We have seedless grapes, oranges, and watermellon… but is that the limit to our “seedless technology”? Around Halloween, some seedless pumpkins would be awfully handy.
In: Biology
Fruits become seedless in a couple different ways.
Some plants grow their fruits even if they’re not fertilized and simply omit the seeds. These are easy to make seedless, just cover the flowers so they don’t get pollinated. We do this with pineapples.
Other seedless fruits are hybrids – crosses between two plants with different numbers of chromosomes that disrupt the seed production. You have to cross-breed new hybrids every time since the plants are infertile. Seedless watermelons use this process.
Then there’s the mutants – plants with a genetic defect that halts seed production entirely. These plants are completely sterile and cannot be re-bred, so every single one is a clone. Every banana you’ve ever eaten is a genetic clone from just one or two mutant plants that have been turned into an entire plantation through cutting and grafting. Many seedless grapes fall into this group too.
If a plant doesn’t cross-breed, doesn’t fruit without pollination, and doesn’t have any known seedless mutations, it’s unlikely to have a seedless variation available.
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