is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?

Answer 1

I don't understand why tomatoes get so much press. Many of the foods we eat and call vegetables are actually the "fruit" of the plant from which they're derived. Isn't vegetable a general classification referring to food derived from plants, and fruit a specific classification referring to the part of the plant from which the food was derived?

That means a tomato is both a fruit and a vegetable.

Answer 2

Fruit or vegetable?

Botanically speaking, a tomato is the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant, i.e. a fruit or, more precisely, a berry. However, from a culinary perspective the tomato is typically served as a meal, or part of a main course of a meal, meaning that it would be (and is) considered a vegetable.

This argument has led to actual legal implications in the United States, Australia and China. In 1887, U.S. tariff laws that imposed a duty on vegetables but not on fruits caused the tomato's status to become a matter of legal importance. The U.S. Supreme Court settled this controversy in 1893, declaring that the tomato is a vegetable, using the popular definition which classifies vegetable by use, that they are generally served with dinner and not dessert. The case is known as Nix v. Hedden (149 U.S. 304). While the Tomato can be classified as a fruit, it is officially categorized as a definite vegetable in the United States.

The USDA also considers the tomato a vegetable.

Strictly speaking, the holding of the case applies only to the interpretation of the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883 and not much else. The court does not purport to reclassify tomato for botanical or for any other purpose other than paying a tax under a tariff act.

In concordance with this classification, the tomato has been proposed as the state fruit of New Jersey. Arkansas takes both sides by declaring the "South Arkansas Vine Ripe Pink Tomato" to be both the state fruit and the state vegetable in the same law, citing both its botanical and culinary classifications.

But, due to the scientific definition of a fruit and a vegetable, the tomato still remains a fruit when not dealing with tariffs.

Answer 3

To really figure out if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable, you need to know what makes a fruit a fruit, and a vegetable a vegetable. The big question to ask is, DOES IT HAVE SEEDS?

If the answer is yes, then technically, you have a FRUIT. This, of course, makes your tomato a fruit. It also makes cucumbers, squash, green beans and walnuts all fruits as well. VEGETABLES such as, radishes, celery, carrots, and lettuce do NOT have seeds (that are part of what we eat) and so they are grouped as vegetables.

Now don't go looking for tomatoes next to the oranges in your grocery stores. Certain fruits like tomatoes and green beans will probably always be mostly referred to as "vegetables" in today's society.

Answer 4

Vegetable

Answer 5

Fruit.

Answer 6

Fruit.

Answer 7

Oh, for goodness sake, Michael.
This has been asked for hundreds of years.

Intensive research was conducted into this very matter in 1999 by some of the top brains in the world and it was decided by a majority of 497 to 2 to a tomato is actually a brick wall.

Okay?

Answer 8

Well, you have your answers, but, here's a little bit of information.. At one time tomatoes were thought to be poisonous and nobody ate them. This was probably because someone, at sometime, ate their tomatoes from a metal dish and the acid in the tomato leached out the chemicals in the dish that caused them to either become sick or die. Kinda put a damper on the whole tomato thing.Thank God though, that somebody discovered the truth, I couldn't live without my pizza, spaghetti, and chili..

Answer 9

Tomato is a fruit.

Answer 10

It's a fruit, but most people (even scientists) call it a vegetable.