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The age-old conundrum has a solution—both! it’s Tomatoes are fruits that dietitians classify as vegetables. A fruit is a matured flower ovary that carries seeds. Fruits such as tomatoes, plums, zucchinis, and melons are all edible, but so are maple “helicopters” and floating dandelion puffs. People got stuck up on tomatoes for some reason, although the “fruit or vegetable” issue could apply to any vegetable containing seeds.
Currently, the word “fruit” refers to sweet and fleshy botanical fruits, while “vegetable” refers to a broad range of plant components that are not as rich in fructose. Vegetables are often offered as a side dish or as a snack in many cultures, while sweet fruits are typically served as snacks or desserts. Nutritionists regard roots, tubers, stems, flower buds, leaves, and some botanical fruits, such as green beans, pumpkins, and, of course, tomatoes, to be vegetables. There is no hard-and-fast rule that clearly designates a botanical fruit as a vegetable, but, given that tomatoes are generally not used in desserts and are closely related to other fruit-vegetables (e.g., eggplants and peppers), it is not too counterintuitive for tomatoes to be classified as vegetables.
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Related Questions
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Is tomato a vegetable in Canada?
A tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable.
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Is tomato a fruit or vegetable in Australia?
The botanical classification: Tomatoes are fruits.
A botanical fruit contains at least one seed and develops from the plant’s blossom. With this definition in mind, tomatoes are classified as fruit because they contain seeds and grow from the flower of the tomato plant. -
Are tomatoes only native to America?
Tomatoes are native to South America, in fact, several species are still found growing wild in the Andes. Tomatoes were brought to Mexico and tamed and farmed by 500 BC.
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Is tomato legally a vegetable?
A tomato is a fruit, according to botany. However, in common parlance it is a vegetable; hence the United States Supreme Court ruled that a tomato is a vegetable for the purposes of the customs regulations.
