Gift of the gods. Though some might say you shouldn't mix “apples and pears”, the real truth is that these two fruits have a lot in common, nutritionally speaking. Botanically, they both belong to the rose family and have a high share of dietary fibre, especially pectin, which is just one thing they have in common. It is interesting that in China there are pears in the shape of Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, and the Chinese have even taken shaping this fruit one step further – a small fruit just beginning to develop is closed in a plastic mould and as it grows it fills in the mould, so that the fruit ripens in a variety of unusual shapes.