A Bee to Zee of Fruit Trivia Quiz

Answer: Banana

If you think that bananas grow on trees, you would be wrong. The banana plant is a perennial herb which constantly grows new leaves which overlap one another as they grow. These overlapping leaves eventually grow into the form of a trunk, so it could be mistaken for a palm tree.

As the fruits of the banana plants are formed, their weight bends the plant over so that the bananas point upwards. At the end of the year, after it has finished flowering, and the fruits are fully formed, the plant dies back to the ground leaving just the roots. Banana plants originated in south-east Asia. Most varieties of banana, such as Gros Michel, can be eaten raw when they ripen, but they are very popular in desserts, such as banana fritters.

There is also a type of banana which needs to be cooked.

These are called plantains.

Answer: Cranberry

Cranberries are dark red berries which grow on evergreen dwarf shrubs mainly in North America, but also in northern Europe. They grow in damp, acidic soil, and they grow naturally in bogs which is where they are mainly found in the wild. Cranberries are high in vitamins and minerals and are said to have many health benefits.

They contain large amounts of benzoic acid which enables them to make good preservatives such as sauces, jams and jellies. Cranberry sauce is an excellent accompaniment to turkey in Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners.

Answer: Date

Dates are the fruit which grow on a type of palm tree called date palm. This tree usually grows up to 75 feet in height, but some have reached higher than 100 feet. This tree grows only from its tip. It grows a new section every year with fresh leaves growing on top of the old dead leaves.

It is an essential plant for life in dry places such as Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia. There are many date varieties with Arabic names such as Deglet Noor, Barhi, Gundila and Khustawi. They are very sweet and they are supposed to taste even better when freshly harvested. Dates can be stored after being partially dried first.

In 2009, Egypt was the world's largest producer of dates.

Answer: Elderberry

Elderberries grow on a tree which is found in Europe, West Asia and North America. They grow clusters of black berries which, like the flowers called elderflower, cannot be eaten raw because they contain a poisonous alkaloid. Cooking them will destroy the alkaloid. Elderberries are used with other fruits in making jellies.

They can be used in making chutney, soups, ketchup, vinegar, elderberry wine and cordial drinks.

Answer: Fig

The fig tree is native to the Middle East and West Asia. They are descended from the caprifig, a wild tree. To get the best fruit from this tree, cultivation and selection is necessary. Of the four main botanical categories, three of them need to be fertilised by a tiny insect called a fig wasp.

This process is called caprification. One fig may appear to be just one fruit, but it is really over a thousand very small fruits which become compressed within a fleshy receptacle called a synconium. Figs are really nutritious and are even sometimes used as an ingredient in a traditional pudding in Yorkshire, England, called figgy pudding, but in years gone by it was probably easier to have access to, and therefore to use, plums.

Answer: Grape

Grapes are a type of berry which grow on vines. Grapevines are a type of woody climbing plant. There are over 8,000 varieties of grape, most of which have been given names. Names such as Concord, Gamay, Alicante, Muscat and Zinfandel will be familiar to wine drinkers because grapes are used for making wine with the same name as its grape. Currants and sultanas are a type of raisin which is a dried grape popular in desserts and puddings such as Christmas pudding.

Answer: Hazelnut

Hazelnut is the answer because a nut is defined as a fruit which has an edible seed inside a hard shell. Sometimes you will hear of fruits and nuts being spoken of as separate entities because of the obvious physical differences between nuts and other fruit. Nuts, such as hazelnuts, are botanically classified as fruit. It is the edible seed of the nut which is eaten, either raw or cooked. Hazelnuts come from the hazel tree which is from the birch family of trees.

The answer couldn't be Hillbilly tomato because that fruit is a variety of beef steak tomato which has a soft, not a hard, exterior. When horned melon is ripe and coloured orange, you can squeeze it and there will be some give in the fruit, so that can't be the answer.

Answer: Ice-cream bean

The ice-cream bean is known by other names such as Joaquiniquil, cuaniquil, pacay, guama, or guaba. These beans are long, green pods which contain black seeds in a white juicy pulp which tastes like vanilla ice cream. The trees on which they are grown are native to South America.

