What is the diffrence between a fruit and a vegitable?

Question

I have looked up the definition of both and this is the part I have trouble with. . . .

Fruit: an edible part of a plant that is generally sweet and juicy
Vegitable:a usually herbaceous plant grown for an edible part

I have been told that a tomato is a fruit and not a veggi, but by the definitions i've found, fruits also include cucumbers, green beans, squash, corn . . . almost everything is a fruit, and that can't be right. . . . so whats the diffrence?

Answer 1

A fruit is something that is formed from a flower. Vegetables are then normally thought to be leaves, stems or roots. A carrot is a vegetable, tomatoes, beans, peas, squash, cucumbers and many others are fruits by definition.
Many people would classify them by use. In savory dishes, they are often considered vegetables, in sweet dishes, they are fruits.

Answer 2

Fruits, drupes and berries have a seeds either inside or on the outside of their normally sweet flesh.
I don't know about green beans or okra, but I think squash qualify as a fruit (cucumbers are in the squash family).
Corn is actually a grain, as the part we eat is the seed itself.
Potatoes, carrots, and radishes are edible tubers and roots.
Celery is a vegetable, and so is lettuce, artichokes, etc.
Other than that, I dunno!
I used to be really into this and knew all specific definitions, but that was a long time ago and I don't remember all the specific defining points. A good book on botany or horticulture might help.

Answer 3

According to a botanist I have located the following information on the controversy between what is a fruit and vegetable, quote:

"Webster's New World Dictionary (Second Edition) defines a vegetable as a plant that is eaten whole or in part, raw or cooked, generally with a main entree or in a salad but NOT AS A DESSERT. Many vegetables, such as tomatoes and pea pods are technically fruits because they develop from the ovary of a flower (following pollination and double fertilization) and they contain seeds at maturity. Seeds develop from structures called ovules inside the ovary. In order for the ovule to develop into a seed, a minute 7-celled embryo sac inside must be fertilized by two sperm. One sperm unites with the egg to form an embryo. A second sperm unites with two polar nuclei inside the endosperm mother cell to form the food-storage tissue in a seed called endosperm. The following "vegetables" are really botanical fruits, including tomatoes, okra, squash, cucumbers, bean & pea pods, peppers and egg plant. Even a corn grain is technically a fruit (called a caryopsis) because each grain develops from a separate seed-bearing ovary with a long, thread-like style. The "silk" is all the styles collectively from several hundred grains in the ear. Since they are typically eaten with a main entree (not as a dessert), all these botanical fruits are also called vegetables.

"Although it is not a flowering plant, the mushroom could also be considered a botanical vegetable.

"One of the most interesting stories about the controversy between a fruit and a vegetable is discussed by Kingsley R. Stern in Introductory Plant Biology (Fifth Edition), 1991, Wm. C. Brown, Publishers: "In 1893, the United States Supreme Court, in the case of Nix vs. Hedden, ruled that a tomato was legally a vegetable rather than a fruit. This was in keeping with the general conception in the public's mind that fruits tend to be relatively sweet and in the nature of a dessert food, while vegetables tend to be more savory as salad or main course foods." Apparently the judges dismissed the botanical definition of a fruit, a concluded that since tomatoes would normally be eaten with a main entree and not as a dessert, they should be classified as a vegetable.

"In terms of the universe, life, and the pursuit of happiness, this controversy between a fruit and a vegetable is really not that significant or important; however, you are still probably wondering what in the heck is a true botanical vegetable? A botanical vegetable may be defined as any edible "non-fruit" part of a plant. They are NOT ripened, seed-bearing ovaries formed by intimate sexual encounters between plants or between plants and insect pollinators."

All text material & images on these pages copyright © W.P. Armstrong

Answer 4

It seems that you are genuinely interested in knowing the answer . So I will make more efforts to give that to you. First we will look at the basic botany required for the answer to be truly meaningful and then we will look at the question itself. So the answer will be a long one, bear with me!


Basic Botany ( About fruit only )

1) The Female reproductive part in a flower is called Gynoecium and it is made up of the individual members called Carpels.

Gynoecium may have one to many carpels. The number is constant for any given species.

