Tomatoes=simple discussion. Are they fruits?

[ScreamingMeemie]

Or vegetables? I put them in my salad, which is mainly vegetables, unless I put chicken or cheese in with...or maybe an egg. But then, I remember hearing somewhere that they might be fruits.

Discuss.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. LOL This is one of my favorite elementary Science discussions

Our textbooks are mixed on this topic. About half call them fruits and half call them veggies.

I say fruit cause of the seeds inside the tomatoes. Folks who call them veggies do so because they are served as a veggie with veggies.

I will look it up when I get to school today.

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. I would appreciate that.

I can always count on you proud! :hi:

[LynneSin]

2. Personally I think all tomatoes should die except...

..those being used in Ketchup, which according to Ronald Reagan, is a vegetable

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. Well, they are quite hyped up, I'll give you that.

But, the one that always gets overlooked is the eggplant. :shrug:

[LynneSin]

5. Eggplant is a starch

That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

[warrior1]

6. http://www.askoxford.com/

The confusion about 'fruit' and 'vegetable' arises because of the differences in usage between scientists and cooks. Scientifically speaking, a tomato is definitely a fruit. True fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, and contain the seeds of the plant (though cultivated forms may be seedless). Blueberries, raspberries, and oranges are true fruits, and so are many kinds of nut. Some plants have a soft part which supports the seeds and is also called a 'fruit', though it is not developed from the ovary: the strawberry is an example. As far as cooking is concerned, some things which are strictly fruits may be called 'vegetables' because they are used in savoury rather than sweet cooking. The tomato, though technically a fruit, is often used as a vegetable, and a bean pod is also technically a fruit. The term 'vegetable' is more generally used of other edible parts of plants, such as cabbage leaves, celery stalks, and potato tubers, which are not strictly the fruit of the plant from which they come. Occasionally the term 'fruit' may be used to refer to a part of a plant which is not a fruit, but which is used in sweet cooking: rhubarb, for example. So a tomato is the fruit of the tomato plant, but can be used as a vegetable in cooking.

[LaurenG]

9. That has always bothered me, the part about

ketchup being a vegetable. I make fun of that statement every chance I get. That was one of the stupidest things I've ever heard about kids lunches. Well, make that the stupidest thing.

[Ravenseye]

7. Fruits - but it's ok

I know other people who put other fruits in their salads...berries...apples...little mandarin orange slices...

Personally I hate fruit in salad (other than Tomatoes)

[Callalily]

8. According to this

tomatoes are fruit.
http://www.thefruitpages.com/tomatoes.shtml

Either way, it's a most versatile food. One of my favorites.

[billyskank]

10. I say they are fruits and am prepared to do battle with all who deny me!

:rofl:

[tjwmason]

12. In that case should I switch my reply below.

Just to get some fun thrown into a boring Monday?

[billyskank]

13. Hey, I'm not duelling you

you once threatened to kick my knackers in a fight over the hand of JimmyJazz! :rofl:

[tjwmason]

14. Damn - damn - damn. No fair.

I can't remember threatening that though - not that it's unlikely...

Are you still in contact with J.J.? - if so, send her my best wishes.

[billyskank]

15. I haven't spoken with her for some weeks now

After a while she didn't answer my mails any more. :(

[tjwmason]

16. Sorry to hear that billy.

:hug:

I hope that she's well, and if she's reading this then she better e-mail you.

[billyskank]

18. I hope she's well too

:)

[tjwmason]

11. Fruits.

The notion that fruits have to be sweet is just plain silly.

[supernova]

17. They're fruit

:D

Anything with seeds in it is technically a fruit because the edible fruit is the engorged egg casing for the seeds.

[DelawareValleyDem]

19. Yes

So are cucumbers

[schmuls]

20. I remember reading in an encyclopedia as a child, "Botanically

speaking, a tomato is a berry". It has always stayed with me, for some reason!

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. My research:

Fruit or Vegetable?
An interesting aspect of tomato history is the classic debate: Is the Tomato a Fruit or Vegetable? I guess that depends on whom you are asking. By definition, a fruit is the edible plant structure of a mature ovary of a flowering plant, usually eaten raw; some are sweet like apples, but the ones that are not sweet such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc. are commonly called vegetables. Botanists claim that a fruit is any fleshy material that covers a seed or seeds where as a horticulturists point of view would pose that the tomato is a vegetable plant. Until the late 1800's the tomato was classified as a fruit to avoid taxation, but this was changed after a Supreme Court ruling that the tomato is a vegetable and should be taxed accordingly.
http://www.tomato-cages.com/tomato-history.html

So even this discussion has political overtones. LOL