What makes a vegetable a vegatable and what makes a fruit a fruit?

Question

my mother would like to know because she is a bit confused about it

Answer 1

Fruits have seeds and vegetables don't!

A food like tomato that tastes like vegetable but has seeds is considered a fruit but it is a herb also not a vegetable cause vegetables don't have seeds!

Answer 2

I found this on a Google search...

To the best of my knowledge and research the definition of fruit is:

The ripened seed-bearing part of a plant when fleshy and edible.

In other words, a "fruit" is any fleshy material covering a seed or seeds. Most fruits, from a horticultural (science of cultivating) perspective, are grown on a woody plant, with the exception of strawberries.

Or you can say, generally a fruit is the edible part of the plant that contains the seeds. So your eggplant, tomato, cucumber and zucchini are fruits.

To the best of my knowledge and research definition of vegetable is:

A herbaceous (green and leaf like in appearance or texture) plant cultivated for an edible part, as roots, stems, leaves or flowers. Or you may say a vegetable is the edible stems, leaves, and roots of the plant.

Some people think rhubarb is a fruit, because it is used to make pies. But, rhubarb is a vegetable.

Answer 3

VEGETABLE….From Wikipedia

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The term "vegetable" generally means the edible parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however. Therefore the usage is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation.

Generally speaking, a herbaceous plant or plant part which is regularly eaten as unsweetened or salted food by humans is considered to be a vegetable. Mushrooms, though belonging to the biological kingdom Fungi, are also generally considered to be vegetables, at least in the retail industry.[1][2] Nuts, seeds, grains, herbs, spices and culinary fruits are usually not considered to be vegetables, even though all of them are edible parts of plants.

In general, vegetables are regarded by cooks as being suitable for savory or salted dishes, rather than sweet dishes, although there are many exceptions, such as pumpkin pie.

Some vegetables, such as carrots, bell peppers (or Capsicum as they are known in Australia) and celery, are eaten either raw or cooked; while others, such as potato, are traditionally eaten only when cooked.

The word "vegetable" is a culinary term, not a botanical term. The word "fruit" on the other hand can be a culinary term or a botanical term, and these two usages are quite different.

Botanically speaking, fruits are fleshy reproductive organs of plants, the ripened ovaries containing one or many seeds. Thus, many botanical fruits are not edible at all, and some are actually extremely poisonous. In a culinary sense however, the word "fruit" is only applied to those botanical fruits which are edible, and which are considered to be a sweet or dessert food such as strawberries, peaches, plums, etc.

FRUIT….From Wikipedia

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Fruits in the botanical sense: tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, capsicums (bell peppers and hot peppers), eggplant, tomatillos, christophene, okra, also the following: Legumes: peas, beans; Whole unripe seed pods of legumes: green beans, snap peas.

Answer 4

vegetables don't have seeds but fruits do, a tomato is a fruit i think

Answer 5

Fruits have seeds and veggies don't. And also fruits can be more fattening.

Answer 6

I think one you need to cook and another  you can eat raw. If you eat some vegetable raw it won't give you the taste but all fruit you can eat raw.

I think this one may be clarify difference.

Answer 7

sugar content (btw people...veggies DO have seeds ! think about it....cucumbers,eggplants, okra, squash...)

Answer 8

Generally fruits have seeds and vegetables don't.

But...

Here is a dictionary definition of a vegetable:

The edible part of a plant, such as the root of the beet, the leaf of spinach, or the flower buds of broccoli or cauliflower.

And a dictionary definition of a fruit:

The ripened ovary or ovaries of a seed-bearing plant, together with accessory parts, containing the seeds and occurring in a wide variety of forms.

A tomato is an edible part of a plant. It is also a ripened ovary which contains seeds. Therefore it is a fruit AND a vegetable.

The answer depends on who you are: a scientist? a greengrocer? I'll give you the botanist's answer:

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!

Answer 9

when you see leaf, stalk, roots, usually it's vegetable.  when it's round and has seed, it's fruit.  when it comes to cucumber, bitter curd, usually the difference is you wait for the fruit to become ripe and sweet.  you don't wait for a cucumber to become ripe before you eat it so it's a vegetable.  hope this answer is simple and easy to understand and make you tell the difference between a fruit and a vegetable.

Answer 10

WELL my friend, fruits are enlarged plant ovaries & vegetables are any edible parts of the actualy plant itself

Answer 11

fruits have seeds and vegetables don't.