Berries and cherries are fruits that are in general pulpy and full of juicy flesh. They contain seeds that are used to propagate and produce new plants.
They have many properties that are similar between the two and at the same time, there are many differences too. Both the fruits could either be sweet or sour depending on the variety and the ripeness of it.
Key Takeaways
- Berries are small, pulpy fruits containing multiple seeds, whereas cherries are drupes with a single seed enclosed in a hard pit.
- Berries grow on bushes or vines, while cherries grow on trees.
- Berry plants can be perennial or annual, but cherry trees are long-lived perennials.
Berries vs Cherries
The difference between berries and cherries is that berries contain seeds that are edible and when consumed, the individual might not even realize the presence of those seeds because they are small. On the other hand, cherries possess a single seed that cannot be consumed due to its hard nature and it could also be poisonous.
Berries are edible delicacies that are consumed by humans and animals alike both in the wild and in urban settlements. Most berries are known for their vibrant color and the unique flavor exhibited by every variety available.
No two berries are known to have the same flavor. Some berries, found in the wild are highly poisonous to humans and animals and can lead to food poisoning or even death.
Cherries are fleshy fruits that possess a single seed or pit safe within the pulp of the fruit. They belong to that category of fruits to which mangoes and coconuts belong.
Their flesh is of great nutritional value and gives a unique flavor with each bit. It is juice and could either be sweet or sour depending on the ripeness of the fruit.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Berries | Cherries |
|---|---|---|
| Prices | Low | Higher in comparison |
| Has Many Varieties | Yes | No |
| The Fruit Could Be Poisonous | Yes | No |
| The Seed Is Poisonous | No | Yes |
| Harvest Season | Autumn | Summer |
What is Berries?
Berries are formed from a single flower possessing one ovary. But on the fruit, there is the presence of many seeds which could either be on the interior of the fruit or the exterior.
The formation of a berry might seem complicated as the single ovary of the flower from which a berry is born could either be a single or a compound ovary.
Compound ovaries lead to the development of fruits with many seeds within one fruit such as in the case of banana and blueberry.
The seeds formed by berries are hidden beneath the sheath of the fleshy pulp but at times, the seeds could only be surrounded by air such as in peppers.
It is common to find different kinds of berries out in the wild. But not all of them are edible. Some might even be poisonous. The fruits of the nightshade plant are highly dangerous and can cause serious trouble to both humans and animals when consumed.
It might not look poisonous due to its rich color and the deep shade of dark magenta or red. The general outer appearance of berries is round or a uniform shape or at times an aggregate of smaller fruits, with a wide variety of colors.
The taste of berries could vary depending on the fruit variety and also on the color. The color of the berries indicates the ripeness of the fruit. It is common knowledge that the darker any berry gets, the riper they are and therefore sweeter.
The seeds of berries are not hard and stone-like and this is what allows them to be consumed without picking it all out individually. The soft seeds can be picked off the fruit and then planted to give rise to new plants.
Berries have many nutritional values and the presence of many vitamins and minerals that the body might lack. Some examples of berries are bananas, watermelon, avocados, sapota, pumpkin, cucumber, etc.
What is Cherries?
Cherries belong to the category of fruits called drupes which are produced from monocarpic fruits. This categorization includes all the fruits that could be termed as fleshy fruits with a hard stone-like pit in the center.
The color of cherry begins through a metamorphic process starting from a green shade when completely unripe to white and eventually a shade of deep red once ripe.
These bright red-colored cherries could be consumed without fearing poisoning from the unripe fruit. The deep red coloration of ripe cherry is due to the presence of an antioxidant. This antioxidant is responsible for similar red hues in many other fruits.
This specific antioxidant is called anthocyanin. They help in easing out many medical discomforts faced by people. Anthocyanin is known to cut down on the inflammations in the body which is instrumental in controlling the pain caused by arthritis.
Anthocyanin is also known to reduce the blood cholesterol level. Cherries are harvested in between the summer months. But that does not mean it isn’t available throughout the year.
After the cherry season is over, the prices skyrocket and yet people still buy them given their health benefits and the taste.
The nutritional content of cherries is quite less when consumed ripe because by the time the fruits are ripened all the main nutrients convert into other forms which have a bare minimum value.
Vitamin C and plenty of fibers are present in ripe cherries, but other than this there is no other nutritional content that is valuable to humans. The hard stone-like pits of cherries can be dangerous once broken inside the oral cavity.
It contains a compound called amygdalin which facilities the unwinding of the chemical hydrogen cyanide. Even though the amount of hydrogen cyanide released is less, it can still cause a few side effects in humans.
A few examples of fruits like cherry include nectarines, peaches, and apricots.
Main Differences Between Berries and Cherries
- While the seeds of berries are soft and many, the seeds in cherry are quite hard and stone-like and are only single in number.
- It is alright to consume the seeds of berries and it won’t lead to any poisoning or complications but on the other hand, one cannot eat the seeds of cherries as it is hard and also contains l poisonous substance.
- Berries have a lot more nutritional value both when ripe and unripe but cherries have comparatively less nutritional content especially after being ripe.
- The harvesting season for berries is during the late autumn whereas the harvesting season for cherries is during the hot summer months.
- Cherries belong to the category of fruits called drupes whereas berries don’t belong to the drupes family.
- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4419-0763-9_13
- https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cnf/2005/00000001/00000001/art00008
Last Updated : 15 July, 2023
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
