One of five at the present time can afford fruit (6)
I believe the answer is:
quince
'fruit' is the definition.
(quince is a kind of fruit)
'one of five at the present time can' is the wordplay.
'one of five' becomes 'quin' (I've seen this before).
'at' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the present time can' becomes 'ce' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'quin'+'ce'='QUINCE'
'afford' acts as a link.
This may not be correct. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for quince that I've seen before include "Fruit for jelly" , "Dream chippy" , "part-time Athenian dramatist" , "Chips" , "Preserve material" .)