Proteus Technology: New Material Is Strong, Light and Non-Cuttable
> The freefall of grapefruit from 10 m does not damage the pulp[1] because pomelo peel consists of vascular bundles and an open-pored cellular structure with the struts made of parenchymatic cells.<p>I have a Marsh grapefruit tree, fruiting now (southern hemisphere) as it happens, and I note that it produces particularly pithy progeny.  (Ignoring for the moment that Pomelo is one of the parents of the modern grapefruit.)<p>I don't have a convenient 10 metre drop to test this, and while I have no reason to doubt the veracity of this citation, I'm now consumed with curiosity why this plant has evolved to have this feature.<p>I expect it's quite an expensive adaptation, and given that modern specimens are the result of a lot of cross-breeding over the years to have juicier pulp and a lower ratio of skin/pith to pulp (ie. reduced resistance to damage) it presumably was even more expensive in ancestor plants.<p>Standard fruit purpose is to have animals unwittingly propagate the plant -- entice something to eat the fruit, and some time / distance later, deposit the seeds in a fertiliser ball.  How does protecting the pulp from these kind of damage assist with that -- unless ancestor trees were spectacularly tall, and ancestor consumers fantastically fastidious on fruit quality.<p>[1]  <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088%2F1748-3190%2F11%2F4%2F045002" rel="nofollow">https://doi.org/10.1088%2F1748-3190%2F11%2F4%2F045002</a>