Tuesday, 16 August 2016

evolution - Why are many fruits sour?


Many fruits (like apples, berries, citrus fruits etc.) contain high levels of organic acids, especially malic acid and citric acid. Are there any evolutionary functions of those acids in ripe fruits? In unripe fruits the sour taste may protect fruits from being eaten prematurely by herbivores, but why are those acids still present in ripe fruits? Are they there for increasing osmotic pressure so plants can make bigger fruits in a cheap way by just inserting more water in them? Or do organic acids perhaps play a role in pathogen protection? Or are they just a by-product of some other biochemical mechanism in fruit development?




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