What really is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?

Question

Is it that fruits are just sweet and vegetables are savory? Or do fruits bear seeds and vegetables don't? Please explain. Thanks!

Answer 1

Fruit is a scientific term for the ripened or fertilized ovary of a flower. Which enlarges and usually are succulent and sweet. But not all fruits are succulent and sweet because there are dry fruits such as legumes, nuts and grains. Yes, they are fruits. With respect to Botany.

Vegetable, is not a scientific term. Formerly, it is a term for anything that is edible. Lichens, algae, edible leaves and stems; even dry and fleshy fruits, were considered to be vegetables.

Perhaps, the society uses fruits to refer to fleshy plant-based foods that are succulent and sweet. For our society, it is not anymore a scientific term, but something adapted from the scientific term. Vegetables, the leaves and stems, the lichens and the algae, are still called vegetables to make up for the awkward terms. If people knew that they are eating fungi, protists, stems and leaves then they would consider themselves animals isn't it? So it's better to use the term vegetables instead. Like when you say, "I'm eating leaves today", they would consider you as ruminants (i.e. cows). The term vegetable is more sophisticated.

Answer 2

A fruit is the ripened seed pod of a plant. A vegetable includes any other parts of the plant, including flowers, stems, leaves, or roots. Cucumbers and tomatoes are fruits. Celery and potatoes are vegetables. If it has seeds in it, it's a fruit.

On the other hand, culinarily, vegetables refer to foods that are not very sweet and usually used in dishes that are not desserts. Fruits are usually sweeter and often used in desserts. To a chef, a tomato is a vegetable, but to a botanist it's a fruit.

Answer 3

The botanical difference is that fruits are the enlarged ovary from the flower, and fruits contain the seeds. So, botanically speaking, green peppers, green beans, and pumpkins are fruits, as well as apples, oranges, and grapes.

Vegetables are some non-reproductive part of the plant:
celery - leaves with big petioles
cabbage and lettuce - leaves
sweet potatoes and beets - roots
potatoes - tubers