16 Mind-Blowing Fruit Facts

1. Not all oranges are orange.

Flickr: martinlabar
In sub-tropical growing regions (like Brazil, the country that grows the most oranges in the world) there are never
temperatures cold enough to break down the chlorophyll in the fruits skin, which means it may still be yellow or
green even when its ripe. But because American consumers cant fathom such a phenomenon, imported oranges
get treated with ethylene gas to get rid of the chlorophyll and turn them orange.
This also means that Florida oranges tend to be yellower than California oranges, because theyre grown further
south.

2. Most commercial fruits are clones.

Flickr: diebmx
Which, when you actually look at supermarket displays of perfectly identical apples and oranges and peaches,
isnt that shocking. Producers want specific varieties of fruit, called cultivars (say, Fuji apples or Bosc pears) to
remain perfectly consistent, without all the unpredictable genetic mutations you get with old-fashioned sexual
reproduction (pollinating flowers, planting seeds, and seeing what the heck comes up).

3. The clone tree armies are grown by grafting.

Flickr: isg-online
If you ate a Macintosh apple and planted the seed, the tree it grew would produce apples that looked and tasted
nothing like Macintoshes. So, instead of planting seeds, growers attach a cutting from the genetically desirable
tree onto an existing branch or sapling (called the rootstock) so that the grafted bit produces apples genetically
identical to those on the tree it was cut from. If you look closely at the tree in the photo, you can see that there are
multiple types of apples on the different branches, all grafted onto one rootstock tree.
With seedless fruit, like some citrus, the necessity of grafting is even more extreme: Since the trees dont produce
seeds (originally a genetic mutation that was noticed and propagated because its so darn convenient), theyre
incapable of reproducing without being cloned by humans.

4. Japanese Yubari cantaloupes are the most expensive fruit in the

world; two melons once sold at auction for $23,500.

Flickr: brad_lp80 / Via buzzfeed.com

People in Japan pay astronomical prices for luxury fruit like tattooed apples and coddled cantaloupes, usually
given as gifts. Demand has dropped in recent years, but the numbers are still pretty staggering. Get a closer look at
one of these fancy fruit parlors here.

5. Cherry farmers hire helicopter pilots to air-dry their trees after it

rains so that the cherries dont split open.

Dave Preston / peachlandnews.com

Pilots get paid hundreds of dollars a day to be on stand-by during the summer in case it rains and trees need an
emergency blow-drying. It sounds ridiculous, but its worth it for farmers who raise the delicate, expensive fruit.
The job is dangerous; pilots are often injured in orchard crashes.

6. The apple youre eating might be a year old.

Flickr: kevharb
Apples are for sale in grocery stores and farmers markets year round, even though their harvesting season (at least
in the U.S.) only lasts a few months in the fall. HOW CAN IT BE? Well, increasingly sophisticated cold storage
technology means its possible (and/or likely) that the crisp, juicy apple youre eating in August 2013 was actually
harvested in October 2012.

7. Bananas get artificially ripened (after being shipped) to one of seven

shades of ripeness.

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Bananas are shipped green because theyre too delicate and perishable otherwise, so distribution facilities use
extremely precise storage technology to then trick bananas into ripening before they go to market. Heres an
explanation of the colors from this very interesting tour of the Banana Distributors of New York in the Bronx (one
of just three facilities that process about 2 million bananas each week for all of New York Citys stores and
vendors):
The most popular shades are between 2.5 and 3.5, but much depends on the retailers size and target market. The
grocery chain Fairway, which sources its bananas from Banana Distributors of New York, expects to hold bananas
for a couple of days, and will therefore buy greener bananas than a smaller bodega that turns its stock over on a
daily basis. Street vendors, Rosenblatt notes, as well as shops serving a mostly Latin American customer base,
like full yellow.

