ABSTRACT
Fruit is an important food item in our everyday diet, one for which there is no total substitute. Hundreds of plant species produce fruit which is used as “fruit”, either in fresh or processed forms, by human beings. Many of these grow wild and are sometimes gathered and consumed by the local inhabitants. Americans consume 41 kg of fresh fruit and 62 kg equivalent of processed fruit per capita per year on average. The top ten fresh fruits consumed in the largest quantities by Americans are banana, apple, orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, grape, lemon, strawberry, and tangerine. This chapter discusses 100 important species of crops grown as “fruit”. The species are annona, apple, avocado, banana, Barbados cherry, blueberry, brambles, breadfruit, carambola, coconut, citrus, cranberry, date, durian, fig, grape, guava, etc.
