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Tomato: Fruit or Vegetable?

T

tikwanleap

Senior member
My co-workers were talking about this during lunch...

Most people consider tomatoes a vegetable, but some were arguing that it is actually a fruit because it has seeds. Then the counter-arguement was that fruits also are sweet so that's why a tomato is not a fruit.

So which is it? 😕
 
Originally posted by: tikwanleap
My co-workers were talking about this during lunch...

Most people consider tomatoes a vegetable, but some were arguing that it is actually a fruit because it has seeds. Then the counter-arguement was that fruits also are sweet so that's why a tomato is not a fruit.

So which is it? 😕
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onions are sweet!
 
Originally posted by: Kalvin00
I guess technically it's a fruit? 😕
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Yea technically it is.

But doesn't that mean green beans, snap peas, etc. are also fruits?

I believe squashes, pumpkins, zuchinies, cucumbers - anything related to the melon family, is also a fruit.

I think the rule is that vegetables = stems and roots.
 
Culinarily it is considered a vegetable.
Botanically it is considered a fruit.

Both are correct. It depends on why you want to know.

Edit: Being a botanist, I personally call them a fruit, but it honestly doesn't matter.
 
botanically they are considered fruit, BUT in the earlier years (not too sure, 1850 or something) the court decided to consider tomatoes as a vegatable because of import taxes. there was a tax on fruit but not on vegatables.
 
Originally posted by: Bryophyte
Culinarily it is considered a vegetable.
Botanically it is considered a fruit.

Both are correct. It depends on why you want to know.
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Just because. Why ask why? :evil:😛
 
Originally posted by: ActuaryTm
Originally posted by: tikwanleap
So which is it? 😕
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Answer.
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Fruit or vegetable?

Botanically speaking a tomato is the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant. This would mean that technically it would be considered a fruit. However, from a culinary perspective the tomato is typically served as a meal, or part of a main course of a meal, meaning that it would be considered a vegetable. This argument has led to actual legal implications in the United States. In 1887, U.S. tariff laws which imposed a duty on vegetables but not on fruits caused the tomato's status to become a matter of legal importance. The U.S. Supreme Court settled this controversy in 1893, declaring that the tomato is a vegetable, along with cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas, using the popular definition which classifies vegetables by use, that they are generally served with dinner and not dessert. The case is known as Nix v. Hedden.

In concordance with this classification, the tomato has been proposed as the state vegetable of New Jersey.
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Ok, I guess that's the correct answer. Thanks ActuaryTm!
 
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