Tomato. Is it a fruit, Vegie or Berry?

Question

Today when I was teaching a year 6 class, I told them that a tomato is a fruit but it is still classified as a vegie. Most kids said it is a fruit because of the seeds but a clever cherub asked me what about a cucumber or pumpkin. Good question! Capsicum, pumpkin, chilli's all have seeds. Another student said its a berry because it grows on a vine. So what is the answer? I told them I'll let them know next Friday.

Answer 1

AFAIK, anything with seeds is a fruit...tomatoes, chillies, cucumbers, pumpkins (definitely), aubergines (egg-plants), zucchini's, etc. Whether it grows on a vine is moot.

"it is still classified as a veggie." what's your source for that?

Answer 2

Not sure about the others, but Chiles are berries, they're also from the nightshade family.

So they're commonly considered a vegtable, but used as a spice, but is a fruit, from a berry plant.

Answer 3

fruit ....but is in vegie category .....wait i'm confuse

Answer 4

its a fruit

Answer 5

Your little rascals are too smart!

While I don't have the answer you raise an interesting question.  I will be watching to see what you find out.

Oh, have a star!  For this question, you deserve one!

:)

Answer 6

fruit

Answer 7

Basically, some vegetables are still considered as fruits. The definition of fruit is that "it is the ripened ovary of a flowering plant, together with the seeds". If a plant produces flowers, and the flowers turns into a fleshy, organ, that organ is called FRUIT. Any edible part of a plant, may it be the fruit, the leaves, the flower, the roots, the stem, as long as it could be eaten, is called a VEGETABLE. A tomato lies between both. it is a fruit because it is the ripened ovary of a flower and it is a vegetable because it is edible. it is not a berry because it does not grow in vines. Ü

check the link i provided below.Ü

Answer 8

A tomato you are right is a FRUIT. People see it as a veggie because they eat it more like they would a veggie, typically with another veggie like on a hamburger. Its a misconception though.  Tomatoes do NOT grow on a vine. The plant they grow on is a type of Nightshade which in and of itself is toxic. It is a thin stemmed plant which is short to boot, could be mistaken for a vine OR a bush, which is where the berry thought may come in as well. But its classification on a scientific level IS indeed a Fruit. The confusion about 'fruit' and 'vegetable' arises because of the differences in usage between scientists and cooks. Scientifically speaking, a tomato is definitely a fruit. True fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, and contain the seeds of the plant (though cultivated forms may be seedless). Blueberries, raspberries, and oranges are true fruits, and so are many kinds of nut. Some plants have a soft part which supports the seeds and is also called a 'fruit', though it is not developed from the ovary: the strawberry is an example. As far as cooking is concerned, some things which are strictly fruits may be called 'vegetables' because they are used in savoury rather than sweet cooking. The tomato, though technically a fruit, is often used as a vegetable, and a bean pod is also technically a fruit. The term 'vegetable' is more generally used of other edible parts of plants, such as cabbage leaves, celery stalks, and potato tubers, which are not strictly the fruit of the plant from which they come. Occasionally the term 'fruit' may be used to refer to a part of a plant which is not a fruit, but which is used in sweet cooking: rhubarb, for example. So a tomato is the fruit of the tomato plant, but can be used as a vegetable in cooking. So you see, there are lots of different ways to look at this, but if its a scientific point of view, this is it. This logic also would apply to cucumbers which are part of the melon family.

Answer 9

And here we learn that Microsoft Encarta is useless, yet once again. A tomato is largely treated as a vegetable due to the nutrients it contains, the way's it can be used in the culinary arts, and it's taste. However, scientifically speaking, it is a fruit. This is due to the way the tomato grows, and how it is formed. So think of it as the transsexual of the food groups. It's really a fruit, but it sure looks and acts like a veggie.

Answer 10

Tomato is a fruit. Cucumber, pumpkin,Capsicum,  chilli's  all are defined as fruits of the plants. Fruit is a botanical term. Fruit develops from ovary. Ovary contains ovules. Ovules after fertilization forms the seeds and ovary turns into fruit.  Fruit protects the seeds  and helps for their dispersal at proper places at maturity.  All the above mentioned fruits are used as vegetable.  Tomato is not a berry and does not grow on vine, Tomato is plant which grows upto 2-3 ft in height and needs support when it bears fruits as the stem is delicate and cannot bear the weights of fruits.

Answer 11

I remember learning all about the different types of fruits at uni.......of course I have forgotton 99% of it now, but I remember its a fruit.

There are different types of fruits...but I think there is confusion over the "scientific" and mroe strict definition and the "general population" definition.

A fruit is a seed bearing struture ( in angiosperms) so technically "vegetables" are fruits too.....BUT we generally classify fruits as the sweet tasting things and veges as savory.

