Crossword Genius

Fruit crate broken, without a number (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nectarine

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'fruit' is the definition.
(nectarine is a kind of fruit)

'crate broken without a number' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'crate' is 'ectar' which is present in the answer.
'number' could be 'i' (I is an example) and 'i' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nectarine that I've seen before include "Juicy fruit" , "Variety or mutation of a peach" , "Fruit - aren't nice (anag)" , "creating a sort of jam" , "Entrance I make with thin-skinned peach" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
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