Is Tomato fruit or vegetable?

Question

1] Is tomato fruit or vegetable?
2] What's your nationality?
3] If you're american, what state do you come from?
4] If you're not american, what do people in your country think of it, fruit or vegetable?
This problem might relate to nationalities.

Myself
1] I thought it was vegetable for all my life, but now I'm not sure.
2] Japanese
4] 95% people think it's a vegetable.

Answer 1

Well what does it matter tomato is god's love apple so is fruit...but can also be called vegetable in alot of other countries ♥

Answer 2

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.

This argument has led to actual legal implications in the United States. In 1887, U.S. tariff laws that imposed a duty on vegetables but not on fruits caused the tomato's status to become a matter of legal importance. The U.S. Supreme Court settled this controversy in 1893, declaring that the tomato is a vegetable, using the popular definition which classifies vegetable by use, that they are generally served with dinner and not dessert. The case is known as Nix v. Hedden (149 U.S. 304). Strictly speaking, the holding of the case applies only to the interpretation of the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883, and not much else. The court does not purport to reclassify tomato for botanical or for any other purpose other than paying a tax under a tariff act. However, the Nix v. Hedden ruling is recognized by the USDA [9].

The tomato has been designated the state vegetable of New Jersey. Arkansas takes both sides by declaring the "South Arkansas Vine Ripe Pink Tomato" to be both the state fruit and the state vegetable in the same law, citing both its botanical and culinary classifications. In 2006, the Ohio House of Representatives passed a law that would have declared the tomato to be the official state fruit, but the bill died when the Ohio Senate failed to act on it.

But due to the scientific definition of a fruit and a vegetable, the tomato still remains a fruit when not dealing with US tariffs. 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.

The grocers' definition is that a tomato is a vegetable based on the fact that fruits are sweet and vegetables are not.

Answer 3

I find it to be true that there is alot of things in life that one can grow up believing. For instance I do not even remember learning that a Tomato was a fruit when I was a child. I don't even remember someone correctly me when I called Tomato a vegetable. Funny how things are just understood one way and should be another. Unfortunately with the English language we find that there is alot of things that do not make sense. The tomato if taught correctly is known as a fruit, my nationality is American-Indian, I come from the state of Illinois but have lived in 6 different states in my life, and thanks for asking. You should of listed your answers to the question too.

Answer 4

To really figure out if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable, you need to know what makes a fruit a fruit, and a vegetable a vegetable. The big question to ask is, DOES IT HAVE SEEDS?

If the answer is yes, then technically, you have a FRUIT. This, of course, makes your tomato a fruit. It also makes cucumbers, squash, green beans and walnuts all fruits as well. VEGETABLES such as, radishes, celery, carrots, and lettuce do NOT have seeds (that are part of what we eat) and so they are grouped as vegetables.

Now don't go looking for tomatoes next to the oranges in your grocery stores. Certain fruits like tomatoes and green beans will probably always be mostly referred to as "vegetables" in today's society.

http://www.sciencebob.com/lab/q-tomato.html - go there for more infor

Answer 5

1) fruit
2) American (US)
3) Michigan
It's not about nationalities, it's about science. What are the characteristics of fruits vs. vegetables? The characteristics determine that a tomato is a fruit.

Answer 6

I'm going for numbers 0 and 1. In biology class, we learned that there is no such thing as a vegetable because the pretty and possibly edible part of a plant is the "fruit" of the plant, BUT our teacher forgot to show us a particular page in our biology book. This page differentiated between fruits and vegetables: fruits have a high concentration of sugars, and vegetables have a high concentration of fats. So...tomatoes seem too bitter to be a fruit to me, but I love 'em! I'm tempted to say vegetable, but every other (white) Smart Alec in Texas will say it is a fruit and that there is no such thing as a vegetable.

Answer 7

1.tomato is a fruit discovered in America
2.Mixed=Hawaiian, Scottish, English, German, Italian,Swedish, Native American, Irish,
3. Hawaii
4. I have international friends, from Russia, India, Australia, South America, Canada, Nepal,
We accept the scientific definition of fruit. It starts off as a flower, becomes fertilized, develops into a round fruit with more seeds for future plants.
It's not the only fruit good on pizza! I like pineapples on pizza too. (maybe cause I am from Hawaii)
Thats all I know! :D

Answer 8

1- In 1893 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it a vegetable, using the popular definition which classifies vegetable by use, that they are generally served with dinner and not dessert.

But due to the scientific definition of a friut and vegetable, the tomato still remains a fruit when not dealing with US tariffs, which may help answer 4].

2] American
3] Born in New York

Answer 9

Botanically-speaking, the tomato is a fruit and can be further classified as a berry since it is pulpy and has edible seeds.

Most of us use the tomato as we do vegetables, primarily in savory dishes.

In 1893, an importer claimed the tomato as a fruit in order to avoid vegetable import tariffs imposed by the United States. This dispute led to the Supreme Court ruling for taxation purposes that the tomato be classified as a vegetable, since it was primarily consumed in the manner of a vegetable rather than a fruit which was usually used in desserts.

Other botanical fruits classified as vegetables include squash, cucumbers, green beans, corn kernels, eggplants, and peppers.

american from california

didn't know thi was considered a "problem"

Answer 10

Fruit

Answer 11

Fruit