(/)
Reader question – Paulo Tiago Martins da Costa, Santa Bárbara, MG
Yes. The seeds are the little yellow dots on the outside. They are called achenes and are the true fruits of the strawberry plant. The rest of the pulp, which is what is popularly called “fruit”, is actually just the development of a part of the flower called the receptacle. “Each achene can originate a new plant. Therefore, a single strawberry has the potential to generate dozens of strawberry trees”, says agronomist Luis Eduardo Correia Antunes, researcher at Embrapa Clima Temperado. This type of “outer seed” is rare. Roughly speaking, the only fruit that resembles a strawberry is the cashew, whose nut (true fruit) is on the outside.
PLANT AND MULTIPLY!
Some fruits are actually seedless. This is the case of pineapples and most bananas, genetically modified to reproduce only by planting
Grow your own strawberry
Check, in practice, that the outer dots are seeds
1. Squeeze a strawberry through a sieve and separate the seeds. Leave them in the sun until they are very dry. Then put them in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer for four weeks.
2. Remove the package and allow them to come to room temperature. Then, deposit them in a vase with already wet organic soil and cover them with a thin layer of soil. Place the vase in a place with direct light.
3. Water once a week (no need to exaggerate). After a few weeks, the strawberry plant sprouts and fruits begin to form. When they are red, just pick
Sources: Book The Strawberry, by George M. Darrow, e-book Manual do Morangueiro, from the National Institute of Biological Resources of Portugal, and websites from Embrapa and strawberryplants.org
See too:
+ What is tutti-frutti flavor made of?
+ Which fruits have the most vitamin C?