What is a vegetable and what is a fruit and how to tell the difference between them. How fruits differ from vegetables: benefits and differences Vegetables and fruits how to distinguish

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08.05.2018

The reason for the existing confusion in the definition of fruits and vegetables is not primarily scientists - biologists, but culinary specialists. Historically, over time, the biological characteristics of products faded into the background, since the main part of people, when classifying fruits, began to focus solely on their taste characteristics according to the principle:

Sweet fruits are fruits belonging to the group of desserts

More savory in taste and suitable for cooking as a main course or side dish, these are vegetables

Let's look at a few examples:

Tomato. Vegetable or fruit?

It is noteworthy that in distant Spain this culture is called " Pomi del Peru", which translates as " peruvian apple". In Italy, this plant is called " Pomo d'oro" or " Golden Apple". The loving French called tomatoes the beautiful phrase " poma amoris", which translates as " love apple", and the ancient Aztecs called the tomato" Tomatl" or " large berry”, which is closest to the scientific designation of the plant.

The fact is that, according to its botanical characteristics, the tomato is a multi-star syncarp berry. Its fruits have a thin skin and rich juicy pulp with small seeds inside. Why not a berry?

Although if we carefully consider the method of growing tomatoes, we will see that it is very similar to the methods of growing all other representatives of the vegetable crop family, since the tomato is a tilled annual plant. This factor also introduces some confusion.

In Ukraine, it is customary to erroneously refer to tomatoes as vegetables, since tomatoes, like other vegetable crops, are used to prepare salads, sauces and first courses. They are pickled, stuffed, baked and so on.

Cucumber. Vegetable or fruit?

Another extremely popular and widespread vegetable crop is the cucumber. It is noteworthy that this plant has been purposefully cultivated by man for more than three millennia, and today there is a huge variety of its various varieties and hybrids.

In fact, a cucumber is a fruit that looks like a climbing vine, which, with the help of its spiral curls, reaches up, diligently clinging to any obstacles and structures.

Let's put an end to the long dispute: Who is who?

To begin with, it is necessary to define what is a fruit and what is a vegetable, because, as it turned out, neither the color of the plants, nor their external shape, nor the size and configuration of the fruit is absolutely important to find the truth.

Fruit

Fruits are edible fruits whose main natural function is to store the seeds by which plants reproduce. Based on this definition, cucumbers, eggplants, legumes, corn, and even nuts are nothing but fruits.

The fruit is the edible part of the plant, but separates from it as it matures so that the seeds can enter the ground and eventually germinate.

Vegetables

As for vegetables, they are also the edible part of the plant, but may consist of leaves, stems, roots, bulbs, and inflorescences.

Among other things, botanists divide the group of vegetables into the following types:

Leafy (spinach, lettuce)

Root crops (beets, carrots, radishes)

Stems (celery, rhubarb, ginger)

flower buds (cauliflower and broccoli)

Thus, it is determined that from a purely botanical point of view, fruits are the fruits of plants that develop from a flower and contain seeds. And if so, then legumes, corn, pumpkin, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and so on, should be attributed to fruits, since all these plants produce flowers and produce seeds. Based on this principle, nuts and cereals are also fruits.

Vegetables are the edible parts of herbaceous plants: stems, leaves, roots, and even flower buds.

This has been sorted out a bit.

Alternative points of view

However, in the countries of the European continent, there is a completely different approach to the method of determining fruits and vegetables. All the juicy fruits of plants (and in particular, berries and drupes) are referred to as fruits, so a tomato, from the point of view of a European, is a fruit. Again, a complete mess.

There is another method for separating fruits and vegetables. It is quite simple: If the part of the plant that feeds the fruit beneficial substances and moisture remains unchanged for several years, which means that this crop is a fruit. Dot. If not, then we have a vegetable.

If you look from this point of view, say, at fruit garden trees, then they all have long-term boles and branches, and only fruits and leaves are subject to annual renewal. And, for example, such a crop as the same tomato is grown annually and at the end of the season the plant dies. Thus, a tomato is a vegetable.