8. Bananas, as we know them, are in danger of being completely wiped

out by disease.

abc.net.au
Despite the fact that there are more than 1,000 banana varieties on earth, almost every single imported banana on
the commercial market belongs to a single variety, called the Cavendish. These bananas became dominant
throughout the industry in the 1960s because they were resistant to a fungal disease (called Panama Race One) that
wiped out what had previously been the most popular banana, the Gros Michel. But signs point, pretty
convincingly, to the Cavendishs own demise within the next decade. Heres why:
1. Cavendish bananas are sterile and seedless, so they reproduce asexually (through suckers that grow off the
mother plant), meaning that each plant is genetically identical.
2. This lack of genetic diversity makes all Cavendish bananas vulnerable to the threat of Tropical Race Four, a
new, even more devastating fungal disease.
3. Race Four has already wiped out Cavendish bananas throughout Asia and Australia. Most growers view it as
only a matter of time before the disease makes its way to Latin America, where it will make short work of the
plantations that supply North American consumers.
If youre interested to know more, read this fascinating 2011 New Yorker report on growers efforts to cope with
Race Four, or check out journalist Dan Koeppels book Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World.
And then eat a banana while tears stream down your face.

9. Donut peaches are a natural mutant peach variety, not a humanengineered fruit.

clemson.edu
And not, alas, a cross between a donut and a peach. But they ARE delicious firmer and more sweet and fragrant
than most boring old spherical peaches. The lil flatties originated in China but have found enthusiastic fans
worldwide in recent years.

10. U.S. raisin farmers arent allowed to sell all the raisins they grow;
they must contribute to a national raisin reserve if supply exceeds
demand.

Flickr: robwallace
No, really. The Raisin Administrative Committee is currently pursuing a legal vendetta against farmer Marvin
Horne for refusing to contribute to the reserve and selling all of his raisins instead.
This isnt as crazy as it sounds; most fruit growers sell according to rules set by associations intended to offset
market fluctuation and protect their economic interests. But raisins are naturally more reservable than fresh,
perishable fruit and the RAC seems hell-bent on getting this raisin outlaw to toe the line.

11. Grapefruit can cause dangerous reactions with some prescription

medications.

Flickr: arsheffield
From the New York Times, last year:
For 43 of the 85 drugs now on the list, consumption with grapefruit can be life-threatening, Dr. Bailey said. Many
are linked to an increase in heart rhythm, known as torsade de pointes, that can lead to death.
O_O
Under normal circumstances, the drugs are metabolized in the gastrointestinal tract, and relatively little is
absorbed, because an enzyme in the gut called CYP3A4 deactivates them. But grapefruit contains natural
chemicals called furanocoumarins, that inhibit the enzyme, and without it the gut absorbs much more of a drug
and blood levels rise dramatically.
X_X

12. Cranberries dont actually grow underwater.

cranberries.org
Despite what you might imagine based on those Ocean Spray commercials, its only at harvest time that sandy
cranberry bogs are artificially flooded with water. Cranberries have air pockets inside that let them float, which
makes them easy to pick en masse.
But thats only for berries that are destined to be juice, jelly, Craisins, etc. Whole fresh cranberries the kind you
buy in bags at Thanksgiving are never flooded, instead getting dry-harvested by picking machines that comb
the berries out.

13. Cranberries do BOUNCE.

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This magic property (which is thanks to the same air pockets that lets cranberries float) was discovered in 1880 by
the compellingly named cranberry innovator John Peg Leg Webb, who dropped a bunch of cranberries down the
stairs. Growers today actually still test berries athletic abilities to determine their quality, and sort them
accordingly, with a tool called the bounce board separator the higher the bounce, the better the berry.

14. The leaves of the rhubarb plant are extremely poisonous.

Flickr: bilal255

The leaves contain kidney-damaging and potentially fatal amounts of oxalic acid, a chemical compound found in
bleach, metal cleaners and anti-rust products. But the stalks are totally safe to eat, which, thank goodness,
because they sure make tasty pie.

15. One pomegranate can hold more than 1,000 seeds.

Flickr: chetan_
Contrary to the Torah-based myth that every pomegranate has 613 seeds.

16. A strawberry isnt technically a berry, or even a fruit.