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haysoos2 t1_jef7ol9 wrote

For most fruits, the nutrition in the fruit is the plant's way of either providing their own seeds with resources in order for it to grow successfully - in which case the fruit will usually be protected from being eaten by other critters with toxic chemicals (like capsaicin), spines, or hard shells.

For other fruits, the sugar and other nutrients in the fruit are a bribe to other critters to get them to eat the seeds and poop them out somewhere else - a quick and easy way for a plant to both increase their dispersal range and get some free fertilizer.

So it's not so much a "trick" as much as it can be a transaction of mutual benefit to both species.

Humans have of course, hijacked both of these pathways for our own benefits. For one, we bizarrely actually enjoy being the victim of some of the chemical defenses that plants have derived. Many of our recreational activities and favourite cuisines revolve around selectively breeding some of the plants to produce even more of the defense chemicals!

We also breed them to produce fruit that is even bigger and sweeter, so we can get even more sugary bribes. Then we get upset when squirrels, birds and bugs try to take advantage of the same thing.

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scarabose t1_jefa8oy wrote

And we don't even give back as we don't poop around every where. So the seeds just go down the drain ! Or just breed the plant to not make seeds at all!

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