But what about, for example, a banana? Nothing complicated.

The fact is that in the banana palm, which bears well-known fruits, the annual renewal of wood is hidden from view, since it occurs in the inner part of the tree, while the outer part (bark) remains unchanged. Therefore, people who call bananas fruits make a mistake. The situation is similar with pineapple.

But if we take, for example, the date palm, then its fruits (dates) are actually fruits, since the physiology of these two plants is significantly different from each other.

The traditional grape is also a fruit because it has perennial stems and a single root system.

Nuts, as mentioned above, also belong to the representatives of fruit crops, but peanuts are called a nut by mistake. He is a 100% vegetable.

According to this principle, strawberries should be attributed to vegetables, and shrubs such as currants or gooseberries to fruits.

Botanical definition berries: a fleshy fruit that develops from a single ovary. Grapes are a good example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit, in which the ovary transforms into an edible pericarp as it matures. The berry may have one or more thinly coated carpels with a fleshy interior. The seeds are usually embedded in the flesh of the ovary (there are some exceptions, such as peppers). The plant that produces the berries is called berry-bearing or berry(fruits that look like berries but aren't actually berries can also sometimes be called "berries").

In everyday life, any small berry fruit is called a "berry". These "berries" are typically juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly colored, sweet or sour, and seedless, although seeds may be present.

A large number of berries, such as tomatoes, are edible, while others from the same plant family, such as belladonna fruit ( Atropabelladonna) and potato fruits ( Solanumtuberosum) are poisonous to humans. Some berries, such as red peppers ( Capsicum), around the seeds is not pulp, but free space.

botanical berries

In botanical terms, a berry is a fruit in which the seeds and fruit pulp develop from the same ovary. The ovary may be inferior or superior.

Examples of botanical berries include:

Avocado ( perseaAmericana), a single-seeded berry
Barberry ( Berberis; Berberidaceae)
Bearberry ( Arctostaphylos spp.)
Bilberry (blueberry)
coffee berries
Crowberry ( Empetrum spp.)
Currant ( Ribs spp; Grossulariaceae), red, black and white
Elderberry ( SambucusNigeria; Caprifoliaceae)
gooseberry ( Ribsspp; Grossulariaceae)
Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus Emblica)
Grape , ( Vitis vinifera)
Honeysuckle: The berries of some species are edible, while others are poisonous ( Lonicera spp; Caprifoliaceae)
Cowberry ( VacciniumVitis- idaea)
Canadian pride or viburnum Lentago ( Viburnum spp; Caprifoliaceae)
Oregon Grapes ( Mahoniaaquifolium; Berberidaceae)
strawberry tree ( Arbutusunedo), not to be confused with the common strawberry (strawberry)
Tomatoes and other species of the nightshade family
Boxthorn

Altered Berries

Citrus fruits such as orange, kumquat and lemon are berries with thick skin, very juicy inside, they have a special name - " orange».

Berries that develop from the lower ovary are sometimes called epigon mi or false berries, while true berries develop from the upper ovary. A feature of epigone berries is that tissues taken from the parts of the flower and located behind the body of the ovary are included in the structure of the berry. The flower tube, formed from the basal part of the sepals, petals and stamens, becomes fleshy as it matures and connects to the body of the ovary, forming fruits. Common fruits sometimes classified as epigone berries include bananas, coffee, members of the genus Vaccinium(e.g. cranberries and blueberries) and members of the Cucurbitaceae family (e.g. cucumbers, melons and gourds).

Another specialized term is used for fruits from the genus Cucurbitaceae, which have a hard outer rind. They are called " pumpkins» ( Pepos). While gourds are the most common plants in the gourd family, the fruits passionflower and papaya sometimes also referred to by the term "Pumpkin".

Non botanical berries

Many fruits that are commonly referred to as berries are not actually berries according to the scientific classification, but fall into one of the following categories:

TOostochkovye

Stone fruits are fleshy fruits with a hard layer surrounding the seed, formed from a (usually) single seed ovary.

