Fruit

The apple is the fruit of the apple tree. Apple trees are small deciduous trees growing to around 5-12 metres high. Apples may be red, yellow or green. You can eat all of the apple except the core in the middle, which is full of seeds.

The apricot is a small, soft, sweet orange fruit closely related to the plum. You can eat the fruit fresh or dried, and apricots can also be made into jam.

The avocado is the fruit of a tree native to south and central America. It prefers to grow in tropical areas.

Avocados are much higher in fat than other fruits. The avocado has a big seed inside it, and a hard skin, so you can only eat the soft flesh in between. Their flesh is yellow to green, and has a texture that is a little like butter, hence one of their common names of "butter fruit". The flesh of the avocado can be spread on bread or crackers, or the flesh can be diced and used as an ingredient in salads.

The banana is a tropical fruit and is eaten all over the world. Bananas can be eaten raw, cooked, or used in other foods like cake. The bananas in the picture are on a plate.

The bell pepper is a medium sized fruit that ranges in colour from green to yellow to red. Unlike their cousins the chili, bell peppers are mild and sweet and are often eaten raw in salads, or cooked on pizza. Bell peppers are also called capsicums.

Blackberries are the fruit of a very thorny plant closely related to the raspberry. They spread quickly by sending roots under the ground that then sprout new plants. They can easily get unmanageable and are hard to keep under control because of the thorns. Today, you can buy thornless blackberries.

Blackberries are most often used to make jam.

Blackcurrents are a small berry related to redcurrants and gooseberries. They are used mainly for their juice, and made into drinks or cordials. Blackcurrents have a very, very high vitamin C content, with 100 grams of the fruit providing 3 times what you need each day.

The blueberry is the fruit of a small bush. You can eat them fresh, but they are also sold frozen, dried and puréed. You can use blueberries in jams, pies, muffins, snack foods, and cereals.

Cantaloupe are also called rockmelon, mushmelon, muskmelon or spanspek. They are a medium-sized sweet melon with orange flesh. They are usually cut into pieces and eaten fresh.

Cherries are a small, red fruit with a single stony seed. The cherry is related to almonds, peaches, plums and apricots.

You can eat cherries fresh, or use them cooked in cakes and pies.