Is there a clear cut definition to distinguish a 'fruit' from a 'vegetable' ?

Answer 1

sounds like a 'no' to me, judging by this lot.

Answer 2

To the best of my knowledge and research the definition of fruit is:
The ripened seed-bearing part of a plant when fleshy and edible.
In other words, a "fruit" is any fleshy material covering a seed or seeds. Most fruits, from a horticultural (science of cultivating) perspective, are grown on a woody plant, with the exception of strawberries.
Or you can say, generally a fruit is the edible part of the plant that contains the seeds. So your eggplant, tomato, cucumber and zucchini are fruits.


To the best of my knowledge and research definition of vegetable is:
A herbaceous (green and leaf like in appearance or texture) plant cultivated for an edible part, as roots, stems, leaves or flowers. Or you may say a vegetable is the edible stems, leaves, and roots of the plant.
Some people think rhubarb is a fruit, because it is used to make pies. But, rhubarb is a vegetable.

Answer 3

A fruit is a product of male and female bits coming together. So in order for say an apple to be produced, pollen from the male part must reach the female part and then the apple is made. If I'm not mistaken, the fruit also contains seeds in order for the organism to make more of itself.

Due to this description, vegetables like eggplant, cucumber, and tomatoes are actually fruit.

Answer 4

A fruit contains seeds (Plural) inside the oviary, which you eat

The pea family consists of Seeds inside a protective casing that you eat the seed

The nuts consist of a soft centre in a HARD casing where you eat the soft part.

The Vegetable grows on a stalk or vine or other bush, and do not contain seeds

The tomato is in the Fruit family in a Biological terms, but is a vegetable in Culinary terms.

Answer 5

In botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary—together with seeds—of a flowering plant. In many species, the fruit incorporates the ripened ovary and surrounding tissues. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds.

In the culinary sense, a fruit is usually any sweet tasting plant product associated with seed(s), a vegetable is any savoury or less sweet plant product, and a nut any hard, oily, and shelled plant product.

Answer 6

a fruit is the seed of a plant. Hence almonds, cherries, tomatoes and even courgettes are technically fruit. Vegetables are the leaves or roots eg. cabbage, potatoes.
In cooking the boundaries are blurred and fruit tends to mean sweet while savory is vegatable.

Answer 7

A Fruit has seeds, e.g. oranges, apples, bananas, tomatoes. These plants flower first before the "fruit" can be harvested.

A vegetable doesn't have what we recognise as seeds, e.g. cabbage, beetroot, carrots. The "fruit" is the plant that will eventually flower.

So I suppose you could say - fruits flower first, vegetables flower after they are no longer eddible.

Answer 8

Fruits are the fertilized flowers, if you were to relate to the human body it's the plants uterus after it's be impregnanted. Vegetables (for those who said they grow in the ground what about celery or lettuce?) are any non-reproductive segment of the plant. Like the leaves, stems, roots, etc...

Answer 9

no, it is down to personal opinion. Accepted definitions, ie: in dictionaries and encyclopedias, etc comes from the personal opinion of horticulturists, or the dictionary compilers themselves. Apparently the tomato is now classified as a vegetable again, however I'm not sure on this

Answer 10

Fruit grows on plants or trees. Vegetables grow on or in the ground.

Answer 11

Think a friut has seeds and a vegetable dos not
i.e. tomato is a fruit not a vegetable.