Bird cherry ( Celtis spp; cannabaceae)
Pennsylvania cere

Other stone-like, single-seeded fruits that do not have a stony endocarp include:

sea buckthorn ( HippophaeRhamnoides; Eleagnaceae). The achene is surrounded by hypanthium, which forms a fleshy layer.

pome fruits

The pome fruits produced by plants in the Rosaceae family, such as apples and pears, have a structure (core) that clearly separates the seeds from the tissue of the ovary. However, some small pome fruits are sometimes called berries, such as the bright red hawthorn from the genus Crataegus, or blueberry-like fruits of irgi.

Composite fruits (Infructescence)

Combined fruits contain seeds from different ovaries of the same flower. Examples are blackberries and raspberries.

complex fruits

Complex fruits consist of several flowers that merge with each other or are closely spaced. The mulberry is a berry-like example of a complex fruit. It develops from a cluster of tiny individual flowers that shrink as the fruit develops.

false fruits

In false fruits, the edible part is not formed from the ovary. Berry-like examples:

Strawberries - the “fruit” is actually a set of seed-like achenes obtained from a set of ovaries, and the fleshy part develops from a receptacle (false inflorescence)
sea grapes ( Coccolobauvifera; Polygonaceae) - the fruit is in a dry capsule surrounded by a fleshy calyx
Wintergreen ( Gaultheriaprocumbens) - the fruit is in a dry capsule surrounded by a fleshy calyx

Color and Potential Health Benefits

Since the berries have a good contrast with their surroundings, they are more attractive to the animals that eat them, thus aiding in the dispersal of plant seeds.

Berries have color due to the presence of natural pigments in plants, many of which are polyphenols such as flavonoids, anthocyanins, tannins. Pigments are mainly localized in the skin and seeds of berries. Berry pigments are usually antioxidants, they have the highest among herbal products, oxygen radical adsorption capacity (ORAC). Taking into account the good nutritional content and ORAC, some types of berries have been allocated to a new category. functional products food called "superfruits".

However, to date, no physiological evidence has been found that the polyphenols found in berries have antioxidant effects within the human body, so the claim that polyphenols have antioxidant health benefits, often seen on food labels in the US and Europe, is invalid.

Every day? Did you know that tomatoes and beans are not one iota of vegetables?
If you are interested in the formal side of the issue, then you need to know that fruits are the edible fruits of a tree or shrub (definition by T.F. Efremova). The function of the fruit is to store seeds, which help to increase the number of flowering plants, i.e. The seeds contained in fruits are the way plants reproduce. This means that eggplants, cucumbers, corn and peas are actually fruits. Formally, nuts are also fruits.

What is the difference between fruits and vegetables

Vegetables are the edible part of the plant. They can be made up of leaves (lettuce), stems (celery), roots (carrots), bulbs (onions), and even flowers (broccoli). If you don't agree, and you think that fruit is also an edible part of the plant, then you're right. The only difference is that over time, the fruit separates from the plant so that the seeds can germinate.

A common misconception is that fruits should be sweet, which means that all other unsweetened fruits should be vegetables. But such a division should not be taken as a rule, because even an ordinary tomato, which many consider a vegetable, is actually a fruit! Even pumpkins and zucchini, from a formal point of view, belong to the fruit family, and all because they belong to the gourd family.

It is generally accepted that fruits can be found on trees or that part of the trees that is above the ground. Due to the fact that the tomato is a herbaceous or semi-shrub plant, and not a tree, there is confusion. In addition, we are used to the fact that the fruit is sweet and juicy, and we do not eat tomatoes like ordinary ones.

