Trending ‘apple’ tree turns out to be fig - Horticulturist

A Senior Lecturer at the Department of Horticulture of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) says the supposed apple tree which has gained popularity within the last few days is a specie of fig.

Photos and videos of the tree with sprouted beautiful green apple-like fruits were shared by one Facebook user called Barima Nana Osei Bonsu who visited the house to verify initial speculations.

The tree which was said to have been planted some 5 years ago was discovered in a compound situated at Wiamoase in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

Speaking to Kumasi-based Luv FM, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Horticulture of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr Irene Idan, said the physical characteristics of the tree could not be compared to that of an apple nor pear tree.

This was after a Luv FM reporter visited the site of the tree in the Sekyere South District to take a sample.

“The leaves don’t resemble that of apples, also the skin of an apple is very smooth but this is rough. When we cut the fruit, its internal formation doesn’t resemble an apple.

“The apple has thick mesocarp with long peduncle with seeds attached to it and that’ll be sitting in the pericarp.”

Dr. Idan maintained that though its appearance was like that of a pear, the internal formation looks contrary.

“It’s more of a fig than an apple,” she concluded.