What is the difference between fruit and vegetable? This is a question that needs some answers as most people can’t differentiate between the two, in today’s post, we will be focusing on the difference between fruit and vegetable. Read on.
We all know that a healthy and balanced diet should be rich in fruits and vegetables. However, when it comes to saying what exactly a fruit or vegetable is, not everyone is so clear on it and both terms seem to be included, popularly and sometimes, in that large group of healthy plant foods of which little else matters. However, the truth is that there are differences and they are important.
If you’ve ever wondered: is avocado a fruit or a vegetable? or is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable? generally, if you want to learn more about the difference between fruit and vegetables, join us in this article.
Difference between fruit and vegetable – summary
First of all, the first thing that must be said is that the terms fruit and vegetables are not technical nor are they used in botany with the usual meaning given to them when talking about them as food in our daily lives. Once this is clarified, we can proceed to the distinction between both concepts. This is the difference between fruit and vegetables.
- A fruit is the part of the fruit that we eat, that is, the fertilized ovary that the plant creates around the seed or seeds. It’s that simple, the fruit is always part of the fruit and therefore always has a reproductive function in the plant.
- A vegetable is any other part of the plant that people consume as food. It can be the leaves, the root, the stems, or even the flowers, in all these cases it is considered a vegetable. In fact, if the consumption of leaves, stems, flowers, or roots of any plant became popular, the term vegetable would be immediately applicable. As you can see, it is a very vague and non-specific term, useful for day-to-day life but that can lead to much confusion or errors if we want to specify or talk about something technical in the scientific field.
What are a Fruit and Examples?
As we have already mentioned, a fruit is a part that we eat of the fruit of a plant and that, therefore, contains seeds on the vast majority of occasions, unless they are varieties modified for human consumption, as is the case of the triploid or seedless watermelons that we can find in supermarkets today. Let’s see some examples of fruits that tend to be confused with greens or vegetables:
- Tomato
- Eggplant
- Avocado
- Pepper
- Cucumber
- pumpkin
- Chile
Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
The tomato is obviously a fruit, as it contains the seeds of the plant. Where then does the usual confusion of considering it a vegetable come from?
We have to go back to the year 1887, in the United States. The Supreme Court had just approved a law according to which imported vegetables must pay taxes from which fruits are exempt. Tomato importers, trying to avoid the tax, argued citing biologists and dictionaries that the tomato was a fruit since it fits the botanical term that designates them.
The government, on the other hand, did not see it so clearly: if the tomato was served as a dessert or in salads, that made it a vegetable. This decision, which had very little to do with botany, has provoked numerous discussions to this day.
Are strawberries fruits?
Another case that deserves specific mention is strawberries. Strawberries are not fruits as such, but fruit. This is a union of fruits that grow so close together that they look like a single fruit. The little yellow dots on strawberries are therefore not seeds, but actually small fruits, and inside them are the seeds themselves.
What are Vegetables and Examples
Vegetables, as we have also mentioned, are basically any edible part of a plant other than the fruit. Its forms and aspects are even more varied than those of fruits since the leaf of spinach and the large flower of cauliflower are a vegetable. They can be divided according to the part we consume and these are some examples of vegetables:
- Leaves: lettuce and spinach.
- Bulbs: garlic and onion.
- Flowers: cauliflower and artichoke.
- Roots: radish and carrot.
- Tubers: potato and sweet potato.
- Stems: asparagus and celery.
- Seeds: lentils, rice, and beans.
Vegetables have a huge impact on human food and the economy around the world. Without going any further, only wheat and corn account for 40% of the food source for humans worldwide, and 25% of the total calories consumed.
Rice is also basic, without which the diet of Asian countries would not even be similar. We cannot forget tubers such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cassava, which are also vital in a large number of cuisines.
The latter, in fact, is an indispensable part of the diets of much of South America and Africa, and a very important contribution of nutrients for communities that do not have regular access to meat due to the scarcity of livestock.
Now that you know the difference between fruit and vegetables and what each one is and some examples, do make sure to share this article via the share button.
