•We proposed a fruit-classification system that can recognize 18 types of fruits.•We used a hybrid feature set with color, texture, and shape information.•We used FNN as the classifier that is trained by FSCABC algorithm.•FSCABC–FNN obtained better classification accuracy than existing algorithms. Fruit classification is a difficult challenge due to the numerous types of fruits. In order to recognize fruits more accurately, we proposed a hybrid classification method based on fitness-scaled chaotic artificial bee colony (FSCABC) algorithm and feedforward neural network (FNN). First, fruits images were acquired by a digital camera, and then the background of each image were removed by split-and-merge algorithm. We used a square window to capture the fruits, and download the square images to 256×256. Second, the color histogram, texture and shape features of each fruit image were extracted to compose a feature space. Third, principal component analysis was used to reduce the dimensions of the feature space. Finally, the reduced features were sent to the FNN, the weights/biases of which were trained by the FSCABC algorithm. We also used a stratified K-fold cross validation technique to enhance the generation ability of FNN. The experimental results of the 1653 color fruit images from the 18 categories demonstrated that the FSCABC–FNN achieved a classification accuracy of 89.1%. The classification accuracy was higher than Genetic Algorithm–FNN (GA–FNN) with 84.8%, Particle Swarm Optimization–FNN (PSO–FNN) with 87.9%, ABC–FNN with 85.4%, and kernel support vector machine with 88.2%. Therefore, the FSCABC–FNN was seen to be effective in classifying fruits.