Mind Blown: Fruits Vs. Veggies

I heard something the other day that actually blew my mind…

A pepper is considered a fruit.

Crazy, right?! That’s not the only thing that shocked me though. So are avocados…and tomatoes…and a whole list of other things that I have been living my whole life thinking were vegetables. If you are ready to have your mind blown, listen up to the science behind what determines a fruit from a vegetable.

First you need to ask yourself this question…”Does it have seeds?” If the answer is yes, botanically – and technically – you have yourself a fruit. Seeds are typically thought of as small, but this isn’t the case all of the time.  You know the pit of an avocado? Well that pit is a seed, making an avocado a fruit. Same goes for olives. To summarize, a fruit is part of the plant or tree that we eat, which develops from a flower and contains seeds.

Vegetables on the other hand are either the leaf, root, stem or flower bud from a plant or tree, and do not contain seeds. Vegetables are more obvious to pick out, and include things like Broccoli, Cauliflower, Celery, Carrots, etc…

For a fun fact of the day, or to solidify your knowledge when discussing fruits and vegetables, I wanted to share the below lists with you all as I find them quite interesting.

fruits

fruits

Fruits commonly mistaken as vegetables: Tomatoes, Peppers, Beans, Peapods, Avocado, Squash, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Olives, Corn Kernels, Pumpkins & Nuts.

veggies

veggies

Typical Veggies: Lettuce (Kale, Spinach, etc…), Beets,  Cauliflower, Broccoli, Carrots, Potatoes, Celery, Cabbage

nuts picture

Another thing I couldn’t believe made the fruit list are nuts. Nuts are technically a fruit that is made up of a hard shell and a seed. Never ever did I think these delicious snacks classified as a fruit. So crazy!

What surprised you all the most?

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9 years ago

whatever you call ’em, just eat lots of ’em! ;)

Linz
9 years ago

Technically there is no part of a plant that is considered a vegetable. Like you said, a pepper, a cucumber, eggplant or other seed-bearing parts of the plant are fruits. While things like carrots and potatoes are roots and lettuce and kale are leaves. A vegetable is purely a culinary word and generally is used to describe more savory parts of plants used in cooking. So yes while tomatoes and peppers and squash are technically fruits, in cooking they are considered vegetable just as lettuce and carrots are.

Pat
9 years ago

I knew about tomatoes, but not the others. Thank you for giving me this information.

9 years ago

I’m so surprised by cucumbers and peppers! I knew about tomatoes and avocadoes, but had no idea the difference between fruits and veggies.
Regardless, I’m not craving a really colorful salad!

<3 dani
http://blog.shopdisowned.com

Anna
9 years ago

Yes, the truth is, that technically nothing can be called a vegetable. To parts of plants, that are mainly used in sweet food you use the word “fruit”, for salty stuff you use “veggie”, so you can actually call a tomato a vegetable, because that’s just a category in gastronomy. But (sorry for bitching) you’ve never been to a biology class? I don’t know how it goes there, but I thought that it’s something really basic to know, that if you have something and a plant can grow out of it (so has seeds in it), then it’s a fruit; like, you can find seeds in everything that you call a fruit. So isn’t it obvious?

9 years ago

This post made me hungry. thank god you’ve only posted healthy food :)

lettersandbeads.blogspot.de

9 years ago

And I am pretty sure that tomatoes are actually berries. :)

Linz
9 years ago

Yeah but a berry is a type of fruit soooo

rls
9 years ago

Would eggplant be considered a fruit too? And then how do the ‘nightshades’ apply with this defintion?

Anonymous
6 years ago

avacados? Beans? PePpErS? PEA PODS?!

Anonymous
5 years ago

this is awesome

Mona lisa
5 years ago

Is tamal considered fruit or veggie?

sps
2 years ago
Reply to  Mona lisa

“Tamal” is the correct name for a tamale. A tamale is usually made with both fruits and vegetables.

Anonymous
5 years ago

So we don’t eat as many veggies as we thought!

I don want to say my name
4 years ago

that means I don’t like veggies

kiki
3 years ago

Holy Crap, Nuts are FRUITS

Darla Hand
3 years ago

I’m completely blown away right now! BEANS including green & string, peppers, squash, peapods, cucumbers, NUTS, olives and corn kernels!! My 14 month grandson ,who l’m raising, watches educational videos daily and they teach him that tomatoes are a vegetable. I know better but researched it anyhow only to be surprised by all of the others! GREAT job descriptions! I learned something new!!! Thank You!!!!!!!