Sunday, 3 February 2013


Click here for the 'Seeds of Eaden' seed shop

Fruits and vegetables are referred to differently in botanical, culinary and retail terms, and terms are often used interchangeably. Tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, squashes and gourds are all fruits. Peas and beans are vegetables, but if eaten in the pod are considered fruit.

Although often referred to in culinary terms as a fruit, rhubarb is in fact a vegetable. Bananas have immature seeds within them. Strawberries have their seeds on the outside of the fruit. Peanuts are a variety of bean. Nuts are tree seeds.

What is a fruit

A fruit is the swollen ovary of a flowering plant, and therefore contains seeds.  The fruit is produced to help plants colonise wider areas and are often brightly coloured and flavoursome in order to attract animals to eat the seeds. They are ingested by the animal and then deposited in their droppings. Some seeds require this digestion in order to aid germination of the seed. 

What is a vegetable

A vegetable is any other part of the plant harvested for food such as the seeds, root, stem or leaf of a plant.

Examples of Vegetables

Asparagus (stem), Beans (seeds), broccoli (flowers), cabbage (leaves), carrot (roots), celery (stem), cauliflower (flowers), lettuce (leaves), peas (seeds), potato (root), rhubarb (stem).

Examples of Fruit

Apple, aubergine, banana, bell peppers, cherry, cucumber, melon, orange, peapods, peach, pear, strawberry, tomato.

For related articles click onto:
Differences between vegetables and fruit
Record breaking fruit and vegetables
Shade loving fruit and nuts
The anatomy of vegetables
The worlds largest vegetable
What is a potager?
What is a vegetable?
What is the difference between a currant, raisin and a sultana?
What is the difference between a marrow and a courgette?
What is the difference between a peach and a nectarine?
What is the difference between a squash, pumpkin and a gourd?
What is the difference between a turnip and a swede?
What is the difference between a yam and a sweet potato?
What is the difference between a vegetable and a fruit?
Which plant has the largest seed?
Which plant has the largest leaves?
Which plant has the largest flower?
Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?
Vegetable crop rotationWhy don't seedless grapes have seeds?

No comments:

Post a Comment