All About Pearls
Wouldn’t it be nice to find real pearls from edible oysters? That would be the day when eating edible oysters would bring in not only food for the table but also pearl for jewelry. However, such thing is next to impossible considering that pearls do not grow in edible oysters.
Pearls are produced by mollusks including oysters, mussels and clams. However, mussels and clams rarely produce pearls while oysters commonly produce pearls no matter if they are in freshwater or in saltwater.
The idea that pearls are produced from sand intruding into the shell of an oyster is false. Sand is an inorganic material while pearls are formed by organic materials that are caught inside the oyster. As a defense mechanism, the oyster wraps the organic material with a substance called nacre, resulting to what is known as mother of pearl.