It is a legume tree which means that its fruit is in the form of seed pods, like peas and green beans. As you can imagine, the seeds and pulp of the ice-cream bean are popular as snacks in South and Central America. The trees can by easily damaged by low temperatures, so anyone trying to grow them in cold climates is unlikely to succeed.

Answer: Jackfruit

The jackfruit tree is native to south and south-east Asia where it is cultivated in tropical areas such as Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia. It is related to breadfruit, which comes from the Pacific Islands; to cempedak (champedak), another exotic tropical fruit; and to the marang tree which has smaller fruits.

They all belong to the same genus. Jackfruit is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world and a single fruit has been known to grow up to three feet in diameter. They are oval-shaped and hang down from short, thick branches which grow from the sides of the tree trunk.

The rind is prickly, coloured green or yellowy-green with a fuzzy appearance. The banana-flavoured flesh is yellow and contains hundreds of starchy edible seeds. Jackfruit has a very strong smell.

The pulp and the seeds can be eaten and used in cooking in curries and chutney, but they are difficult to prepare because this fruit also has a white, sticky resin.

Answer: Kumquat

Kumquat looks like a small orange, but it is either round or oval-shaped. The rind is thin, soft and pulpy so that can be eaten along with the inside of the fruit, that is after taking out, or spitting out, the seeds. Some people may still prefer to discard the rind as they would with a normal orange. Kumquats need to be eaten ripe otherwise they have a bitter taste.
Kumquat trees are as small as shrubs. They are native to south-east China. Kumquat is more resistant to cold than the fruit of citrus trees. Many hybrids have been grown, combining other citruses with kumquat, such as the calamansi which is also known as the calamondin orange.

Kokam is the size of a small orange, but that can't be the answer to the question because kokum has a rind which is usually coloured purple or dark red and it is not eaten whole.

Answer: Loganberry

In 1883, James Harvey Logan was a Superior Court judge in Santa Cruz, California. He was also the horticulturist whose Pacific coast blackberry was supposedly insect-pollinated from a red raspberry. This led to the growth of a hybrid plant whose dark-red fruit became known as loganberries.

The loganberry plant is very sturdy and frost resistant. The tasty fruit became popular with gardeners and some commercial growers. This same hybridisation process has led to the development of the tayberry which is also a cross between blackberry and respberry, and the development of the boysenberry which is a cross between a loganberry, raspberry and blackberry.

Answer: Melon

Melons are mainly eaten as a dessert in western countries. The three categories of dessert melons are Cantaloupe, musk (or netted or nutmeg) melon, and winter melon. The best known of the winter melons is the Honeydew, but there is also the Casaba which has a rougher skin than the Honeydew. Melons originated in the Middle East even as far east as India.

They come from the same family as squashes and cucumber. In eastern countries, such as in China, Thailand and Vietnam, varieties of melon, such as the winter melon, are grown.

This is a type of musk melon which is cooked and used as a vegetable. Melon seeds can be roasted and just used as snacks or used in cooking.

Answer: Nectarine

In classical mythology, nectar was the drink of the gods which conferred immortality on them. The name "nectar" was used by Greek poets such as Homer and Pindar. The name of the fruit nectarine comes from this drink because of the nectarine's smooth skin and its flavour, as evidenced by the saying "as sweet as nectar".

The nectarine is a variety of peach with a red and yellow skin and a yellow flesh which is juicy when ripe, and with a stone (pit) in the middle. The smoothness of its skin means that it is not as protected from disease as other peaches, which have a fuzzy texture. From 2001 to 2010, by far the largest producer of both nectarines and other peaches was China.

This is where nectarines originated.

Answer: Orange

Bucks Fizz is a cocktail comprising two parts orange juice to one part champagne with the optional addition of grenadine. This drink was invented in Buck's Club in London. Champagne is fizzy, hence the name Bucks Fizz. Apart from its use in Bucks Fizz, orange juice is one of the most popular fruit juices generally. It is also used in cocktails such as Blue Star, Presto, Cinderella and Hula Hula.
The main species of orange is the cultivated variety, which is familiar to most of us, called common sweet orange. This is the orange from which the juice used in those cocktails is taken. There are a wide variety of common sweet oranges, such as Jaffa, Valencia, Gardner, Pera, Roble and Midsweet.
There are other types of orange, such as bitter (or Seville) orange, used for making marmalade, and bergamot orange, a hybrid with Palestine sweet lime whose oil is extracted from the aromatic peel and used to flavour Earl Grey tea. There are also many other hybrids between orange and other citrus fruits which are called oranges, such as Clementine and tangelo.
In 2012, Brazil was the world's leading orange producer.

