Is a tomato a fruit or vegetable?

Question

My teachers say it is a fruit, but my parents think it is a vegetable.

Answer 1

It's a fruit.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

Tomatoes are both fruit and vegetable.

Biologically speaking, because tomatoes have the same attributes as many fruits, such as seeds, they are considered fruits by the scientific community.

The consumer community, the farming community, the greengrocer community, and the restaurateur business community all consider the tomato to be a vegetable, often popularly labelled as a salad vegetable like lettuce or cucumber.

For this reason, and to dispel confusion in cooking books and reference guides, Tomato is often listen under the heading of both vegetables and fruits.

Answer 4

Yes!

Scientifically it's classified as a fruit because it has seeds.

However, nutritionally it's considered a vegetable because it has very low fructose (fruit sugar) and is not sweet. You get the fiber & vitamins without the sugar or calories of fruit.

Farmers and even Congress classify it as a vegetable for purposes of trade - as a vegetable different taxes & tariffs apply to it than as a fruit. Since the ketchup industry is so big, it was officially politically classified as a vegetable for the advantage in business.

So the answer is, it depends on the context. ;-)

Answer 5

Actually it's both! It is a fruit because it is that part of the plant. It's a vegetable because it is from the vegetable kingdom--that is, not animal or mineral.

Some people consider a 'fruit' something you eat raw and a 'vegetable' something that has to be cooked. And even there the tomato is in both categories because you -can- eat it raw but it's usually cooked.

Answer 6

A fruit

Answer 7

Botanically it's a fruit. I think the government (a long time ago) said it was a vegetable, mainly because there were no taxes on fruit at the time.

Answer 8

Fruit; A fruit is part of the plants reproductive system, it has seeds, etc.

A vegetable is a part of the plant that you eat, like leaves or stalks, roots, tubers, etc.

Answer 9

I found this,

There are three forms of tomato-bush, tall bush, and staking. The bush and tall bush types have a concentrated fruit set and therefore shorter harvest period. Some are very quick to start producing ripe fruit.

I would suggest fruit.

Answer 10

it is a really a fruit, but congress in their insistence to get their nose into everything labeled it a vegetable