# Fruit Eaters - I Need Seed Education **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 23, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319 "2008-05-23T02:22:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/1 "2008-05-23T02:22:41Z")
For most of my life, I haven’t been a fan of fruit. I love veggies, though, oh yes I do. The only fruit I really like, actually, used to be considered a vegetable until recently. In any case, I need some people to volunteer their valuable fruity experiences. I’m writing a dialog right this moment, and I need to know if there’s a sweet, tasty fruit that can be eaten from the hand and has a very hard seed. The character in question is going to bite into the fruit and hurt his teeth on the seed, so it needs to be of the kind that normally can’t be chewed up. I was thinking of peaches, but that pit seems awfully big to accidentally bite into. Perhaps someone who has some experience beyond a few nibbles could help me out? Grapes, I know, have seeds, but some people chew those up fine it seems like. Are apple seeds hard? Note: It can’t be anything you have to cut up first to eat, so no melons! ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/2 "2008-05-23T02:31:17Z")
Also, can anyone give me a rough estimate of the number of seeds in a European Pear? I don’t need an exact number, really. But are there just a few? Dozens? Hundreds? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/3 "2008-05-23T02:43:15Z")
Plums have a small enough seed to make it really hard to eat around (like you can with a peach) but a large enough seed to hurt yourself if you chomp too hard. If the plum is especially ripe/juicy, I find it easier just to eat right through it and hope you find the seed before you swallow it. I don’t think one would normally bite through an apple enough to hit a seed. They’re softer than popcorn kernels, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/4 "2008-05-23T02:55:09Z")
[QUOTE=Crocodiles And Boulevards] Note: It can’t be anything you have to cut up first to eat, so no melons! [/QUOTE] Although normally cut up, both [Cherimoya](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherimoya) and [Pawpaw](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawpaw) are sweet, tasty fruits with big hard seeds, that might easily be chomped into by a person unfamiliar with their inner secrets. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/5 "2008-05-23T02:58:09Z")
[QUOTE=Crocodiles And Boulevards] Also, can anyone give me a rough estimate of the number of seeds in a European Pear? I don’t need an exact number, really. But are there just a few? Dozens? Hundreds? Thanks. [/QUOTE] While I’m not sure what you mean by “European” Pear is, “french” pears (as grown by my great grandfather – I think they were probably small Bosc pears) have about the same number of seeds as an apple or other pear. Say six to eight-ish. For the tooth breaking seed . . . hmm, how 'bout a wild raspberry or huckleberry? I’ve never actually broken a tooth on one, but those are some wicked tough tiny little buggers. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/6 "2008-05-23T03:53:30Z")
Does it need to be a temperate-region fruit? Mangoes have a very large, fairly flat seed that it would be pretty easy to bite into hard if you weren’t experienced at eating them. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/7 "2008-05-23T04:42:27Z")
I would say Cherries. Small but with small pits. I love me some good cherries but those pits suck. Easy to swallow and easy to bite down on. ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/8 "2008-05-23T05:03:52Z")
I think I’ll go with cherries/plums. Thanks for the great advice, everyone! I should have specified that it was for a more temperate region. Also, I just got the “European Pear” reference from wikipedia, but I realize now that European pears is a category containing a lot of other species. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/9 "2008-05-23T07:48:42Z")
Pears normally have up to five little seeds in a star-shaped arrangement at the core - I think it’s possible for each of the compartments to contain more than one seed, so it could be upwards of five, but in my experience of eating pears (which is considerable), I often have trouble finding more than one little seed. The seeds are no harder than, say, peanuts (although they are much smaller) and could be eaten accidentally without even noticing. For a fruit with a very hard seed, how about if your cherry is mixed into an assorted bowl of other ‘berries’ such as strawberries, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, etc, it’s not at all implausible that someone might casually pop it in their mouth and bite down. The seed (called a ‘stone’) is typically very hard - certainly hard enough to cause dental problems. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/10 "2008-05-23T08:43:18Z")
You poor child! You don’t like fruit? What are you, some kind of commie? [QUOTE=Hakuna Matata] I would say Cherries. Small but with small pits. I love me some good cherries but those pits suck. Easy to swallow and easy to bite down on. [/QUOTE] I agree with the cherries. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/11 "2008-05-23T14:23:11Z")
[QUOTE=Crocodiles and Boulevards] The only fruit I really like, actually, used to be considered a vegetable until recently. [/QUOTE] They change? What vegetable/fruit is this? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/12 "2008-05-23T14:24:27Z")
[QUOTE=WarmNPrickly] They change? What vegetable/fruit is this? [/QUOTE] The Larch. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/13 "2008-05-23T14:39:56Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] The Larch. [/QUOTE] Pssst! The Monty Python thread is down the hall, to your left. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/14 "2008-05-23T14:49:05Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] Pssst! The Monty Python thread is down the hall, to your left. [/QUOTE] It’s no fun if they’re expecting it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-eaters-i-need-seed-education/450319/15 "2008-05-23T17:38:44Z")
Apricots also have a high pit/fruit ratio.