A tomato is a "fleshy fruit" and a  berry ( the entire pericarp is fleshy)

Veges are more often a "dry fruit" where some part of the "fruit" is dried.

Maybe the confusion lies with the fact that a tomato is a berry ( as well as a fruit) whereas other veges are also "fruits" but not berries.

Answer 12

I'd say it's in the food family.

Answer 13

Fruit, regardless of how it grows. Passionfruit grows on vines after all.

Answer 14

I will answer your question /s strictly from Botany ( Plant science ) point of view =

Question 1 ) Tomato. Is it a fruit, Veggie or Berry?

Answer 1 ) IT IS ALL THREE !!!

Tomato is a fruit . Tomato is a vegetable and Tomato is a berry type of fruit so it is a berry .

Now let us proceed to clear some basic misconceptions .

In Botany fruit is the culmination of of flower and flower only so fruits are found in flowering plants ( Angiosperms )....(1 )

A fruit develops from an ovary part of a flower and has one to many seeds in side ..................................(2)

kindly click on the links / s below to see relative parts of a flower  ( All Are labeled ) ==

http://img.sparknotes.com/figures/B/b1ab...

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/les...

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/nlc_biology...

http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/imag...

http://www.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt/gat...

After pollination and fertilization only the ovary develops in to a fruit and ovules are turned in to seeds .

That is why fruit is the culmination of flower ...........(3)

on the link below it is the sectional view of tomato fruit ( Labeled )= presence of ovule / seeds in side attached to placenta indicate that it is a fruit !!!!!

http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/tfplab/ov...

Tomato is a berry type of fruit =

Fruit is a general term . depending upon their structure AND mode of development there are many ( Literally numerous ) different types of fruits ....................( 4 )

Nuts, legumes  and berries are known to common man. But there are Samara , Siliqua , pome and pepo not to mentions capsule and Drupes and hesperidium ( oranges, sweet lime , lemon and grapefruit all are hesperidium  ) .

Tomato is a berry because it is fleshy , soft and pulpy fruit .

Most of such fruits are classsified as berries ........(5 )

Grapes ( Not grapefruit . it is a different fruit. see above  ) are seedless berries .

Capsicum and chilllies are also berries , eventhough they are not as pulpy as tomato and grapes but are soft bodied .

Cucumber , pumpkins and watermelon are all fruits , basically berries like tomato BUT  they have a leathery , tough rind so they are put in a separate group called PEPO !

Berries need not grow on vines .............(6 )

Tomato is a berry that grows on an erect plant .....( 7 )

It requires support when laden with fruits as a man requires support when he carries too heavy a load =

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/stak...

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/stak...

Finally, all fruits are basically vegetables as they are plant products BUT all vegetables are NOT fruits .... ( 8 )

Botanic fruit and culinary fruit ==



Many foods are botanically fruit but are treated as vegetables in cooking.

These include cucurbits (e.g., squash, pumpkin, and cucumber), tomato, peas, beans, corn, eggplant, and sweet pepper, spices, such as allspice and chillies.

Occasionally, though rarely, a culinary "fruit" will not be a true fruit in the botanical sense.

For example, rhubarb may be considered a fruit, though only the petiole is edible.

In the culinary sense, a fruit is usually any sweet tasting plant product associated with seed(s),

a vegetable is any savoury or less sweet plant product, and a nut any hard, oily, and shelled plant product.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en...

From = A Botanist

Answer 15

i was always told it a fruit

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/f...

Answer 16

it is acually none. Studies are proving that its is its own. They are calling fruitables. because it is none of thouse and grows on a vine like berries

Answer 17

It's a fruit.  Berries are classified as fruits as well. I think that people tend to classify fruits and vegetables by taste, and that's where the confusion comes from. If it tastes sweet, it's probably a fruit, if it isn't sweet, it's a vegetable. But of course that isn't how it works.

Answer 18

fruit...

Answer 19

I'm pretty sure it's fruit..

Answer 20

Its a veggie. Microsoft Encarta defines it this way:

tomato   [tə mtō]

(plural tomatoes)

noun

1.  food red vegetable: a round vegetable with bright-red, occasionally yellow, skin and pulpy seedy flesh. It grows like fruit on climbing plants and is widely eaten cooked or raw.  

2.  plants tomato plant: a climbing plant that yields tomatoes and is native to South America but is grown as an annual throughout the world, in northern regions usually in greenhouses.

Genus: Lycopersicon

[Early 17th century. Alteration of Spanish tomate , from Nahuatl tomatl .]

Answer 21

a fruit!! i guess.........i've always known one as a fruit!

Answer 22

In the U.S., the Supreme Court has decided that the tomato is a vegetable, even though botanically it's a fruit. The U.S. deignated it a vegetable in in 1890's for taxation purposes.