13 Fruity Facts You Didn't Know About, Well, Fruits

What came first: orange the color or orange the fruit?

1. Raspberries are a member of the rose family.

commons.wikimedia.org

So are apples, cherries, pears, peaches, quinces, plums, apricots, blackberries, and strawberries...but roses can be red and raspberries can be red (though they can also be black purple or golden...) so ignoring the others is justified, right?

2. The word orange described the fruit before the color.

commons.wikimedia.org

The Arabic word naranj joined the English language in the 14th century and gradually lost its initial n, a process called wrong word division.

3. The word pineapple was inspired by pinecones.

shulevich / Via thinkstockphotos.com

When European explorers came across these fruits in the Americas, they called them pineapples because of their resemblance to pinecones. On a side note, pineapples can take many years to mature. No wonder they're a bit pricey.

4. The average person eats almost eight pounds of grapes each year.

en.wikipedia.org

And while Napa Valley may be the best-known wine-growing region in the United States, the oldest grapevine in America is located in North Carolina and could be over 400 years old.

5. The paisley pattern is based on the shape of a mango.

katyau / thinkstockphotos.com

en.wikipedia.org

The design may be traced back to Persia as far back as the third century. It is also culturally significant to the Tamil culture, where the design is known as "Mankolam" due to its mango-inspired shape.

6. Cube shaped watermelons are being grown in Japan.

Flickr: wurzle / Creative Commons

Square watermelons were developed in Japan over 30 years ago and are typically given as gifts meant for decoration.. But wait... there's more! They also grow heart shaped melons.

7. Pear leaves were once used for smoking.

commons.wikimedia.org

Before tobacco was introduced to Europe, the leaves of this fruit were smoked.

8. Canada holds the (unofficial) record for baking the largest cherry pie in the world.

Flickr: calamity_sal / Creative Commons

The record was held in Traverse City, Michigan for a 28,350 pound pie (pictured above) until 1992 when Oliver, British Columbia took the record — although, since they didn't save the pan, the record is still technically held by Traverse City.

9. Cashew apples are the "accessory fruits" to the cashew nut.

commons.wikimedia.org

Those yellow pear-shaped things are the fruit of the cashew apple tree, and they're called accessory fruits because they grow from the tissue rather than the ovary of the flower.

The cashew shaped green blobs hanging off the bottom are actually the cashews themselves (which are technically seeds, not nuts), which are encased in toxic layers that are made edible through roasting.

10. There's a museum in Belgium entirely devoted to strawberries.

commons.wikimedia.org

The Musée de la Fraise (or Strawberry Museum) takes its visitors through the history of these berries (which, technically, are not berries at all).

11. In Latin, the word apricot means precious.

New Line Cinema

Sorry, couldn't resist... Anyway, as apricots ripen earlier than most of the summer fruits, they were seen as a precious commodity.

12. Lemon juice can be used to naturally redden your lips.

commons.wikimedia.org

Lemon juice works as an exfoliant, causing dead skin to come off and leave the lips more "fresh" and smooth. In fact, ladies during the European Renaissance used lemon juice to brighten up their lips.

13. A berry called miracle fruit (or miracle berries) creates a chemical that causes sour food to taste sweet.

simple.wikipedia.org

This West African fruit creates a chemical called miraculin which binds to the taste buds and causes sour foods to taste sweet. It may sound like a hoax, but you can watch BuzzFeed staff members taste testing sour foods under the influence of the miracle fruit here.