Is the tomato a fruit or a veg?

Question

What is it, I'm tired of debating, at least someone have proof!

Answer 1

The tomato is definately a fruit crop. A beautiful one at that, taste lovely.

Answer 2

Vegetable" is an agricultural & culinary term. "Fruit" on the other hand is a botanical, agricultural & culinary term. Botanical terms have rules for why they term what they term, but agriculture and culinary terms are somewhat more arbitrary (I almost said, botanical terms actually make sense).

From the far, dusty regions of my memory, I remember hearing about the argument about whether tomatoes were fruits or vegetables from an agricultural point of view. I believe the argument was that fruits fetch higher prices and so tomato farmers would have wanted the higher prices? I looked it up and this website confirmed that. http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch8...
Apparently tomatoes were the subject of a Supreme Court decision that declared them vegetables. Vegetables had a tax on them and fruits did not, which is why the aggies wanted them classified as fruits (which by botanical standards, they are!).

Back to the rambling... Fruits are formed from the ovary of the flower (this has been mentioned in other answers). Some common fruits aren't really fruits at all though, like strawberries! The fruits are actually what we think of as the seeds (botanically of course), and the "fruit" is just an overgrown receptical for the seeds.... Strange eh?

The whole point of this is that depending on the definition you use, tomatoes are fruits or vegetables! Here is my short and sweet summary....

Botanically (the most correct and consistent!) the tomato is a fruit, in fact a berry as was mentioned before.

Agriculturally, the tomato is a vegetable

Culinary, the tomato is a vegetable I suppose...

Answer 3

Fruit

Answer 4

The confusion about 'fruit' and 'vegetable' arises because of the differences in usage between scientists and cooks. Scientifically speaking, a tomato is definitely a fruit. True fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, and contain the seeds of the plant (though cultivated forms may be seedless). Blueberries, raspberries, and oranges are true fruits, and so are many kinds of nut. Some plants have a soft part which supports the seeds and is also called a 'fruit', though it is not developed from the ovary: the strawberry is an example. As far as cooking is concerned, some things which are strictly fruits may be called 'vegetables' because they are used in savoury rather than sweet cooking. The tomato, though technically a fruit, is often used as a vegetable, and a bean pod is also technically a fruit. The term 'vegetable' is more generally used of other edible parts of plants, such as cabbage leaves, celery stalks, and potato tubers, which are not strictly the fruit of the plant from which they come. Occasionally the term 'fruit' may be used to refer to a part of a plant which is not a fruit, but which is used in sweet cooking: rhubarb, for example. So a tomato is the fruit of the tomato plant, but can be used as a vegetable in cooking

Answer 5

Botanically speaking, a tomato is the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant: 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. As noted above, the term "vegetable" has no botanical meaning and is purely a culinary term.

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 6

The tomato is a fruit.

Answer 7

OK i took horticulture 6 yrs and although you find them with veggies it is a fruit yes a fruit for sure so no more debating,

Answer 8

Tomatoes are a fruit. Call for local collage and ask them.

Answer 9

It's a fruit

Answer 10

fruit