I'm told that bananas are a herb (not a fruit) & the largest herb? Also that the way to distinguish between..

Question

a fruit & a vegetable is that anything that has pips or a stone is a fruit, but (edible) plants with seeds are actually fruits. Very confusing. If cucumbers are 90% water, why does even a small amount cause indigestion & 'repeat' on people so much?

Answer 1

the banana is undoubtebly a fruit. When you go to the suprmarkets do u find bananas in the fruit aisle or the herb and spices aisle hmmmmmmmmmmm? lol i think there is a little bit of confusal here! The actuall tree is classed as herbaceous plant (or herb), not the banana lol. The tree is classed as a herb not a tree as the stem does not contain true woody matter.

Answer 2

Whoever told you that distinction didn't really listen during biology class.

There are different levels of distinction, you can look at fruits and veggies. In normal every day language, 'fruits' are mostly sweet juicy plant products consumed fresh, as desserts or juices, whereas 'vegetables' refer a wide variety of plant parts that more commonly enjoyed in salty contexts.

From a botanists point of view the distinctions are quite different. There is on one hand no botanical definition of a vegetable at all. A fruit from the botanist's point of view refers to any kind of structure developed from female flower parts that encloses seeds. To fill that last sentence with life: A Hazelnut would be considered a fruit, since the hard shell around the seed develops out of the female part of the flower. Similarly a tomato would be considered a fruit, because the nice red tissue surrounding the seeds developed from the same flower part the shell of the hazelnut developed, too. The banana we buy in the store normally has not seeds, but it is still considered a fruit, because it develops from banana flowers.

The botanists definition of specific kind of fruits (nut, berry, stonefruit etc.) frequently defies any judgement made by common sense. Berries e.g. are defined as fruits, that do not have woody structures (like a hard shell or pits). So to a botanist a banana fruit is a berry. The same applied to the tomato. Raspberries on the other hand would be considered multiple stone fruits. Just for the laughs: A strawberry is considered a multiple nut fruit.

If you'd look at a banana plant from a botanist point of view, you'd call it a perennial herbaceous (=not woody) plant. However, if you just look at the fruits, it does not really matter if it had grown on a woody or a herbaceous plant.

On the cucumber, botanically speaking yet another berry: For people with allergies or food sensitivities often a very small amount of whatever they are sensitive to is enough to induce a allergic reaction/indigestion. I have known people who had to go to hospital after ingesting just a drop of milk...

Answer 3

Banana is definitely a fruit because it contains the seeds (or remnants of them - the little black dots) but I think where the herb relation comes up has something to do with the actual banana tree. It is technically regarded as a herbaceous plant (or 'herb'), not a tree, because the stem does not contain true woody tissue.

Answer 4

A banana is a fruit. It is the fruit of a herbaceous plant, which is why it is often considered a herb. It belongs to the same family as wheat and rice - are they fruit?

Answer 5

The banana is a fruit not a herb.
Although we associate fruit as being from a tree or shrub, the banana is the fruit of a herbaceous plant, but is a fruit.
The fact that it is the fruit of a herbaceous plant is probably the cause of the confusion.

Answer 6

Not a herb, banana is a fruit although cucumber is water as is lettuce, it can cause indigestion as the other 10% mixes with the stomach acids and can cause wind too, especially if we eat quickly or with bread.

Answer 7

LMAO

A Banana is not a herb. Someone has obviously thought u have just fallen out of the banana/herb tree lol

Answer 8

Here's anouther little fact, just to add a bit more confusion for you.
Banana plants can walk !!!!
They move several feet in a night in search of water and farmers have to constantly move them back to there origional spots.

Its perfectly true. Check it out on the web.

Answer 9

You heard wrong. Herbs are dried leaves or ground seeds from plants like thyme and cloves and cinnamon. Bananas are not an herb.

Answer 10

Huh...banana a herb? Well then the moon is made of cheese hun!! lol