In crop plants, the leaves considerably serve as carbon sinks, as well as stems, roots, flowers, fruits, and seeds with photosynthetic activities. Concerning plant fruits, their photosynthetic activity mostly results from the anatomy of the fruit, its growth and development, and the surrounding microclimate. At the early stage, the fruits normally contain the highest score of chlorophyll and stomata and thin cuticles. However, some species keep stomata in their fruits even after ripening, but most species miss stomata disintegrating chloroplasts and miss functionality. The collection of different wild fruit species came from various areas of Iraq. The epidermis of fruits, as obtained by peeling the exocarp, had this study examine the epidermis, stomata, crystals, and trichomes. The study revealed the scattering of the stomata in the epidermis of the exocarp in the fruits of some species, while none in others. Moreover, the stomata vary among the plant species, with the study categorizing the wild fruit species into four groups. The collected different wild fruit species were Alcea rosea, Alhagi maurorum, Citrullus colocynthis, Convolvulus arvensis, Malvastrum coromandelianum, Ocimum campechianum, Physalis angulata, Portulaca oleracea, Prosopis glandulosa, Rubus ulmifolius, and Withania somnifera. The anticlinal wall of epidermal cells also differed among the different fruit species between straight and wavy. Likewise, the druse crystals appear in the species Portulaca oleracea, and various types of trichomes were evident in the different wild fruit species under study.
Fruit species, fruit types, stomata, epidermis, crystals, trichomes
The wild fruit species collection continued from the different areas of Iraq. The study showed diverse shapes and diffusion of the stomata in the epidermis of some species. However, in some wild fruit species, the epidermis missed the stomata.