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Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.)

1989; Springer Nature; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-642-61535-1_4

2512-3696

Michel Duron, L. Decourtye, Ph. Druart,

Nuts composition and effects

Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) belongs to the Rosaceae family and is the only species in the genus. It derives its generic name from Cydon, the modern Canea, near which the tree grew in great abundance (Evreinoff 1948). It is a deciduous unarmed shrub or small tree, which usually attains a height of less than 15 feet (Fig. 1). Differing from other pip fruits, blooming is terminal and solitary at the extremity of current-season growth. Leaves are densely pubescent below, dull green above. Fruits have a woolly appearance and are fragrant near maturity. Each ovary contains five compartments, each of them with numerous ovules, which produce seeds with a sticky jelly. Trees are partly self-pollinated, but fruit setting and seed number per fruit are increased by cross-pollination. According to fruit shape, defferent types are usually distinguished: C. o. pyriformis (Kirchn.) Rehd. var., which is the typical form, pear-shaped, without ribs. C. o. maliformis (Mill.) Schneid. var., with roundish fruit, is more like and apple. C. o. lusitanica (Mill.) Schneid. var. which is also pear-shaped, but obviously ribbed.