Parthenocarpy

It is generally observed that the fruit develops after fertilization and it has fertile seeds inside it. However, this is not always so. Fruits of certain varieties of plants, such as edible banana (Musa sp.), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), orange (Citrus sp.) and grapes (Vitis vinifera), develop without seeds.

In the seed-bearing bananas the three locules of the berry are occupied by large seeds, whereas in the parthenocarpic varieties, the ovules degenerate and the cells of the pericarp and septae proliferate to form the pulp regions. The phenomenon of formation of fruit without fertilization is known as Parthenocarpy.