You’ve Been Eating Apples Wrong! The Fruit Is the Core You Throw Away—Mind-Blowing Botany You Can Use Today!

This is Ken Kuwako, your Science Trainer. Every day is an experiment.

That familiar crunch, the burst of sweet and sour juice… We all know and love apples. But what if I told you that the red, sweet part we eat isn’t actually what botanists call the “fruit”?

A surprising truth! Are we actually eating a “flower”?

If you look into it, the fleshy part of the apple is actually something called the receptacle—the base of the flower that supports the other parts. The part we’ve always believed to be the fruit is really just the flower’s base that’s grown big and fleshy. Pretty surprising, right?

So where is the real “ovary”—the true fruit in botanical terms?

As it turns out, the core of the apple is the ovary. The hard part that contains the seeds is what’s considered the “true fruit” in botany.

And what about the messy, fuzzy part at the bottom of the apple? What do you think that’s a remnant of?

That’s the calyx you’re looking at, and it’s actually the remains of the apple blossom’s sepals and stamens. When you imagine the process of a flower blooming and then becoming a fruit, it all makes perfect sense.

You can see the remnants of the stamens deep inside.

We referenced this website for the information.

Learning from Apples: The Wonders of Plants
There’s a lot of surprising science hidden in the things we take for granted every day. For example, did you know that apples belong to the Rosaceae family—the same family as strawberries, pears, and cherries?

This is because the structure of the apple—where the fleshy part is the receptacle that grows to surround the ovary—is common among plants in the rose family. It’s fascinating how a single apple can reveal such a deep connection in the plant world.

Science isn’t just something you learn about in schoolbooks. The apples we eat every day are full of wonder and discovery. The next time you eat one, try to observe it and think, “Is this the receptacle?” or “Is this the remnant of a sepal?”

You might just make a new discovery.

Figure quoted from BuNa, “The apple core is actually the fruit. Learning fun botanical terms for flowers and fruits,” June 24, 2019. Viewed on December 5, 2021.

https://buna.info/article/2461/

Contact & Inquiries
Want to get closer to the wonders and fun of science? We’ve put together a collection of enjoyable science experiments you can do at home, along with easy-to-understand tips. Feel free to browse around!

About the administrator, Ken Kuwako: Click here

For all requests (writing, lectures, science classes, TV supervision, appearances, etc.): Click here
– Article updates are posted on X!

Our Science Snippets Channel features experiment videos!