Wet Market Field Trip

Today my class and I went on a field trip to a wet market near our school. We saw many types of fruits, spices, and flowers, but by the time we reached the wet market the vegetable shop was closed.

The first thing that I learnt about was a fruit called dragon fruit. Dragon fruits come in three colors: yellow, purple, and white. The dragon fruits are called dragon fruits because they have scales that look like "dragon" scales. Dragon fruits have lots and lots of seeds. Dragon fruit, also known as Pitaya fruit, is among the most nutritious and wonderful exotic fruits. It features a light sweet taste and other vital minerals with varied nutritional ingredients. Recent findings show that if an obese person eats a Pitaya fruit it naturally reduces the weight considerably. The Pitaya fruit  is the fruit of several cactus species and only blooms at night. The seed dispersal of dragon fruits happen with the relationship of animals. The dragon fruit has spiky scales that keep away certain predators, but it also is quite attractive in color which attracts animals. Animals eat from this fruit and then they move about to new place far away from the place where they first ate the dragon fruit and poo out the dragon fruit seeds.

I also learnt a lot about the spice called star anise or also known as illicium verum. This spice is the seed pod of an evergreen tree grown in northeast southwestern China. The star-shaped fruit is picked just before ripening. Star anise is about one inch high and is a dark brown rust color. Star anise has a licorice taste, smell nice, shaped like a star, and has spiky edges. Star anise can be used in cooking and medical uses. Because the edges one the star anise are spiky they have good seed dispersal. The spiky edges of the anise get stuck to the fur of animals and then the seeds are placed into a new environment where they can get lots of sunlight. This will only happen when an animal shakes of the seed or the seed just falls off.

The last fruit I learnt about is called jackfruit. Jackfruit is the largest tree-borne fruit reaching as much as 80 pounds in weight, 36 inches in length, and 30 inches in diameter. You can also see hexagon based thorns on the skin of a jackfruit, and the thorns become smoother when the fruits ripen. Jackfruits can be made into canned fruits and cooked as vegetable when unripe. There are two types of jackfruit- the yellowish/golden one and the green one. The yellowish/golden jackfruit tastes sweet, tender, and refreshing. This type of jackfruit is liked the most. Because jackfruits are very spiky it protects its self from unwanted predators. The jackfruit is too big and heavy to stick onto an animals fur. Once an animal eats the jackfruit it goes somewhere else and disposes of the seeds by pooping them out. The animal poops out these jackfruit seeds in a totally different place from before.


There are many reasons why there are so many different types of fruits, vegetables, and spices on Earth. I think that one of the reasons is that all animals, like people, have different tastes buds and likes and dislikes. Therefore, if there was only one fruit or vegetable on earth some animals might not like this fruit or vegetable and the seed dispersal won't work that well, and soon the fruit or vegetable might become extinct. Another way that the fruit or vegetable would become distinct is if the animal that helps reproduce this type of fruit or vegetable became extinct. This would mean that there would be no third wheel helping the plant reproduce. Furthermore, it is good that mother nature has made a variety of fruits, vegetables, and spices.