Very quietly looks around for fruits (7)
I believe the answer is:
peppers
'fruits' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both plants as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'very quietly looks around' is the wordplay.
'very quietly' becomes 'pp' (musical abbreviation for pianissimo).
'looks' becomes 'peers' (to peer at something is to look at it).
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'pp' inserted inside 'peers' is 'PEPPERS'.
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for peppers that I've seen is " Pelts with shot".)