Biology · Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants · NEET
Both are true, but the defining feature is WITHOUT fertilisation. NCERT says: if a fruit is formed without fertilisation of the ovary, it is called a parthenocarpic fruit. Because there is no fertilisation, no seed forms, so the fruit is naturally seedless. So the cause is 'no fertilisation' and the result is 'seedless'. For NEET, pick the option that says without fertilisation if it is given.
Parthenocarpy = the FRUIT (ovary wall) develops without fertilisation and is seedless (example: banana). Parthenogenesis = the female gamete (egg) develops into an EMBRYO without fertilisation. One makes a seedless fruit, the other makes an embryo from an unfertilised egg. NEET asked exactly this in 2019 and 'parthenocarpy' was the wrong option there.
Banana is the NCERT example you must remember. Grapes and some tomatoes and oranges are also seedless/parthenocarpic in real life, but for a NEET one-word example, always write banana.
Auxin. NCERT (Plant Growth and Development chapter) clearly states auxins induce parthenocarpy, for example in tomatoes. So parthenocarpy can be produced naturally OR artificially by applying growth hormones like auxin, and the resulting fruits are seedless.
No. A fruit can be seedless because fertilisation never happened (that is true parthenocarpy, like banana), or because seeds started forming but then aborted, or because the plant is a sterile hybrid. So 'seedless' is the result, but only 'no fertilisation from the start' is true parthenocarpy. NEET usually treats banana as the standard parthenocarpic example.
No, a truly parthenocarpic fruit has no seeds because there was no fertilisation, hence no zygote and no ovule maturing into a seed. Only the ovary wall grows into the fleshy fruit. That is why parthenocarpy is directly linked to seedless fruits in NCERT.
In some plants, the female gamete develops into embryo without fertilization. This phenomenon is known as:
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
Parthenocarpy is the development of a fruit without fertilisation of the ovary, which produces a seedless fruit (example: banana).
Natural: banana. Induced: tomato fruits produced by spraying auxin, which makes seedless tomatoes.
Because there is no fertilisation, no zygote and no seed can form; only the ovary wall grows into the fleshy fruit, so it stays seedless.
Yes. Applying growth hormones such as auxin to the unfertilised ovary can induce parthenocarpy and give commercially useful seedless fruits.
Banana is the standard example of parthenocarpy (seedless fruit without fertilisation). Apomixis is a different process where a seed forms without fertilisation, which is the next concept to study.