Answer: Pineapple

Pineapples do not grow on trees, unlike peaches, pears and pomegranates. This plant is a herbaceous perennial, so it is not even a shrub. This tropical plant has leaves and stems, but no woody stem above the ground. The short stem is surrounded by large, stiff, waxy, sword-like leaves which grow upwards from the ground.

The flowers grow into a few hundred small berries called fruitlets. These fruitlets fuse together to form one large fruit which looks like a spiny head with a crown on top. Pineapples originated in Brazil, but the largest producer in the world in 2009 was the Philippines. As soon as the fruit is picked, it begins to deteriorate, so when the fruit is picked it needs to be as near ripe as possible, but not fully ripe. Storage and best use of pineapples is a matter of clever calculation.

When pineapples are in their natural state they contain an enzyme called bromelain which breaks down protein, so it can be used for tenderising meat such as steak. Bromelain can also be used medicinally as an anti-inflammatory supplement.

Answer: Quince

Most varieties of quince need to be cooked before eating because they have a hard flesh; taste too sour when they are raw, and have too many pips. There are a few modern varieties, such as apple quince, which is sweet enough to eat raw. When quinces are ripe they will be coloured yellow.

This is the best time to pick them. Quince is native to the Caucasus regions, and its cultivation pre-dates the modern apples and pears. It is mentioned in ancient texts. It is very popular for use in preserves, tarts, pies, marmalade and jelly.

In the Caucasus, Turkey and nearby regions, it is cooked with meat in local recipes.

Answer: Rambutan

Rambut is the Malay word for "hair". The rambutan is usually crimson red on the outside with long hairs called tubercles, but there are some varieties of other colours such as green, yellow or orange. Once the coloured rind has been removed from the fruit, the edible, oval-shaped inside part looks like a lychee, but it is smaller than a lychee.

It is more aromatic than the lychee. There is also a seed in the centre of it which is also edible and has an almond-like flavour. The sweet taste of the rambutan makes it popular for use in ice cream, jam, jelly, sauces, cocktails and chutney. Rambutan trees yield fruit twice a year, but these trees can only be grown in the tropics such as in south-east Asia. If you chose rukam as your answer, this couldn't be right because even though the rukam comes from Malaysia, the rukam fruit is a smooth berry.

Answer: Sapodilla

The sapodilla is also known as sapodilla plum as well as naseberry, zapote, zapota, or tree potato. The fruit of the sapodilla tree can grow as large as eight inches long. It is oval-shaped with a beige colour which resembles the colour of a russet apple or a Nashi pear.

The large tree is native to central America and southern Mexico and it is another tree that can only be grown in the tropics. They yield the fruit twice a year. When eating the fruit, the black seeds have to be removed because they are toxic and have a hook which can catch in the throat.

The pulp of the fruit is popular for use in making jam.

Answer: Tomato

The tomatoes that we eat are botanically classified as fruit. They are often mixed with raw vegetables, such as celery, lettuce, radishes, spring onions, or cress, which form an English vegetable salad, but tomatoes are not used in fruit salads. Cucumbers and bell peppers (capsicum) are fruit too, but they are also used like vegetables in salads and in cooking. Most fruits would be associated mainly with desserts, but tomatoes are used in savoury meals such as pizzas, lasagne, soups and curries. Bell peppers are used in savoury recipes such as satay. Cucumbers are used in savoury recipes such as raita.

It just shows how easy it can be to get your fruit and vegetables mixed up.

Answer: Ugli

Ugli fruit is an exotic type of tangelo. It is a hybrid of grapefruit, orange and tangerine. The name "ugli" comes from the word "ugly" because of what the outside of the fruit looks like. The rind is thick, wrinkled and rough, and it is either green, orange, or yellow-coloured with brown, green or yellow blotches.

This rind can be peeled off very easily. The fruit is about as large as grapefruit and it is shaped like a tear-drop. The segments of the flesh look like orange segments. Don't be put off by the name or its outward appearance.

