Is a tomato really a fruit OR veggie????

Answer 1

Botanically, the tomato is a fruit -- it is developed from the ovary in the base of the flower and contains the seeds of the plant. (Is it a berry? Yes. A berry is a fruit.) In the world of cooking it's generally considered a vegetable, mostly because it's considered more savory than it is considered sweet.

Legally, the tomato is a vegetable. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its 1893 decision in Nix v. Hedden, ruled that the tomato is a vegetable. (The issue arose in the context of tariffs, with the dispute arising because imported vegetables were subject to tariffs while imported fruits were not.) I am sure that's why there was even an argument to be made (much less won) that ketchup qualifies as a vegetable for purposes of school lunches.

Answer 2

It's really, really, truly, and officially a fruit. But we treat it like a veggie. Here's what wiki says:

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.

Science Bob also has something to say. Check here:
http://www.sciencebob.com/lab/q-tomato.html

Vegetable, as wiki says, is a culinary term, so you could say that the tomato is botanically a FRUIT, but culinarily (-: a VEGETABLE. In other words, two for the price of one!

Answer 3

Tomato is a fruit-

tomato

noun
1. mildly acid red or yellow pulpy fruit eaten as a vegetable
2. native to South America; widely cultivated in many varieties

A fruit is the ripened (swollen) ovary of a flower. The ovary ripens when the ovules inside have been fertilized. Seeds of flowering plants always are found inside fruits.

Botanists generally don't use the word vegetable to mean a plant or even a plant part. The basic parts are roots, stems, leaves flowers/fruit/seeds. Vegetable is a grocery store term: Tomatoes are called vegetables to distinguish them from the sweeter fruits like peaches. Carrots are called vegetables but the part we eat is of course a root.

In horticulture people talk about growing "flowers and vegetables" but that doesn't really make sense: tomatoes and peppers are flowering plants!

Answer 4

People would consider tomatos a veggie, but scientist consider it a fruit.

Answer 5

the guy rcpzippel or whatever said that it is a veggie because it grows on a vine
watermelons grow on a vine
cantoloupes
and lots more that i just cant think of
tomatoes are a fruit

Answer 6

Both. The issue here is that we have multiple definitions of fruits and vegetables. From a botanical perspective a fruit is anything that bears seeds. From a culinary perspective, fruits and vegetables are generally separated based on flavor. In a culinary sense, it's a vegetable, in a broad botanical sense it's a fruit.

Answer 7

My wife is a horticulturist and says it is a berry. One person got it correct. It's a giant berry from S. America; apparently Peru.

"Botanically, a tomato fruit is a berry consisting of seeds within a fleshy pericarp developed from an ovary. ...."

"Examples of botanical berries include the tomato, grape, litchi, kumquat, ..."

Answer 8

its a fruit and to the person who said its a veggie because it grows on a vine so does watermelon

Answer 9

It is technically a fruit, but we eat it like a veggie( i.e. with dip, in salads)

Answer 10

tomatoes are a fruit, as all fruit have seeds (eg: apples, strawberries, kiwifruit etc) veges don't. Which means pumpkin must be a fruit too. (YUK) :-p