Facts About Fruit Seeds

Fruit seeds provide a way for a fruit plant to reproduce and spread. All flowering plants produce some type of fruit, and aside from some seedless varieties that have been developed by people as a convenience, all fruits have seeds on or inside them.

Fruit seeds can vary greatly in size. Pumpkin seeds, for example, are rather large, while banana or strawberry seeds are so small you may not even notice you're eating them.

Some fruits, such as peaches and avocados, produce just one large, central seed (often called a pit). Other fruits can contain dozens or hundreds of seeds---consider tomatoes or kiwis.

Fruits are actually the mature ovaries of a flower that has been fertilized by pollen from other plants. The plant's ova, or eggs, develop inside the fruit as seeds, and the rest of the fruit forms to protect and nourish these seeds.

All seeds have several different parts, including a plant embryo and shoot, a protective sheath around the embryo, an endosperm that nourishes the embryo, a cotyledon that provides food for the seed after it begins to sprout, and a seed coat that protects the entire structure.

While many fruit seeds can be eaten along with the fruit, there are some seeds you should avoid swallowing. Fruits in the rose family, such as apples, apricots, cherries, peaches and plums, have seeds that contain cyanogenetic glycosides, which can release harmful levels of hydrogen cyanide gas when eaten in large quantities.