Eggplant is a vegetable or berry
One of the most popular plants grown in the garden is eggplant. At the same time, it is not clear whether eggplant is a vegetable or a berry?
Eggplant is a vegetable or berry
Characteristic
The culture grows in a bush that reaches about 50-70 cm in height.
Its fruits are large, cylindrical in shape, covered with a dark, glossy skin on the outside. There is a light flesh inside.
The plant is resistant to climate change, has high yield rates. However, all this does not give an exact answer to the question of what an eggplant is: a fruit or a vegetable. The eggplant fruit looks like a big berry.
Fruit, berry or vegetable
Fruit
The fruit is defined as the edible fruit of a tree or shrub. Theoretically, any fruit is called a fruit, but in some modern dictionaries there is a clarification - "sweet". By this criterion, eggplant cannot be considered a fruit.
Vegetable
The edible part of the plant or the solid plant food was called a vegetable. The culinary definition of a vegetable was given to the fruits of plants that are eaten without heat treatment. This definition is given to many vegetables, such as:
- cucumber;
- a tomato;
- carrot;
- pepper.
Scientists think differently about eggplant
But potatoes, for example, are also called vegetables, although they are not accepted raw. But potatoes are a root crop, so there is no doubt that it is a vegetable. Eggplant is not a root vegetable. So maybe the eggplant fruit is a berry at all? Or does the eggplant look like a fruit?
Berry
It is customary to call a berry a small fleshy fruit that appears due to a set of flowers, and a glossy coating goes on top of it. Eggplant is great for this description. But according to the logic of this description, a berry can be called a tomato, zucchini, orange. But strawberries and raspberries, on the other hand, do not meet this definition at all. So is it possible that an eggplant is a berry?
According to culinary experts, eggplant is a vegetable. The biologist will deny this fact. In the scientific field, eggplants have been given the name Solánum melongéna (dark fruit nightshade). Nightshade belongs to the genus Solanaceae. And the classification of this family refers them to the berry. That is, if you trust the botanical classifications, then the eggplant is a berry. In this case, it is generally accepted to call the fruit a vegetable.
Beneficial features
The culture has a high content of nutrients and vitamins necessary for the body.
Magnesium, vitamins C, B3, B6, K, copper, folic acid, potassium - all this is present in this plant. It is useful for the body, both as prevention of diseases, and simply, as a carrier of many vitamins.
Eggplant is also useful for losing weight: this berry has a low calorie content. It can help maintain a figure while providing the body with nutrients, which is beneficial for losing weight. There are many varieties of cooking this fruit, but it is the stewed eggplant that can improve kidney function and digestion.
Care
The culture is demanding, and in order to get an annual harvest, you must be meticulous in caring for the seedlings. Watering is done 2 times a week during the growing season.In the hot season, the seedlings should be watered more often, every other day. Frequent feeding with mineral fertilizers, up to the fruiting period, will also benefit the seedlings. Fertilizers begin after 2-3 days of planting in open ground. When the culture has given a tie, nitrogen-phosphate dressings are added.
The soil must be breathable for good root development, in heavy soil there is a risk of root death. Excess potassium in the soil also leads to the death of seedlings.
It is important to protect the culture from wind and severe frosts. For this culture, they select their own temperature regime, because if the temperature is too low, the seedlings will develop poorly.
Conclusion
In the question, eggplant is a berry or vegetable, the first option is the correct answer. For botanical reasons, crop products are berries. But in the common people it is called a vegetable, which is much more convenient to perceive.