It is interesting to note that in 1893 Supreme Court The United States unanimously recognized that when levying customs duties, tomatoes should be considered vegetables (although based on the definitions given from the authoritative Merriam-Webster and Worcester's Dictionary dictionaries, the judge recognized that, from a botanical point of view, tomatoes, as well as cucumbers, pumpkins, peas and beans are fruits: "Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas", but in Everyday life they are eaten like vegetables (they are eaten for lunch with main courses, not for dessert, like fruit): “usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert" . In 2001, the European Union decided that tomatoes, as well as cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and watermelons, belong to fruits: “for the purposes of this Directive, tomatoes, the edible parts of rhubarb stalks, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and water-melons are considered to be fruit".

When nutritionists talk about the need to strike a balance between fruits and vegetables, you need to make sure that you eat what. To make the difference, you can use a simple rule: you need to find out if the fruit has seeds. If there are seeds, then, most likely, you have a fruit in front of you, and if not, then a vegetable.
Both fruits and vegetables should be part of our diet. Fruit provides us with our daily requirement of antioxidants, vitamin C, and essential fiber. Vegetables also have nutritional value. They help to remove toxins from the body, contain some vitamins and proteins. People whose diet does not include fruits suffer from a lack of vitamins and proteins. Compared to fruits, vegetables contain less sugar and more fiber.
The next time you're shopping for carrots and wondering what they really are, don't hesitate. Most importantly, eat both vegetables and fruits, as they give a boost of vitamins and vigor!

Conclusions:
1) According to dictionary definitions, fruits are the edible fruits of a tree or shrub that serve to propagate the corresponding plants, and vegetables are the edible part of a plant.
2) The basis of the general misconception that tomatoes are vegetables is the reckoning of tomatoes as herbaceous or semi-shrub plants, and not trees.
3) To determine the type of fetus, you must follow simple rule: if the fruit has seeds, then you have a fruit in front of you, and if not, then a vegetable.

Each of us knows from childhood that the best sweets and the most healthy desserts are fresh fruits and berries. Fruits plucked directly from the garden are considered especially vitamin. We love to eat them not only fresh, but also make jams from them, add them to cereals and yogurts, and also make other dishes.

What is the difference between these two groups? How is a berry different from a fruit? How to distinguish one from the other on your own at home, without resorting to the help of a botany guide? You will find answers to these questions in our material.

What is a fruit?

V modern world the variety of such fruits is simply amazing, and supermarket shelves are literally overflowing with not only domestic, but also exotic fruits and berries.

First, let's deal with scientific terminology.

Generally speaking, the word "fruit" came to Russian from the Latin language and in a literal direct translation it means "fruit". In scientific circles, in particular among botanists, fruits are called that way.

If we explain scientific terms in simple terms, it turns out that a fruit is the fruit of a tree or plant that contains the seeds necessary for subsequent distribution.

It is worth noting that when using the word “fruit”, scientists mean the juicy and edible pulp of the plant, which has a clearly defined shape in space.

What is a berry?

We figured out the fruits, now let's talk about berries.

A berry is a type of fruit that has a fleshy texture and contains many seeds inside. Among scientists, the definition of a berry sounds like "a kind of multi-seeded fruit."

It turns out that the main characteristic and the main difference between a berry and a fruit is the presence of seeds inside the fruit.

General and different

If, from a scientific point of view, all this has become more or less clear, from a practical point of view, the question is still not completely clear. How to distinguish between fruit and berries at home? In order to understand this issue, it is necessary to consider some important characteristics.

So, the primary role is played by the size and volume of the fetus. It is believed that a berry can be freely clasped with two fingers of one hand, and in order to clasp a fruit, it is necessary to bring the whole brush to work, or even both.

It is also worth noting the fact that the bulk of fruits are cultural (or garden) fruits, they are specially cultivated and bred by people in gardens and kitchen gardens, intended for further consumption. At the same time, most types of berries can be wild - for example, everyone knows the phrase "forest berries".

Interesting! Usually, the phrase "wild berries" means a mix of blackberries, black and red currants, as well as cranberries.

Another difference is that often the berries can be poisonous (e.g. wolfberries). That is why you should not eat or even taste fruits that are unfamiliar to you.

At the same time, fruits cannot be poisonous. This group includes exclusively edible and edible fruits.

