Is a tomato really a fruit OR veggie????!


Question:

Is a tomato really a fruit OR veggie????


Answers:
Botanically, the tomato is a fruit -- it is developed from the ovary in the base of the flower and contains the seeds of the plant. (Is it a berry? Yes. A berry is a fruit.) In the world of cooking it's generally considered a vegetable, mostly because it's considered more savory than it is considered sweet.

Legally, the tomato is a vegetable. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its 1893 decision in Nix v. Hedden, ruled that the tomato is a vegetable. (The issue arose in the context of tariffs, with the dispute arising because imported vegetables were subject to tariffs while imported fruits were not.) I am sure that's why there was even an argument to be made (much less won) that ketchup qualifies as a vegetable for purposes of school lunches.

fruit

vegetable it grows on a vine

People would consider tomatos a veggie, but scientist consider it a fruit.

its a fruit

I watched veggie tales and found out its a veggie.

i think that because it has seeds it is a fruit

its a fruit and to the person who said its a veggie because it grows on a vine so does watermelon

Tomato is a fruit-

tomato

noun
1. mildly acid red or yellow pulpy fruit eaten as a vegetable
2. native to South America; widely cultivated in many varieties

A fruit is the ripened (swollen) ovary of a flower. The ovary ripens when the ovules inside have been fertilized. Seeds of flowering plants always are found inside fruits.

Botanists generally don't use the word vegetable to mean a plant or even a plant part. The basic parts are roots, stems, leaves flowers/fruit/seeds. Vegetable is a grocery store term: Tomatoes are called vegetables to distinguish them from the sweeter fruits like peaches. Carrots are called vegetables but the part we eat is of course a root.

In horticulture people talk about growing "flowers and vegetables" but that doesn't really make sense: tomatoes and peppers are flowering plants!

tomatoes are a fruit, as all fruit have seeds (eg: apples, strawberries, kiwifruit etc) veges don't. Which means pumpkin must be a fruit too. (YUK) :-p

It's really, really, truly, and officially a fruit. But we treat it like a veggie. Here's what wiki says:

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.

Science Bob also has something to say. Check here:
http://www.sciencebob.com/lab/q-tomato.h...

Vegetable, as wiki says, is a culinary term, so you could say that the tomato is botanically a FRUIT, but culinarily (-: a VEGETABLE. In other words, two for the price of one!

Both. The issue here is that we have multiple definitions of fruits and vegetables. From a botanical perspective a fruit is anything that bears seeds. From a culinary perspective, fruits and vegetables are generally separated based on flavor. In a culinary sense, it's a vegetable, in a broad botanical sense it's a fruit.

It is technically a fruit, but we eat it like a veggie( i.e. with dip, in salads)

its a freggie...or a vruit. i'm not sure. people call it a fruit because it has seeds but also a veggie because it grows from the ground, i think.

They are really, really delicious and that's all I need to know!

It's a fruit.

tomato is a fruit.

My wife is a horticulturist and says it is a berry. One person got it correct. It's a giant berry from S. America; apparently Peru.

"Botanically, a tomato fruit is a berry consisting of seeds within a fleshy pericarp developed from an ovary. ...."

"Examples of botanical berries include the tomato, grape, litchi, kumquat, ..."

I decided a long time ago that tomato falls into no catagory, and both catagories, sequentially and simultaneously. Confused yet?

It all depends on the context in which I refer to it, and who I'm saying it to. QED.

If you want to get really technical, its a berry.

the guy rcpzippel or whatever said that it is a veggie because it grows on a vine
watermelons grow on a vine
cantoloupes
and lots more that i just cant think of
tomatoes are a fruit

Simply put....fruit

It's a fruit.




The consumer Foods information on foodaq.com is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.
The answer content post by the user, if contains the copyright content please contact us, we will immediately remove it.
Copyright © 2007 FoodAQ - Terms of Use - Contact us - Privacy Policy

Food's Q&A Resources