What is a quince?

Question

I know it's some sort of fruit, but what is it?

Answer 1

It is a small deciduous tree, growing 5-8 m tall and 4-6 m wide, related to apples and pears, and like them has a pome fruit, which is bright golden yellow when mature, pear-shaped, 7-12 cm long and 6-9 cm broad.

Answer 2

A quince is a fruit resembling a pear that was first cultivated in the Middle East. In fact, the proverbial apple offered to Adam by Eve may actually be more accurately translated as a quince. Quinces cannot be eaten like pears or apples, with the exception of the less cultivated pineapple variety, but need to be baked or frozen to eliminate their acidity.

Once ripened, the yellowish fruit still has a hard exterior, much like a winter squash. If one is not using quinces immediately, cooking guides recommend storing them in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. The seeds are poisonous and should be discarded. The core of the quince is very hard, but using a sharp paring knife will divest the quince of both the unusable core and the dangerous seeds.

Answer 3

Quince
Cydonia oblonga flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Rosales

Family: Rosaceae

Subfamily: Maloideae

Genus: Cydonia

Species: C. oblonga


Binomial name
Cydonia oblonga
Mill.
The Quince Cydonia oblonga is the sole member of the genus Cydonia and native to warm-temperate southwest Asia in the Caucasus region. It is a small deciduous tree, growing 5-8 m tall and 4-6 m wide, related to apples and pears, and like them has a pome fruit, which is bright golden yellow when mature, pear-shaped, 7-12 cm long and 6-9 cm broad.

The immature fruit is green, with dense grey-white pubescence which mostly (but not all) rubs off before maturity in late autumn when the fruit changes colour to yellow with hard flesh that is strongly perfumed. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, 6-11 cm long, with an entire margin and densely pubescent with fine white hairs. The flowers, produced in spring after the leaves, are white or pink, 5 cm across, with five petals.

Quince is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Brown-tail, Bucculatrix bechsteinella, Bucculatrix pomifoliella, Coleophora cerasivorella, Coleophora malivorella, Green Pug and Winter Moth.

Four other species previously included in the genus Cydonia are now treated in separate genera. These are the Chinese Quince Pseudocydonia sinensis, a native of China, and the three flowering quinces of eastern Asia in the genus Chaenomeles. Another unrelated fruit, the Bael, is sometimes called the "Bengal Quince".

Answer 4

A fragrant fruit, quince is similar in appearance to the pear and the apple.

Answer 5

a quince is a hard, yellow skinned fruit, looks and tastes like a cross between an apple and a pear.
The flesh is quite dry and has an astringent, tart flavor.
It's better cooked then raw and it's high pectin content is ideal for jams and jellies.

Answer 6

I have quince growing in my garden. Much too hard to eat raw - but I add some peeled and sliced to apple when I make pies. Gives an unusual piquant taste- lovely served with lashing of cream!

Answer 7

It's a hard fruit which looks a little like a speckled apple. Used for making into jelly, jam, and liqueur. Too bitter to eat raw.

Answer 8

It's an apple like fruit. When you see one on a tree, it looks like an apple without a stem. It grows right up next to the branch. They're too tart to eat raw, but they're really good when added to something like a batch of apple sauce.

Answer 9

It's a hard apple like fruit, only edible when cooked, it's usually used to make jelly or preserves. It comes from an Asian shrub tree of the same name.

Answer 10

quince (cydonia oblonga) is a fruit of small tree related to
apples and pears.