2) A single carpel is again distinguished in to three parts viz. stigma (to receive the pollen during pollination); Style ( to raise the stigma up ) and the OVARY which holds ovules inside.

After pollination and fertilization it is the OVARY and OVARY only that turns in to a FRUIT(sometimes parts closely associated with ovary also cotribute.) and the ovules turn in to SEEDS.

3) The OVARY can be one chambered or many chambered. It can hold a single ovule/seed or many ovules/seeds. It can be prominently seen (Superior ovary) or located below the level of the other floral parts
( Inferior ovary.)

4) The wall of the OVARY becomes, obviously, the wall of the fruit or PERICARP ( CARP= fruit; PERI=around)

5) PERICARP may be dry and not distinguishable in to many part or it can be fleshy as in tomato and mango. So a fruit can a dry or fleshy depending upon the nature of the pericarp alone.

6)If the pericarp breaks on its own automatically to release the mature seeds the fruit is Dehiscent.
If it is not so then the fruit is Indehiscent ( All fleshy fruits are Indehiscent fruits) Many, but not all , dry fruits are Dehiscent.( To Dehisce = To break open ).

Fruit and Seed are strictly BOTANICAL Terms, or Technical terms.

It is not so with the term 'VEGETABLE' ( please note the spelling)


Vegetable is a culinary term and not botanical one( this is the root cause of the problem).

Any part of a plant can be a vegetable but all vegetables do not qualify for the term fruit.



Now let us look at the question.

In Radish, root and leaves are strictly vegetables only

So also the celery, carrot and beet.

In Tomato it is basically a FRUIT. To call it as such or call it a vegetable depends upon how you use it or look at it.

This applies to cucumber , squash , corn and green peas are fundamentally fruits. See photos in the links below--

1) http://www.nursesworldmag.com/carousel/images/cucumber.jpg
In the above there are slices of cucumber with plenty of seeds INSIDE.

2) http://home1.gte.net/web23vhn/Veggie-before-Camping-closeup-squash-fruit01DSCN3825.JPG
It shows developing squash fruits on the plant.

3) http://212.227.92.102/img/15027/wm/pd477598.jpg
It shows open pea pod with seeds in side.

4) http://www.utextension.utk.edu/fieldCrops/corn/corn_images/corn-ear-husked-Web.jpg
In this each corn grain is a fruit and seed rolled in one!


FRUIT BEAR SEEDS / SEED IN SIDE THEM AND NEVER OUT SIDE.

In cashew nut what appears fleshy / juicy is not the fruit but the swollen part of the stalk. The part which is the fruit proper has typical cashew like appearance

See the link below

http://davestravel.com/photos/fruit/Cashew-Fruit.jpg

Answer 5

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. Nuts, grains, herbs, and spices are normally not considered vegetables

Answer 6

Strawberries are a fruit. Tomatoes are fruit yet usually seen a vegetable in a salad. the large question to ask is, DOES IT HAVE SEEDS? If the answer is certain, then technically, you've a FRUIT.

Answer 7

biologically speaking any thing that is plant is vetetable matter, fruits, biologically are the part of a plant that comes from a riped ovary and contains a seed.

this would mean that all fruits are also vegetables because they all come from plants.

but not all vegetables are fruits, for instance carrots are roots, lettuce is leaf, artichoke is a flower bud, so is brocolli and cauliflower, celery is actually a leaf stalk, and asparagus is a stem, as well as a potato isa stem(tuber), but sweet potatoes are roots.

it is like saying that all Fords are vehicles, but not all vehicles are Fords.

Answer 8

It seems that fruits are parts of plants that carry seeds for
reproduction. there fore mango and beans are fruit by the definition.

vegitable will then be parts of the plants like leaves(cabbage) ,
root(carrot) stems(potato) and flowers

Answer 9

everything is a fruit. a fruit is something with seeds and guess what vegetables have seeds. technically there is no such thing as a vegetable. they are both fruits by science. the only difference is the citrus taste in fruits and different vitamins and minerals. fruits = vitamin c. vegetable= folic acid etc.

Answer 10

a fruit has seeds in the part you eat
ex. of vege: potatoe, carrot
ex. of fruit: strawberry, tomatoe
see the difference?