The picture shows conjoined cherries found among 50 cherries. There are always three pairs of conjoined cherries. Each pair of conjoined cherries has only one fruit stalk, and the two fruits are partially connected, but the stone is not connected. If the two fruits are separated, there is no obvious difference in taste and color compared with natural fruits, but they are slightly smaller. After investigation, I think the formation of conjoined fruit mainly has the following reasons.
First, the two flowers are too close together, and when they bear fruit, they grow together. Some people on the Internet show that the conjoined fruit of kiwifruit is formed in this way. This factor has no effect on the quality and safety of food. But I don't think this is the cause of conjoined cherry, because each flower of cherry has a pedicel of 0.8- 1.9cm. This conjoined cherry in the picture is that two fruits have only one fruit stalk, and it is unlikely that the two flowers will connect themselves no matter how close they are.
Second, the genetic mutation of seeds causes all somatic cells to mutate, and gametes may or may not mutate, but the flesh (in fact, the real peel) of the cherry we eat belongs to somatic cells, so we don't need to consider the cells that have not mutated. There are many reasons for the mutation of seed genes, including radiation, and many experiments in which seeds are mutated by radiation. For example, after some crop seeds (such as peppers, etc.) are brought to satellites and irradiated by space rays, the fruits cultivated are not only large, but also bright in color. Of course, some fruits will become smaller and the color will become dull. What causes the fruit variation needs further understanding. (It should be noted that the seed's trip to the sky is only the first step to complete the "space upgrade". The really complicated work is the subsequent ground cultivation, screening and verification. This reason is also unlikely to be the cause of the conjoined cherries I have seen, because only four or five of the dozens of cherries I bought have conjoined characters, and seed variation will cause most fruits to be conjoined.
Third, conjoined fruits are mainly fruit tree buds. During pollination, the temperature during flower bud differentiation is too high, and the soil is dry. In the process of budding, genes mutate, and when a flower blooms, two pistils will be produced, which becomes this kind of conjoined fruit. Under normal circumstances, each flower of sweet cherry only differentiates 1 pistil, but when it is dried at high temperature in summer, 1 flower can differentiate into 2-4 pistils, and after flowering and fruiting, it can bear 2-4 deformed fruits, for example, in 1997, when it is dried at high temperature in Beijing,/kloc-. This situation is somatic cell mutation, which will only cause a small number of cherries to be conjoined. However, the "small number" here is a lot compared with the mutation caused by only gene replication errors in natural conditions, which is why I can find three conjoined cherries among dozens of cherries but not white or other strange cherries. The double pistils caused by dryness and high temperature can probably explain the conjoined cherries I saw.
As the saying goes, "crooked melons and cracked dates are sweet" is not entirely true. On the one hand, fruits and vegetables are affected by adversity stress before ripening, and the accelerated synthesis of ethylene in fruits can promote the increase of soluble sugar content and promote the early ripening of fruits. Therefore, compared with those immature fruits, they have matured and the proper flavor of fruits has begun to show; On the other hand, excessive stress is counterproductive. There is a famous "pumpkin experiment". In a growing pumpkin, the steel ring is constantly reinforced, and finally the pumpkin pulp becomes inedible like wood.
Fourth, in the process of pollination, other environmental alienation, such as insufficient hormone dosage and large temperature change, can lead to fruit deformity, but the probability of this deformed fruit is not great.