What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable and why does a tomato blur this line?

Question

Is there any real difference between fruit and vegetable? Is it citrus? Vitamins? Minerals? Explain thoroughly.

Corn is seeds, so is corn a fruit?

Answer 1

Interesting. Check this site
http://www.poynter.org/article_feedback/article_feedback_list.asp?user=&id=95834
If the plant flowers it is a fruit.Tomato is a fruit. Potato is vegitable.

Answer 2

The classification of the tomato can be confusing. But there are key things to note. It can actually be considered a vegetable and a fruit at the same time depending on which context it's in. Scientifically, it is considered a fruit because it is actually the ovary enclosed with seeds that came from a developing flower. However, due to its culinary usage, since it does not have the conventional "sweet" taste of most other fruits, it is usually classified as a vegetable. It is most often served with other vegetables rather than with fruits or sweet desserts. However, some prefer applying the scientific definition while cooking, despite it not being prepared as a fruit. Additionally, the US Supreme Court declared the tomato as a vegetable purely on the fact that it is used most often as a vegetable when it comes to paying a tax under a tariff act. Hence, some "vegetables" such as cucumbers and squashes are also fruits according to scientific definition.

Answer 3

Tomatos are both a fruit and a vegetable, depending on the situation.

For Biologists, its a fruit, because the seeds are on the inside.

But legally, its a vegetable. In the 1800's, the tax to import vegetables was different than the tax on fruits. The Supreme Court had to decide a case and said that for tax purposes, its a vegetable.

Answer 4

A fruit is just something that starts out as a flower. This is the definition of a fruit.

Vegetables are foods taken from leaves of plants.

As such, a tomato is a fruit by nature. But, it's eaten in salads and it's not particularly sweet so it's treated as a vegetable by cooks.

Answer 5

a fruit from from a flower. I believe it is a swelled up ovary or something like that. A vegetable is a plant that you eat. So I guess many vegetables are fruits. I've seen some mentioned here but how about beans and peppers.

carrots are not fruit. Asparagus is not a fruit. Broccoli has fruit but it is not developed when you eat it.

Answer 6

yes. fruits r the way plants reproduce...it has seeds. tomatoes r actually fruits (has seeds u know) but laymen just end up assuming it's a vegetable...don't know how that got started. vegetables r parts of the plants themselves...for example roots (i'm using this term very generally, because there are different types of roots)= carrots, potatoes, turnips. leaves= spinach, lettuce.
although this is the main difference between fruits/vegetables, because of the differences in function it has for the plant, they will differ in what mineral/vitamin content (also proportion) it has.

Answer 7

I have separated all known wisdom into three categories "Animal, vegetable, rocks."

Well, what about fire? -- Vegetable.
What about water? Water is the opposite of fire, which we have previously established as a vegetable. What's the opposite of a vegetable? Fruit. So water is a fruit. Fruit is not a vegetable, so it has to be either an animal or a rock. We know it's not an animal. Therefore, fruit is a rock.

so, tomato..... umm.... sorry, i got nothing helpful here.

Answer 8

fruit is "something" that happens when polen and flower's ovum blends. vegetables is "something" that what you call so, pumpkins are vegetables, even though they got seeds, right? tomatoes blur the line between fruit and veggie because, when you put a tomato in your salad, you call it "vegetables" but when you juice it, it turns into "fruit".... hope that's right ^_^

Answer 9

Fruits are any gord like bulbous masses containing seeds. Tomotaoes clearly meat that defenition. However, you always think of fruit as sweet and veggies as non sweet so it is blurred .
Here is the catch. Veggies are anything edible that grows, which technially includes fruit, which means that all fruit, including tomotaoes are actually also Veggies.

Just FYI, cucumber, squash pumpkin are also fruits

BP

Answer 10

Perhaps, a Fruit Smells, sweet,& good, & looks lovely, too.
A Tomato, fulfills this requirement, & is thus classified, both as a vegetable, & a Fruit !