The true nature of the fig
The figs that we commonly find on our table are not technically fruits in the narrow botanical sense, but of the inflorescences (or unsuccessful, once ripe) with the petals folded inside. In reality, the fig is often described as a giant flower whose buds bloom internally.
Fico trees (genre Ficus) do not bloom like apple trees or fish, but their flowers bloom inside a fleshy pod that matures in the product we eat. Each of these internal flowers, once pollined, produces a single hard shell fruit called Achenio. It is the acheni who give the fig the characteristic crunchy consistency (the creaking) we know. Since a mature fig is made up of many acheni, when we eat one, we are actually consuming a multitude of real fruits.
Special pollination: the Vespa del Fico
Due to its unique structure, with the reproductive organs enclosed inside, the fig cannot simply rely on the wind or bees to spread its pollen. Needs a special pollination process that involves a specific creature: the Vespa del Fico o Blastophaga PSNES.
This ratio between the plant and the insect, evolved over millions of years, is known as obliged mutualism. The fig cannot survive or reproduce without the Vespa, and the Vespa cannot live without the fig, since it is inside that it lays its larvae. The Blastophaga-Ftus system is strictly specifically-specific: only this insect is able to fertilize the fig and allow it the production of seeds, and is the only environment suitable for the life of the insect.
The Vespa life cycle and the difference between figs
To understand the crucial role of the Vespa, it is necessary to distinguish between two types of figs:
- Male fig (Caprifying): not edible, produces the inflorescences that contain pollen and flowers suitable for the laying of eggs.
- Fico female (true fig): what we eat, produces the unsuccessful (the edible fruit) that ripen thanks to the pollination.
The journey without return
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The female vespa, once pregnant, has to enter the fig through a very narrow passage called hostile. This tunnel is so narrow that, during the entrance, the wings and antennas of the Vespa detach and break, leaving it trapped inside and without a way out.
The insect, unfortunately, does not know if he is entering a male’s caprifice or female fig.
Entry into the male fig (Caprifying): if the Vespa enters a caprific, finds the male flowers with a perfect shape to lay its eggs. After laying the eggs, the Mother Vespa dies, often for exhaustion or Inendia. The eggs hatch in larvae and grow inside the fig petals. The males are born first, they are blind and cannot fly. They immediately mate with females, who are technically their sisters. The males, after mating, begin to dig an exit tunnel through the fig, but they also die inside, not being able to escape. The pregnant females, covered with male pollen, come out through the tunnel dug by the brothers and fly away in search of a new fig tree to lay their eggs, continuing the cycle.
Entry into the female fig (edible fig): if the Vespa accidentally enters a female fig (the edible one), the story changes. Female flowers have an elongated part called stylus (style) which prevents the Vespa from reaching the correct position to lay its eggs. Not being able to reproduce, the Vespa releases the pollen carries with it, fertilizing the flowers. After fulfilling her role of polliner, she dies within the fruit, probably for solitude and exhaustion.
The myth of the “dead Vespa” that we eat
It is often heard that the fig contains a dead Vespa and therefore is not suitable for vegetarians. Although most of the wild and traditional figs contain the body (or at least parts) of the female vespa that has entered to pollinate, in reality the body is broken down. Inside the fig there is an enzyme called Ficina (Ficin). Ficina is an enzyme that breaks down the proteins of the insect’s corpse, digesting it and making it an integral part of the ripe fruit that we eat. Consequently, the crunchy pieces that we chew are not parts of death or larvae, but the prightest seeds (Achani).
Commercial figs and partenocarpia
It is important to note that the figs that we most commonly buy in the supermarket are often not the result of this fascinating and complex reproductive cycle. Many edible figs are produced through Partenocarpia, a process in which man has selected the plant so that it produces fruits even without the need for fertilization (and therefore without the presence of the Vespa).
Wanting to be more poetic on this fascinating mechanism of Mother Nature, we could define the fig a fleshy testament of a symbiotic love, a botanical and millenary kiss in which the sacrifice without the return of a small winged creature guarantees the eternal and complex sweetness of life
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