The Anatomy of Fruit: Understanding Locules and Their Importance in Plant Breeding

Locule (plural: locules) is a term used in botany to describe the individual compartments or chambers within a fruit or seed. These compartments are formed by the partitioning of the ovary or fruit wall, and they contain one or more seeds.

For example, in a pome fruit like an apple, the locules are the individual cells that contain the seeds. Each locule is separated from the others by a thin membrane called the placenta, which provides nutrients to the developing seeds. The number of locules in a fruit can vary, with some fruits having only one locule (monocarpellous) and others having multiple locules (polycarpellous).

Understanding the structure of fruits and their locules is important for plant breeding and horticulture, as it can affect the quality and quantity of the fruit produced.