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Rare Blue Fruit In The World:Most fruits are red, orange, purple or almost black in color. Blue colored fruits are rarely seen. Actually, even blueberries are not blue. Scientists say that its real color is close to dark purple or indigo. This is the reason why true blue color is considered very rare in plants. But in some rainforests of Australia and South-East Asia, a tree is seen breaking this rule. Its name is Elaeocarpus angustifolius, which is also known as Blue Quandong, Blue Fig or Blue Marble Tree.

unique blue fruit
This tree is found in Northern Australia, Papua New Guinea and some parts of Indonesia. When it bears fruits, their color immediately attracts attention. The fruits are small and round, usually 1–2 cm across. Their surface is smooth and hard and the color appears to be deep cobalt blue. These fruits shine in the sunlight as if someone has scattered small blue glass beads in the forest.

Does it contain blue pigment?
Initially scientists thought that there would be some special blue pigment (coloring chemical) in this fruit. Plants generally produce colors in a similar manner, by absorbing some light waves and reflecting some. But when scientists tried to extract the color of the fruit by crushing it, a strange thing happened. As soon as the fruit broke, its bright blue color disappeared. This revealed that this color was not made from any pigment.

real mystery
Later, when examined under a microscope, it was found that the outer skin of the fruit was made up of very small layers. These layers are made of a substance called cellulose, which is found in the walls of plant cells. The special arrangement of these layers reflects white light in such a way that we see mainly blue light. This is called structural color. Similar color making technique can be seen in the wings of butterflies and peacock feathers.

Why is this color so rare?
Structural color is found in very few fruits in the world. Blue Quandong is considered to be its most brilliant example. Its blue color is created only by the structure of its microscopic layers. Scientists believe that this bright blue color may be to attract birds. Birds have very good ability to see colors. They can easily see the shining blue fruit in the green forest.