Fruit in tree can corrupt (9)
I believe the answer is:
nectarine
'fruit' is the definition.
(nectarine is a kind of fruit)
'in tree can corrupt' is the wordplay.
'corrupt' indicates an anagram (a corrupted spelling of the word).
'in'+'tree'+'can'='intreecan'
'intreecan' anagrammed gives 'NECTARINE'.
(Other definitions for nectarine that I've seen before include "Smooth-skinned variety of peach" , "Trace nine to a kind of peach" , "Fruit - aren't nice (anag)" , "fruity" , "Variety or mutation of a peach" .)