Pear

Also known asPyrus communis · 梨

Name: Pear, common pear (Pyrus communis). The genus Pyrus includes dozens of species and hundreds of cultivated varieties — Bartlett (known outside North America as Williams' Bon Chrétien), Anjou, Bosc, and Conference among the best known — all sold simply as “pear.”

Description

The common pear is one of the world's most widely grown fruit trees, probably native to Europe and cultivated since antiquity. It spread to the Americas with early European colonists, with Spanish missionaries carrying it to Mexico and California, and today it is grown across the temperate zones of both hemispheres.

Pears are distinguished from apples by their softer, sweeter flesh, characteristic tapered shape, and small clusters of gritty “stone cells” scattered through the flesh. The fruit is eaten fresh, canned, or pressed into perry, a pear cider; the Bartlett variety dominates production across most pear-growing countries outside Asia, while East Asian orchards grow largely their own native pear species instead.

Main nutrition value

Per 100g, raw pear:

Pears stand out for their fiber — over 3g per 100g, most of it concentrated in the skin — alongside meaningful potassium, vitamin K, and copper.

How best to be consumed

Pears are best eaten with the skin on to keep their fiber content, and unlike many fruits they continue to ripen well after picking, softening at room temperature over a few days. A slightly firm pear is ideal for slicing into salads or cooking, while a fully ripe one, soft near the stem, is best eaten fresh. Pears also pair well with cheese and hold their shape reasonably well when poached or baked.

Overconsumption could cause…

Pears are safe for most people in normal amounts, but their combination of fiber and fructose can cause bloating, gas, or loose stools if eaten in large quantities at once, particularly in people sensitive to fermentable sugars. Pear juice concentrates the natural sugar while removing the fiber that slows its absorption, so it is easy to consume much more sugar than eating whole fruit would give.

GroupsApples and PearsRose family (Rosaceae)Low fatLow sodiumFresh

Made intoDried Pear

Related foodsQuinceGreen AppleRed AppleAppleLoquatAsian Pear / Nashi Pear

U.S. Department of Agriculture, FoodData Central — Pears, raw (FDC ID 169118), 100g portion: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/169118/nutrients Encyclopaedia Britannica — pear (tree and fruit): https://www.britannica.com/plant/pear