Difference Between Fruits and Vegetables

Many of us believe that tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are vegetables. But, technically speaking, all these are fruits, but the only difference is that they are used as vegetables. Then, what is the difference between fruit and vegetable? The debate of fruit vs vegetable has been going on for a long time, with botanists strongly demanding the status of fruits for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and many more, which are usually classified as vegetables in the culinary sense. In order to understand the difference between fruit and vegetable, we must have some knowledge about both these things, which are very widely used by human beings.

Fruits and Vegetables

Have you ever wondered why oranges or watermelon are classified as fruits? Why potatoes, celery or cabbage has been sorted out as vegetables? There has to be some scientific reason behind this classification, which has been confusing people for ages. The difference between fruit and vegetable lies in their scientific definition, which is used to identify them. Let us take a look at the definition of both, which can be useful in understanding the classification.

Fruit: A fruit is deemed to be a sweet and fleshy plant product, which includes, apples, orange and plum. In the botanical sense, a fruit is defined as the ripened ovary of a flowering plant and contains seeds. In most cases, the ripened ovaries, along with the surrounding tissues are called fruits and these fruits are a means of dissemination of seeds. This is facilitated by the consumption of fruits by animals and birds, as most of the fruits are sweet and contain fleshy, edible parts.

Vegetable: In general, a vegetable is defined as the edible part of a plant. If a plant, which produces fruits, is also used as a vegetable, then the plant can be taken as a vegetable and the fruit produced by it, as a fruit. There is no botanical definition for the word 'vegetable'. It is a collective term used to denote all parts of herbaceous plants, which are eaten by human beings as foods. It can include the leaves, as in the case of cabbage, the roots as in carrots and beets, the bulbs as in garlic, the flowers as in broccoli, the stems as in asparagus and seeds as in peas.

Difference Between Fruits and Vegetables

Now, you know the meaning of the terms fruit and vegetable. But, it can be argued that if any of the edible part of a plant is a vegetable, then fruit is also an edible part and can be a vegetable. So, what is the factor that differentiates a fruit from a vegetable? The major fruit and vegetable difference is that most of the fruits contain seeds, which are capable of developing into new plants and vegetables lack seeds (there are exceptions). Even though, some of the vegetables are used in plant reproduction, they are not considered fruits. In short, a fruit is a matured ovary of a plant and contain seeds, whereas a vegetable can be any of the edible part of a plant. Hence, it can be said that presence of seeds is one of the factors that differentiate fruits from vegetables. This is the reason for classifying tomatoes and cucumbers as fruits, even though, they are used as vegetables. Other 'technical' fruits are avocados, squashes, olives, pea pods, squashes, zucchini, pumpkins and peppers. Even nuts and grains are also classified as fruits. However, there are certain vegetables that contain seeds and there are some fruits that lack seeds. So, there is no clear-cut way to differentiate fruits and vegetables.

Fruits are ripened ovary or ovaries, of a plant and contain seeds. Vegetables are edible parts of a plant, other than fruits. It can be said that, while, a fruit could be a vegetable (as in the case of tomatoes), a vegetable could not be a fruit. Most of the fruits contains a simple sugar called fructose, which gives the sweet taste, but, vegetables have less amounts of fructose. The sweetness of the fruits attracts animals and birds to consume them and thereby disperse the seeds. So, leave the debate of fruit vs vegetable to others and include lots of fruits and veggies in your diet to lead a healthy life.