Q.What is a parthenocarpic fruit? Give an example. (1½ + ½ marks)
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Let’s start with something you already know: a fruit is the ripened ovary of a flower. Normally, for that ovary to swell into a fruit, the flower must first be pollinated — pollen lands on the stigma, a pollen tube grows down, and fertilisation happens. Seeds then develop inside the fruit. That’s the usual sequence.
Now imagine a fruit that forms without any of that. No pollination, no fertilisation, no seeds. That’s parthenocarpy — from Greek parthenos (virgin) and karpos (fruit). The fruit develops from the ovary all by itself, as if it skipped the entire reproductive step.
How is that induced? In nature, some plants do it spontaneously — bananas, grapes, oranges, cucumbers. But commercially, farmers and horticulturists often induce parthenocarpy artificially. The mechanism is simple in principle: you trick the ovary into thinking it has been pollinated and fertilised.
The key is a group of plant hormones called auxins and gibberellins. When pollen lands on a stigma, it triggers a surge of these hormones in the ovary, which makes it grow. If you spray the flower with synthetic auxins (like 2,4-D or NAA) or gibberellins (like GA₃) at the right time, the ovary gets the same chemical signal — and starts swelling into a fruit, even though no fertilisation occurred.
This is not genetic modification. It’s a hormonal treatment applied externally. The plant itself is not altered permanently; only that particular flower’s development is redirected.
Why does this matter? Two big reasons:
- Seedless fruits — consumers prefer seedless watermelons, grapes, cucumbers. Parthenocarpy gives you that without any seeds to remove.
- Reliable yield — if weather or lack of pollinators prevents pollination, the crop can still set fruit. This is especially useful in greenhouses or during rainy seasons when bees are inactive.
What NCERT says: In the Class 12 Biology textbook (Chapter 2, Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants), parthenocarpy is defined as the development of fruit without fertilisation. The textbook mentions that it can be induced by applying growth hormones like auxins, and that such fruits are seedless. Examples given: banana, grapes, cucumber. …
Normally a fruit forms only after fertilisation sets seeds, so a fruit that develops without any fertilisation is necessarily seedless. …
Parthenocarpy is fruit development in the absence of fertilization, producing seedless fruits.
Normally, fruit development follows fertilization of the ovule. However, in parthenocarpic fruits, the ovary develops into a fruit without the ovule being fertilised, so no seeds are formed. This can occur naturally or can be artificially induced by application of growth hormones such as auxins …
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.An example of a parthenocarpic fruit is(a) Banana(b) Apple(c) Strawberry(d) Walnut
›Reveal solutionSolution
Parthenocarpy is the development of fruit without fertilisation, giving seedless fruits; banana is the classic example.
Fertilisation normally triggers the ovary to develop into a fruit and the ovules into seeds. In parthenocarpic fruits, the ovary develops into a fruit WITHOUT fertilisation occurring, so the fruit is seedless. Commercially important parthenocarpic fruits include banana (and it can be indu …
- CBSE 2025Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Assertion (A) : No seeds formation found in the Parthenocarpy fruits. Reason (R) : Such type of fruits are formed without fertilization of the ovary.(a) Both (A) and (R) are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).(b) Both (A) and (R) are correct but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).(c) (A) is correct but (R) is incorrect.(d) Both (A) and (R) are incorrect.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Parthenocarpic fruits are seedless precisely because they develop without fertilisation of the ovary.
Assertion (A) is correct: parthenocarpic fruits (e.g. seedless banana, and seedless grapes or watermelon obtained by auxin treatment of the ovary) do not contain seeds. Reason (R) is also correct and directly explains why: parthenocarpy is the development of a fruit from the ovary without fertilisation taking place. Since fertilisation (fusion of male and female gametes) is what norm …
- CBSE 2024Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Development of fruit without fertilization is called(a) polyembryony(b) parthenocarpy(c) parthenogenesis(d) apomixis
›Reveal solutionSolution
Parthenocarpy is the formation of a fruit without fertilization, typically producing seedless fruit.
Parthenocarpy is defined as the development of a fruit from the ovary without the occurrence of fertilization, and such fruits are usually seedless (e.g., bananas, some grape varieties). It can occur naturally or can be induced artificially through application of growth hormones like auxins. Parthenogenesis (c) refers to development of an embryo from an unfertilized egg (seen in some animals), polyembryony (a) is the occurrence of more than one embryo in a single seed, and apomixis (d) i …
- CBSE 2024Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The phenomenon wherein, the ovary develops into fruit without fertilization is called(a) Parthenocarpy(b) Apomixis(c) Embryogenesis(d) Syngamy
›Reveal solutionSolution
Parthenocarpy is the development of a fruit from the ovary without fertilization, giving seedless fruit.
Parthenocarpy refers to the development of the ovary into a fruit without the ovules being fertilized. Since fertilization does not occur, no seeds are formed, resulting in a seedless fruit — e.g., banana. Parthenocarpic fruit development can occur naturally or be artificially induced (e.g., by application of growth hormones). Apomixis is a different phenomenon, where seeds are produced without the fusion of gametes (asexual reproduction that mimics sexual re …
- CBSE 2022Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Banana is considered a good example of parthenocarpy. Give reason.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Banana fruit develops without fertilisation (parthenocarpy), giving the commercially valuable seedless fruit.
Parthenocarpy is the development of a fruit from the ovary without fertilisation having occurred, so the resulting fruit is typically seedless. It can occur naturally or be induced artificially by applying growth hormones such as auxins to unpollinated/unfertilised flowers.
…
- CBSE 2021Set OC_BOTANY1 markQ.Define parthenocarpy.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Parthenocarpy uncouples fruit development from fertilisation, so the ovary matures into a fruit even though no seeds are formed.
Definition and mechanism
Normally, fertilisation of the egg cell (and the resulting hormonal changes) triggers the ovary wall to develop into a fruit while the fertilised ovules develop into seeds. In parthenocarpy, the ovary develops into a fruit without fertilisation occurring, so the fruit lacks seeds. It can occur naturally in some species or can be induced artificially by applying growth hormones such as auxins to unpollinated flowers, which mimic the hormonal trigger normally provided by fertilisation.
Examples and significance
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- CBSE 2020Set HE8241 markQ.Fill in the blank: Which fruits develop without fertilisation are called ______.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Fruits that develop without fertilisation are called parthenocarpic fruits; the process is parthenocarpy.
Normally, after double fertilisation the ovary develops into the fruit and the ovules develop into seeds. In some plants, however, the ovary can swell and mature into a fruit even when fertilisation has NOT occurred. Such seedless fruits are called parthenocarpic fruits, and the phenomenon is called parthenocarpy.
…
- CBSE 2019Set ANNUAL1 markQ.What is Apomixis?
›Reveal solutionSolution
Apomixis = production of seeds without fertilisation — an asexual method that outwardly resembles sexual reproduction, giving clonal (parent-identical) seeds.
Concept
Normally a seed forms only after fertilisation of the egg. In apomixis, however, seeds are formed without fertilisation — for example, the diploid egg cell or another cell of the ovule develops directly into an embryo without meiosis and syngamy. The resulting seeds are genetically identical to the mother plant (clones).
Significance
- Seen in some Citrus, in the family Asteraceae, and in many grasses. …
- CBSE 2018Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Fruits develop without fertilisation are called :(a)(i) False fruit(b)(ii) True fruit(c)(iii) Parthenocarpic fruit(d)(iv) Dry fruit
›Reveal solutionSolution
A fruit that develops from the ovary without fertilisation is a parthenocarpic fruit — option (iii). Such fruits are seedless.
Concept
Normally, after double fertilisation the ovule becomes the seed and the ovary matures into the fruit. Parthenocarpy is the development of the fruit from the ovary without fertilisation, so no true seed is formed. This can occur naturally or be induced by spraying growth hormones such as auxins and gibberellins.
Why the other options are wrong
- (i) False fruit — a fruit in which tissue other than the ovary (e.g. the thalamus in apple) contributes to the flesh; fertilisation has still occurred.
- (ii) True fruit — a fruit that develops from the ovary after normal fertilisation. …
- CBSE 2018Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.In which of the following species of plants seeds are produced through apomixis:(a) Asteraceae and Grass(b) Mustard(c) Citrus and Mango(d) None of these
›Reveal solutionSolution
Apomixis, a form of asexual reproduction that mimics seed formation without fertilisation, occurs in some Asteraceae and grasses.
Apomixis is the production of seeds without the fusion of gametes (no fertilisation). It is a form of asexual reproduction that mimics sexual seed formation. In NCERT, apomixis is described in several species of Asteraceae and in grasses, where the diploid egg cell forms without meiosis a …
- CBSE 2015Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Multiple Choice Question: Development of fruit without fertilization and are seedless known as(a) Polyembryony(b) Apomixix(c) Parthenocarpy(d) Parthenogenesis
›Reveal solutionSolution
Fruit development in the complete absence of fertilisation, producing a seedless fruit, is called parthenocarpy.
Normally a fruit develops from the ovary only after fertilisation has occurred, and the fertilised ovules inside develop into seeds. In some plants, however, the ovary enlarges into a fruit without any fertilisation taking place — since no zygote or embryo forms, no seeds are produced, so the resulting fruit is seedless. This phenomenon is called parthenocarpy. It can occur naturally (e.g. banana, seedless grapes, some varieties of cucumber) or can be induced artificially by applying growth hormones such as auxins to the unpollinated pistil/stigma.
The other options describe different phenomena and are ruled out:
- Apomixis (b): seeds are formed without the fusion of gametes — an asexual mode of seed formation that mimics sexual reproduction (common in some grasses, Citrus, Asteraceae). It still produces seeds, unlike parthenocarpy. …
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