When is a fruit a vegetable?

Question

Often you use the fruit of a plant as a vegetable. When you do that, is then a fruit? Or a vegetable?

Answer 1

vegetable is a cooking term not a biological term
(so something can be both a fruit AND a vegetable)

wikipedia
Vegetable is a culinary term. Its definition has no scientific value and is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. All parts of herbaceous plants eaten as food by humans, whole or in part, are generally considered vegetables. Mushrooms, though belonging to the biological kingdom fungi, are also commonly considered vegetables. Though the exceptions are many, in general, vegetables are thought of as being savory, and not sweet. Culinary fruits, nuts, grains, herbs, and spices are all arguably the exceptions.

Since “vegetable” is not a botanical term, there is no contradiction in referring to a plant part as a fruit while also being considered a vegetable (see diagram at right). Given this general rule of thumb, vegetables can include leaves (lettuce), stems (asparagus), roots (carrots), flowers (broccoli), bulbs (garlic), seeds (peas and beans) and of course the botanical fruits like cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and capsicums.

The merits of this ongoing question, "is it a fruit, or is it a vegetable," have even found its way before the bench of the United States Supreme Court which ruled unanimously in Nix v. Hedden, 1883, that a tomato is a vegetable for the purposes of 1883 Tariff Act even though botanically, a tomato is a fruit.

Answer 2

After many years when scientists will discover something that can turn fruits into vegetables.

Answer 3

It is always a fruit in the botanical sense.

It is a vegetable in the nutritional sense if it has a low content of fructose (fruit sugar) or is usually not sweet, but savory.

Answer 4

After the White Tiger Gets him. oh snap...sorry that was in poor taste.

A vegetable is anything that is not the ovary of the plant. So a fruit cannot be a vegetable.

Answer 5

A tomato is technically a fruit when all others thought it was a veggie.