a pulp. Because of the pericarp and the skin, the tomato is fleshy. The inner wall, columella, radial wall, and the outer wall constitute pericarp. This pericarp and placenta together form fleshy tissue of tomato which is the edible part. Seeds are hard and are located inside the locular cavities.

Additional information:
- In fleshy fruits pericarp can be divided into epicarp, mesocarp, and endocarp whereas dry fruits have dry and indivisible pericarp.
- Nature of pericarp is an important feature to differentiate types of fleshy fruits
- In drupe like mango pericarp is well-differentiated, in berries pericarp is fused with the placenta and forms fleshy part, in pepo pericarp is the rind, fleshy, and smooth, in hesperidium pericarp is leathery, papery, and contain juicy hairs, in pome pericarp, is cartilaginous.

So, the correct answer is ‘ pericarp and placenta’

Note:
Dry fruits are of two types based on whether they open or not.
They are dehiscent type and indehiscent type.
If they open they are called dehiscent
if they remain closed they are indehiscent.