Are tomatoes fruits or vegetables?
The homeland of tomatoes is South and Central America. An exotic plant was brought to Europe by Christopher Columbus at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, since then there have been disputes whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable.
Are tomatoes fruits or vegetables?
Berry
What is a tomato after all - a berry or a vegetable? Plant science classifies it as a member of the Solanaceae family. The stem of a tomato is herbaceous, its height can be different: from 0.3 to 2.0 m.
Biologists classify the round or oval fruit of the plant as a multi-nested berry, which contradicts the household definition of tomatoes. The basis for this classification is the following definition: a berry in botany is a small fleshy or juicy fruit that does not need to be cut when eaten. Is it true that a tomato is a berry?
Tomatoes are grown in vegetable gardens as a vegetable; they cannot be used as a dessert. Juicy and tasty, different in size and color, they are used as a side dish or addition to meat or fish dishes. This contradicts the scientists' assertion that the tomato is a berry.
Vegetable
At the end of the 19th century, considering the question of what a tomato is - a vegetable or a fruit. dealt with by the US Supreme Court. For a long time, there was no division of fruits into fruits or vegetables in English, so the question of the species belonging of tomatoes was not raised. The reason for the interest of lawyers in the problem was trivial - the payment of taxes.
According to the laws of that country, a businessman importing vegetables that could be grown within the United States had to pay customs duties. Fruit imports were not subject to such duties.
The court in Knicks v. Hedden ruled that the tomato is a vegetable. The basis for such a decision was the following definitions:
- tomatoes grow in beds together with other crops;
- tomatoes can be used raw, like cucumbers, and added to dishes as an ingredient;
- they can be used as a side dish for main courses;
- Tomatoes should not be served as a dessert or used for sweet pastries like traditional fruits and berries.
Tatiana Orlova (Candidate of Agricultural Sciences):
There is also a production classification of vegetable crops according to economic characteristics. It takes into account the totality of biological and production characteristics of plants. According to this classification, vegetables are divided into root vegetables, leafy vegetables, bulbous, etc. But tomato, pepper, eggplant from the Solanaceae family are classified as fruit vegetables.
In Russia and in many European countries, it is believed that a tomato is a vegetable.
Tatiana Orlova (Candidate of Agricultural Sciences):
In the agronomic science of different countries, it is customary to consider the fruits of perennial woody and shrub plants as fruits (the exception is strawberries. This is a fruit, but it grows on herbaceous bushes), and vegetables are various food organs of herbaceous annuals and perennials. There is an exception here as well. This tomato is a perennial woody plant with red fruits like tomatoes.
Fruit
Tomatoes can be considered fruits
In 2001, the European Union decided to recognize the tomato as a fruit.This decision on the status of tomatoes, similar to the verdict of the US Supreme Court, aims to regulate trade relations between countries participating in the common market.
To understand, a tomato is a berry, vegetable or fruit, you need to determine what is considered a vegetable in biology:
- the presence of plant parts with which it obviously cannot reproduce: these are stems, leaves, roots and buds;
- they are edible, can be cooked, taste different from sweet.
Vegetables include:
- sorrel and lettuce (leaves);
- carrots and parsley (root vegetables);
- cauliflower (kidney).
The term fruit has replaced the designation "fruit" in everyday speech. Botany considers them to be those parts of a plant that develop from flowers and contain seeds inside them. In ordinary life, sweet fruits growing on trees or shrubs are considered fruit.
According to this point of view, many plants can be attributed to fruits, which we consider to be vegetables (inside them there are seeds intended for propagation):
- legumes;
- pumpkin and zucchini;
- cucumbers;
- pepper.
Based on this classification, a tomato is a fruit, it develops from seeds (which confirms the position of EU experts).
Output
According to the canons of biological science, a tomato is a juicy fruit, but in everyday life and in agriculture, tomatoes are considered vegetables.
The health value of tomatoes is undeniable: the unique compound lycopene lowers cholesterol and lowers blood pressure.
