Fruit or Vegetable?

[Gregory Matthews]

Are tomatoes a fruit, or area they a vegetable?

 

Botanically, tomatoes are a fruit.

However, in 1893, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Nix v. Hedden that tomatoes were vegetables.

So, take your choice.

See Birds & Blooms, July 2013, page 23.

 

 

 

 

[phkrause]

Fruit!! No matter what anyone says!! hahahehehoho

[Outta Here]

They pair well with other fruits: avocadoes, zucchini, corn and peppers!

[pierrepaul]

Knowledge is knowing that tomatoes are fruits. Wisdom is not mixing them in with a fruit salad.

[Gregory Matthews]

 

 

[LynnDel]

I read Wikipedia on Nix v. Hedden. "The Court's unanimous opinion held that the Tariff Act of 1883 used the ordinary meaning of the words "fruit" and "vegetable", instead of the technical botanical meaning." Money talks. If more taxes can be collected on a vegetable, which was the case, tomatoes must then be a vegetable.

[D. Allan]

My grandmother made tomato jelly, which proves that tomato are a fruit.  Whoever heard of potato jelly?  Hmm however, carrot or red beet jelly might be interesting.

dAb

[LifeHiscost]

My understanding is that if it came from a flower, it is a fruit. If it came from a root, it is a vegetable. No?
 

   According to one, a vegetable is a plant cultivated for its edible part(s); according to the other, a vegetable is the edible part(s) of a plant, such as the stems and stalk (celery), root (carrot), tuber (potato), bulb (onion), leaves (spinach, lettuce), flower (globe artichoke), fruit (apple, cucumber, pumpkin, ...

  

 

1. What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?

A vegetable is the edible portion of a plant. Vegetables are usually grouped according to the portion of the plant that is eaten such as leaves (lettuce), stem (celery), roots (carrot), tubers (potato), bulbs (onion) and flowers (broccoli).

A fruit is the mature ovary of a plant. So a tomato is botanically a fruit but is commonly considered a vegetable. According to this definition squash, pepper and eggplants are also fruits. Then there are seeds such as peas which are also considered vegetables.

The Funk & Wagnalls Multimedia Encyclopedia has the following definitions:

Vegetable, the edible product of a herbaceous plant-that is, a plant with a soft stem, as distinguished from the edible nuts and fruits produced by plants with woody stems such as shrubs and trees. Vegetables can be grouped according to the edible part of each plant: leaves (lettuce), stalks (celery), roots (carrot), tubers (potato), bulbs (onion), and flowers (broccoli). In addition, fruits such as the tomato and seeds such as the pea are commonly considered vegetables.

Fruit, mature ovary in flowering plants, together with all inseparably connected parts of the flower. In strict botanical usage, the meaning may be restricted to the ovary alone. Commonly the term fruit is often restricted to succulent, edible fruits of woody plants, to melons, and to such small fruits as strawberries and blueberries. In nature, fruit is normally produced only after fertilization of ovules has taken place, but in many plants, largely cultivated varieties such as seedless citrus fruits, bananas, and cucumbers, fruit matures without fertilization, a process known as parthenocarpy. In either case, the maturation of the ovary results in the withering of stigmas and anthers and enlargement of the ovary or ovaries. Ovules within fertilized ovaries develop to produce seeds. In unfertilized varieties, seeds fail to develop, and the ovules remain their original size. The major service performed by fruit is the protection of developing seeds. In many plants, fruit also aids in seed distribution.

God is Love!~Jesus saves!