It is important to pay attention to the presence of seeds inside the pulp of the fruit. If there are any, then you are eating a berry. In fruits, seeds are completely absent, but there is one large bone.

It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the bulk of fruits and berries have a sweet taste (bitter or sour notes may be present), however, do not forget about exceptions. For example, lemon is sour, while avocado has an almost neutral taste. However, these fruits should not be confused with vegetables.

Thus, knowing these features and facts, you can independently figure out whether you eat a fruit or a berry. At the same time, one should also take into account the fact that there are a large number of botanical nuances and scientific details that only a professional researcher can deal with.

You can learn more about the differences between berries and fruits by watching the following video.

Our nature is quite amazing and multifaceted. To penetrate deeper into her secret depths, you should familiarize yourself with interesting information about fruits and berries.

It is believed by the people that it is quite simple to distinguish between fruit and berries. You need to know how and where this fruit grows. So, it is customary to think that fruits grow on trees, and small shrubs are the domain of berries. This is not entirely true. Indeed, according to this principle, cherries can be attributed to fruits, which is not true. This statement is most likely a folklore fiction, and not a scientifically substantiated fact.
Botanical science calls strawberries and strawberries "false berries". The thing is that in the formation and development of these fruits, not the last value (except for the ovary) is the so-called receptacle. The fruits of these plants themselves can be called overgrown receptacles or even nuts.
Botanists refer to fruits such as orange and lemon as berries, but avocado, by the way, is a fruit.
In the CIS countries, among ordinary people everyone's favorite tomato is considered a vegetable, domestic botanists call this fruit a berry, and scientists working in the United States of America call a tomato a fruit (this provision is enshrined at the state level). This is such a versatile fruit.
Contrary to popular belief, melon and watermelon are berries, not fruits, although there are other views on this issue.

Thus, we were able to make sure that everything in botanical science is not as simple as it seems at first glance. So, many fruits that we consider fruits are considered berries (and vice versa).

In order to accurately determine the subspecies of the fetus, all special characteristics, as well as similar and different features, should be taken into account.

In everyday life, the ability to classify fruits into these groups will help you demonstrate your erudition and a broad outlook. In addition, this knowledge will be useful in order to be able to explain the botanical tricks of plants to your child.

We all use vegetables every day for cooking, eat fruits, but very rarely think about the difference between fruits and vegetables.

What is the difference between fruits and vegetables

"Fruit" is usually called any fruit, consisting of pulp and seeds, and formed from the ovary of a flower.

Vegetables are the edible part of the plant. They can be made up of leaves (lettuce), stems (celery), roots (carrots), bulbs (onions), and even flowers (broccoli).

And if it’s simple, then from the point of view of botany, a fruit, what with seeds (pits), and a vegetable without.

The difference between fruits and vegetables

Fruits are the fruits of a plant, while vegetables are any part of it;
Fruits necessarily contain seeds that are subsequently able to germinate and give life to a new plant, and vegetables are a part of a plant that is not capable of reproducing its own kind;
Fruits grow on plants that have both hard and soft stems, as for vegetables, they are part of plants that are only herbaceous.

Fruits are divided into three main classes:

- fleshy fruits with seeds, such as oranges, melons, berries and apples;

- stone fruits such as cherries, plums, peaches;

- dry fruits such as nuts, cereals, beans and peas.

If it surprises you that botanists consider beans and peas to be fruits (because they contain seeds), then you will be even more surprised to learn that cucumbers and squash are also called fruits. It depends on how seriously we want to take this field of knowledge. In addition, in different parts of the world there are different traditions: the same edible part of the plant is considered a fruit in one place and a vegetable in another.

Just like in animals, there are families in the plant world. Did you know that cabbages, turnips, radishes, asparagus, and cauliflower, for example, all belong to the same family of vegetables?

Lettuce, chicory, and artichoke belong to a different family of vegetables. The gourd family includes cucumbers, melons, and pumpkins. The legume family includes peas, all types of beans, peanuts and soybeans.