This edible part of the fruit is extremely delicious and juicy. It also has a citron-like fragrance (meaning Citrus medica, not Citrullus lanatus).

Answer: Voavanga

Voavanga fruit grows on a tropical deciduous tree which is native to eastern and southern Africa. Its species name is Vangueria madagascariensis, but it also has the name Spanish tamarind. The name "madagascariensis" should point us to where it is originally from. Each fruit is about two inches in diameter, starting with a green colour, then turning yellow-brown when ripe.

This fruit tastes like chocolate, or tamarind. This tree has to be grown in full sun.

Answer: Wongi

It's too easy to get mixed up between one caqui (the wongi) and the other caqui, so we need to look first at the scientific classifications of each of them.
The caqui, usually spelt "kaki", that is popular in North America, is a relative of the American persimmon. If we spell it as "kaki" here, we don't need to get so mixed up. This kaki is also known as Japanese persimmon. Its species name is kaki; its genus is diospyros; its family is ebenaceae; its order is ericales.
Now we can look at the wongi plum which is also known in some parts of the world as caqui. The wongi plum tree has the species name kauki; its genus is manilkara; its family is sapotaceae; its order is ericales, so we have to go right up to the order to find anything in common between the Japanese persimmon and the wongi. It has more in common with the sapodilla whose scientific name is Manilkara zapota. Don't go to sleep yet.
The wongi plum tree is a tall tree which comes from south-east Asia and northern Queensland. The fruit is coloured orange-brown until it ripens, then it becomes bright red with a sweet taste. It is oval-shaped like an egg, and it is between one and two inches in length. In Java, it is called sawo kacik.

Answer: Xigua

Apart from the African fruits ximenia (also called sour plum or mountain plum), and xigua, you will find it difficult to find a fruit whose name begins with the letter X. The name "xigua" is Mandarin Chinese which translates into English as "Western melon".

Some internet sources say that xigua is a type of Chinese watermelon with a black rind rather than the usual green rind and that it is smaller than the common watermelon, but they don't give it a scientific name or any other facts about it. Other internet sources say that xigua is the Chinese name for any watermelon, not just a type of it. Watermelon has the scientific name Citrullus lanatus.

This is a different species, and genus, to the sweet melons that we were looking at earlier in the quiz. Watermelon is native to Africa.

It is a large fruit with a green-coloured rind and red flesh which is composed of a high percentage of water. This is one reason why the cultivation of this refreshing fruit has spread to many parts of the world.

Its largest producer in the year 2011 was China, by a long way.

Answer: Yellow plum

Mirabelle, Damson, Greengage, Victoria and Saint Julien are all cultivars of plum, but most of them are not yellow. Mirabelles are very small yellow plums, usually coloured dark yellow when they are ripe, but there are some red varieties. The trees are cultivated in Europe and North America. They are popular for making jams, pies, wine, or brandy. Yellow plum is a more informal name for the yellow varieties of plum such as Jefferson gage, Mirabelle and Pershore Yellow Egg. The name "yellow plum" is used mostly in the context of yellow plum jam.
The scientific name for plum is Prunus domestica, so it is from the same genus as apricot, peach, sloe and cherry.
Date plum is another name for persimmon, and is a different species, and a different type of fruit, altogether. Its scientific name is Diospyros virginiana.

Answer: Zucchini

The name of the zucchini comes from the Italian word "zucchina" which means "small pumpkin". It is also known as courgette. The name "courgette" comes from the French meaning "gourd" or "marrow". Zucchini (or courgette) is a type of summer squash, as are the vegetable marrow and American Pattypan.

The zucchini is a sub-species of the species Cucurbita pepo, along with pumpkin. It is difficult to distinguish the various botanical species because there is alot of confusion throughout the world with the classification of cucurbits. Zucchini usually has a dark green skin with a whitish flesh, but there are modern varieties with different shades of green, and even bright yellow skin.

They are shaped like a cucumber, but they need to be picked when they are less than eight inches in length even though they can grow larger.

They are cultivated from seeds and the plants are very leafy. They grow like vines, but close to the ground, with the fruits growing close to the ground. They are mainly eaten like vegetables in soups, stir fries, lasagne, chutney, but they can be eaten in desserts such as chocolate courgette cake.