Strawberry in the context of "Sweet"

Plant propagation is the process by which new plants grow from various sources, including seeds, cuttings, and other plant parts. Plant propagation can refer to both man-made and natural processes.

Propagation typically occurs as a step in the overall cycle of plant growth. For seeds, it happens after ripening and dispersal; for vegetative parts, it happens after detachment or pruning; for asexually-reproducing plants, such as strawberry, it happens as the new plant develops from existing parts.

In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (/ˈraɪzoʊm/ RY-zohm) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow horizontally. The rhizome also retains the ability to allow new shoots to grow upwards.

A rhizome is the main stem of the plant that runs typically underground and horizontally to the soil surface. Rhizomes have nodes and internodes and auxiliary buds. Roots do not have nodes and internodes and have a root cap terminating their ends. In general, rhizomes have short internodes, send out roots from the bottom of the nodes, and generate new upward-growing shoots from the top of the nodes. A stolon is similar to a rhizome, but stolon sprouts from an existing stem having long internodes and generating new shoots at the ends, they are often also called runners such as in the strawberry plant.

An accessory fruit is a fruit that contains tissue derived from plant parts other than the ovary. In other words, the flesh of the fruit develops not from the floral ovary, but from some adjacent tissue exterior to the carpel (for example, from receptacles or sepal). As a general rule, the accessory fruit is a combination of several floral organs, including the ovary. In contrast, true fruit forms exclusively from the ovary of the flower.

Accessory fruits are usually indehiscent, meaning that they do not split open to release seeds when they have reached maturity.

Seed predation, often referred to as granivory, is a type of plant-animal interaction in which granivores (seed predators) feed on the seeds of plants as a main or exclusive food source, in many cases leaving the seeds damaged and not viable. Granivores are found across many families of vertebrates (especially mammals and birds) as well as invertebrates (mainly insects); thus, seed predation occurs in virtually all terrestrial ecosystems.

Seed predation is commonly divided into two distinctive temporal categories, pre-dispersal and post-dispersal predation, which affect the fitness of the parental plant and the dispersed offspring (the seed), respectively. Mitigating pre- and post-dispersal predation may involve different strategies. To counter seed predation, plants have evolved both physical defenses (e.g., shape and toughness of the seed coat) and chemical defenses (secondary compounds such as tannins and alkaloids). However, as plants have evolved seed defenses, seed predators have adapted to plant defenses (e.g., ability to detoxify chemical compounds). Thus, many interesting examples of coevolution arise from this dynamic relationship.

Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, and sugar alcohols. Some are sweet at very low concentrations, allowing their use as non-caloric sugar substitutes. Such non-sugar sweeteners include saccharin, aspartame, sucralose and stevia. Other compounds, such as miraculin, may alter perception of sweetness itself.

Sweetness is one of the five basic taste qualities and it mostly involves foods with sugars. It is known to be enjoyable and it is an important factor for food choices beyond cultures. Furthermore, sugars like sucrose, there are many other organic and inorganic compounds that bring out a sweet taste. This involves aldehydes, ketones, amino acids, and other artificial sweeteners. Sweetness recognition in our bodies takes part in an important role in energy control and evolutionary behavior.

Yoshihide Suga (菅 義偉, Suga Yoshihide; born 6 December 1948) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2020 to 2021. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), he was the party's president from 2020 to 2021 and also represented Kanagawa 2nd in the House of Representatives since 1996. Before his premiership, he was the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications from 2006 to 2007, and the longest serving Chief Cabinet Secretary during the second administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from 2012 to 2020.

Born to a family of strawberry farmers in rural Akita Prefecture, Suga moved to Tokyo after graduating from high school, where he enrolled in Hosei University. Shortly after graduating, Suga became an aide to Representative Hikosaburo Okonogi in 1975, before entering politics himself when he was elected to the Yokohama Municipal Assembly in 1987. In the 1996 election, Suga was elected to the House of Representatives, representing Kanagawa's 2nd district as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Generally, fleshy fruits can be divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of a respiratory increase at the onset of ripening. This respiratory increase—which is preceded, or accompanied, by a rise in ethylene—is called a climacteric, and there are marked differences in the development of climacteric and non-climacteric fruits. Climacteric fruit can be either monocots or dicots and the ripening of these fruits can still be achieved even if the fruit has been harvested at the end of their growth period (prior to ripening on the parent plant). Non-climacteric fruits ripen without ethylene and respiration bursts, the ripening process is slower, and for the most part they will not be able to ripen if the fruit is not attached to the parent plant. Examples of climacteric fruits include apples, pears, bananas, melons, apricots, tomatoes, as well as most stone fruits. Non-climacteric fruits on the other hand include citrus fruits, grapes, and strawberries (However, non-climacteric melons and apricots do exist, and grapes and strawberries harbor several active ethylene receptors.) Essentially, a key difference between climacteric and non-climacteric fruits (particularly for commercial production) is that climacteric fruits continue to ripen following their harvest, whereas non-climacteric fruits do not. The accumulation of starch over the early stages of climacteric fruit development may be a key issue, as starch can be converted to sugars after harvest.

Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating to the fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia, and is valued for its sweet taste, nutritional content, and long shelf life.

In the 21st century, dried fruit consumption is widespread worldwide. Nearly half of dried fruits sold are raisins, followed by dates, prunes, figs, apricots, peaches, apples, and pears. These are referred to as "conventional" or "traditional" dried fruits: fruits that have been dried in the sun or in commercial dryers. Many fruits, such as cranberries, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and mango are infused with a sweetener (e.g., sucrose syrup) prior to drying. Some products sold as dried fruit, like papaya, kiwifruit and pineapple, are most often candied fruit.