Did someone ever ask you the question - "is tomato a vegetable or fruit?" You would know the answer... Technically, tomato is a fruit. Fregetables refer to those "fruits" that commonly treated as vegetables. Let's look at what Wiki describes about fruit:
"In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering."
From our experiences in growing tomatoes - YES, tomato is a "fruit" in botanical terminology, because the tomato fruit is formed from the ovary after flowering. Below picture provides the evidence, a tomato is set from flower.
Picture: a tomato set from flower is the evidence that tomato is a "fruit".
Then, can you think of any other vegetables are actually "fruits"? Have a look at our vegetable seeds range, see how they look like, you may get some idea, click here.
Another "fruit" which doesn't really look like fruit is Beans, believe if or not ? If you remember the children song "Beans, Beans, The Musical Fruit", you should know that Bean is a "fruit"! The common lyrics are:
Beans, beans, the musical fruit.
The more you eat, the more you toot.
The more you toot, the better you feel.
So let's have beans with every meal.
Watch below to get some memories back.
In fact, some other vegetables are also "fruits" if we look at them botanically. There are 2 basic evidences to support this say. Firstly, the "fruit" grows on the flowering part of the plant. Secondly, the "fruit" hold the seeds. An agricultural produce is 99% a "fruit" if we find these 2 characteristics at the same time.
Other than Tomatoes and Beans, there are more "fruits" we found them met with the requirements (i.e. fruits set from flowers + hold seeds). These "fruits" are:
Cucumbers, Zucchinis, Pumpkins, Peppers, Peas, Eggplants, Corns, Okras, etc.
Play below game, match the same "fruit", find out the evidences they are "fruits"!
We hope you enjoy above game.
We know now some vegetables are actually "fruits", but why we thought these are vegetables at the beginning but not "fruits"? If we treated them as "fruits" on the first day, then we needed not go into these discussions! We also needed not to re-educate people these lovely produce are actually "fruits"?! Hm... we can think of some reasons why these "fruits" are classified as vegetables:
We generally agree and believe fruits should be sweet. So some produces which are not as sweet as other fruits are not considered as fruits.
We think fruits are ready to eat. So produces require cooking before eating are simply not considered as fruits.
We saw them sold by vegetable sellers, or displayed at the vegetable section in supermarkets.*
We were taught they are vegetables. Look at below book.#
*The Fregetables are sold at a Vegetable market.
#These Fregetables are obviously vegetables.
Can you think of other reasons?
The other fact is, same Fregetable could be vegetable or fruit if you ask different people. A farmer will tell you tomato is a fruit. But if you ask a chef, he or she will definitely answer tomato is a vegetable! Apparently, chefs and many other people are considering the culinary use of the produce. The Reasons 1 & 2 above fall into culinary classification.
We do not know when people had started debating on if tomatoes and some other fregetables are fruits or vegetables. Go back to the year 1893, there was a case in the US Supreme Court about a legal dispute with a tomato importer who argued his tomatoes should be considered fruits to avoid the higher vegetable tariff. The Court ended up by ruling the tomatoes would be classified as a vegetable on the basis of its culinary applications instead of its botanical categorization as a fruit. If you want to study the Case further - here you go.
At Yummy Seeds, we use the culinary side in our categorization. We still want to get tomatoes and eggplant at the Vegetable markets. We still want kids to colour up those lovely VEGGIE. So treat these fregetables as what they are.
Last fun facts:
Watermelon could be a vegetable! Ridiculous?! Again, depends on who you ask and what is the logic. Watermelon.org has provided you some explanations, have a look here.
What's more?! Believe it or not - Strawberries and Raspberries are not Berries, but Bananas are! Check it out by yourselves!
Did someone ever ask you the question - "is tomato a vegetable or fruit?" You would know the answer... Technically, tomato is a fruit. Fregetables refer to those "fruits" that commonly treated as vegetables. Let's look at what Wiki describes about fruit:
"In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering."
From our experiences in growing tomatoes - YES, tomato is a "fruit" in botanical terminology, because the tomato fruit is formed from the ovary after flowering. Below picture provides the evidence, a tomato is set from flower.
Picture: a tomato set from flower is the evidence that tomato is a "fruit".
Then, can you think of any other vegetables are actually "fruits"? Have a look at our vegetable seeds range, see how they look like, you may get some idea, click here.
Another "fruit" which doesn't really look like fruit is Beans, believe if or not
? If you remember the children song "Beans, Beans, The Musical Fruit", you should know that Bean is a "fruit"! The common lyrics are:
Beans, beans, the musical fruit.
The more you eat, the more you toot.
The more you toot, the better you feel.
So let's have beans with every meal.
Watch below to get some memories back.
In fact, some other vegetables are also "fruits" if we look at them botanically. There are 2 basic evidences to support this say. Firstly, the "fruit" grows on the flowering part of the plant. Secondly, the "fruit" hold the seeds. An agricultural produce is 99% a "fruit" if we find these 2 characteristics at the same time.
Other than Tomatoes and Beans, there are more "fruits" we found them met with the requirements (i.e. fruits set from flowers + hold seeds). These "fruits" are:
Cucumbers, Zucchinis, Pumpkins, Peppers, Peas, Eggplants, Corns, Okras, etc.
Play below game, match the same "fruit", find out the evidences they are "fruits"!
We hope you enjoy above game.
We know now some vegetables are actually "fruits", but why we thought these are vegetables at the beginning but not "fruits"? If we treated them as "fruits" on the first day, then we needed not go into these discussions! We also needed not to re-educate people these lovely produce are actually "fruits"?! Hm... we can think of some reasons why these "fruits" are classified as vegetables: