So today I am going to be discussing a topic that, in my
opinion, a lot of idiots try to weigh in on. That is the debate over whether a
tomato is a fruit or a vegetable.
There is something you need to know when trying to determine
the classification of a tomato, and that is the fruit is both a scientific term
and a culinary term, while vegetable is only a culinary term. The definition of
the word “vegetable” is any part of any plant that is used for food (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vegetable),
so by this definition a tomato is a in fact a vegetable, but so is every fruit.
The scientific definition of “fruit” the developed ovary of a plant, so basically
anything with a seed (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fruit?s=t).
The culinary definition is any sweet tasting plant part. This is what throws people
off. A tomato is not sweet, but is does have seeds so it fits both definitions.
So now we have to look at the definition of vegetable, and according to that the
tomato is a fruit. I have considered the evidence and while both definitions make
a good argument it is my professional opinion that the tomato is a vegetable.
So naturally upon learning this my t question was “then how the
@#$% is a banana a fruit if it doesn’t have any seeds in it?” I was able to determine
that the bananas we eat have been selectively bread to produce smaller and smaller
seeds because that’s what the consumers want. When you take a bite into a banana
you can see small black dots organized in a circle around the center, those are
the seeds.
One thing that I am still unsure about is how seedless watermelon
is considered a fruit. I have always thought of it as a fruit, but according to
the dictionary definition it is not. I did some fairly extensive research trying
to find the answer to this question, but with no success. So if anyone knows anything
about this topic and would like to enlighten me, please feel free to. (361 words)
