What is the technical difference between a fruit and a vegetable???!
What is the technical difference between a fruit and a vegetable???
Is it all down to sweetness???
Answers:
The main thing is that fruits have seeds contained in them, but vegetables don't, there are a few acceptions on each side though,,,,,,,also the tomato is undecided, the supreme court ruled that it would be classified as a vegetable for trade purposes only
It has to do with how they grow. A vegetable grows under ground or very close to the ground. A fruit grows above ground... generally in tall trees.
no its about the plant it is grown on and which part of the plant it is...... here is what wikipedia said
The term fruit has different meanings depending on context. In botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary―together with seeds―of a flowering plant. In many species, the fruit incorporates the ripened ovary and surrounding tissues. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds.[1] In cuisine, when discussing fruit as food, the term usually refers to those plant fruits that are sweet and fleshy, examples of which include plums, apples and oranges. However, a great many common vegetables, as well as nuts and grains, are the fruit of the plant species they come from.[2] No single terminology really fits the enormous variety that is found among plant fruits.[3] The cuisine terminology for fruits is inexact and will remain so. The term false fruit (pseudocarp, accessory fruit) is sometimes applied to a fruit like the fig (a multiple-accessory fruit; see below) or to a plant structure that resembles a fruit but is not derived from a flower or flowers. Some gymnosperms, such as yew, have fleshy arils that resemble fruits and some junipers have berry-like, fleshy cones. The term "fruit" has also been inaccurately applied to the seed-containing female cones of many conifers.[4]
With most fruits pollination is a vital part of fruit culture, and the lack of knowledge of pollinators and pollenizers can contribute to poor crops or poor quality crops. In a few species, the fruit may develop in the absence of pollination/fertilization, a process known as parthenocarpy.[5] Such fruits are seedless. A plant that does not produce fruit is known as acarpous, meaning "without fruit".[6]
It's the amount of sugar. Vegetables contain less sugar. Rhubarb is commonly used like a fruit (cakes, jams), yet it's a vegetable.
Fruits are classified in science as Angiosperm, which contains seeds
Vegetables are classified in science as Gymnosperms which do not contain seeds
How can you say that vegetables have no seeds...they all do. And some of the vegetables are the seeds themselves like Peas or Beans. And I've always heard that tomato is a Fruit.
The terms fruit and vegetable are confusing only if you do not keep your sciences straight.
I botanist looks at a flowering plant and sees : roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. A botanist would use the word vegetation but never the word vegetable.
Switch gears now to the nutritionist. A nutritionist will classify foods based upon how they are used in meals. Usually sweet or tart foods will be called fruits... thus rhubarb, which is the "stem" part of a plant according to a botanist becomes a "fruit" for the nutritionist.
On the other hand the mellow tasting avocado will be called a vegetable by the nutritionist while the botanist will recognized it as a seed bearing fruit.
I teach a unit in science to primary students about eating plant parts. The children learn that beets, carrots, onions and turnips are the root part of a plant. Celery is a good example of a stem that we eat. Various lettuce would be edible leaves. Broccoli is one of the few flowers in our diets.
The children are all familiar with sunflower seeds. We open a pumpkin (a fruit to a botanist ) and roast the seeds
fruit has seeds and vegetables don't have seeds