Is a tomatoe a fruit or a vegetable?

Answer 1

Fruit

Answer 2

I consider it a vegetable but it is actually a fruit.

Botanically speaking, a tomato is a fruit or, more precisely, a berry. However, from a culinary perspective, the tomato is not as sweet as those foodstuffs usually called fruits; and it is typically served as part of a main course of a meal, as are other vegetables, rather than at dessert.

The USDA also considers the tomato a vegetable.

But due to the scientific definition of a fruit and a vegetable, the tomato still remains a fruit. Nor is it the only culinary vegetable that is a botanical fruit: eggplants, cucumbers, and squashes of all kinds (including zucchini and pumpkins) share the same ambiguity.

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

Botanically speaking, the tomato is a fruit and is classified as a berry. It is a fruit because it is a ripened mature ovary containing seed. One can confirm this by looking up both "fruit" and "tomato" in a dictionary. (No not the definition of old slang that says a "tomato" is an attractive woman). Things like peppers, eggplants and cucumbers are also fruits by this definition.

Horticulturally speaking it is defined as a vegetable for two other reasons:
1- it is a nonwoody annual (ok, what I want to know then why dont they say watermelons are vegetables?)
2- it was classified this way in 1893 by the Supreme Court for trade reasons (imposing import taxes to protect growers)

Answer 5

The tomato is in the berry family. It is a fruit, but many people serve it as a vegetable.

Answer 6

tomato is like scientifically a fruit, but most people consider it a vegetable because it doesn't taste like a fruit.

Answer 7

A fruit, I think. Are you a vegetable, or can you actually look something simple like this up for yourself? S' spelled "tomato", by the way... maybe that's why you couldn't look it up?

Answer 8

Call it what you want. Put in spaghetti sauce it would be hard to call it a fruit. However I have always sprinkled fresh slices with sugar and ate with fish or pork or beans. So I guess it is a fruit and a vegetable at the same time. lol.

Answer 9

A tomato* is a fruit.

Answer 10

it's a fruit just like eggplants. Watch the show Good Eats with Alton Brown on the food network if you want to learn more about food.