TheWahbinator Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Botanically speaking a tomato is the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant. This would mean that technically it would be considered a fruit. However, from a culinary perspective the tomato is typically served as a meal, or part of a main course of a meal, meaning that it would be considered a vegetable. This argument has led to actual legal implications in the United States. In 1887, U.S. tariff laws which imposed a duty on vegetables but not on fruits caused the tomato's status to become a matter of legal importance. The U.S. Supreme Court settled this controversy in 1893, declaring that the tomato is a vegetable, along with cucumbers, squashes, beans, and peas, using the popular definition which classifies vegetables by use, that they are generally served with dinner and not dessert. The case is known as Nix v. Hedden. Considering the scientific attributes, it's a fruit. But how would you classify it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironman273 Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Well, the quote you provided it answers it pretty well... Most people will view it as a vegetable because they are probably eating it as a food, not examining it in a lab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoXY Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 IT'S A Vegetable BUT I CLICK THE WRONG VOTE! :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Veteran Posted September 21, 2005 Veteran Share Posted September 21, 2005 It's a vegetable :yes: Horticulturally speaking, the tomato is a vegetable plant. The plant is an annual and nonwoody. Most fruits, from a horticulture perspective, are grown on a woody plant (apples, cherries, raspberries, oranges) with the exception of strawberries. In 1893, the United States Supreme Court ruled the tomato was a "vegetable" and therefore subject to import taxes. The suit was brought by a consortium of growers who wanted it declared a vegetable to protect U.S. crop development and prices. Fruits, at that time, were not subjected to import taxes and foreign countries could flood the market with lower priced produce. (A hundred years really hasn't changed anything.) source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illicit Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 Vegetable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot B. Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 I see it as a vegetable. Supermarket do too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Derf Veteran Posted September 21, 2005 Veteran Share Posted September 21, 2005 I'll go with the technical/scientific choice rather than the legal solution of convenience. Plus, I'll have a tomato for dessert tonight just to be contrary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttus Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 so it's actually both? it's a fruit served as a vegetable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VazaGothic Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 I see it as a vegetable. Supermarket do too. 586557938[/snapback] Since when supermarkets are the source of all knowledge :-) I see it as a fruit, though most people think of it as a as a veggie. Similar case with whales and dolphins and orcas. They swim in water, so they have to be fishes, don't they :) ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Derf Veteran Posted September 21, 2005 Veteran Share Posted September 21, 2005 Since when supermarkets are the source of all knowledge :-)I see it as a fruit, though most people think of it as a as a veggie. Similar case with whales and dolphins and orcas. They swim in water, so they have to be fishes, don't they :) ? 586557990[/snapback] I always had to laugh at the Buffalo Bills's slogan of "Squish the Fish" when they played Miami. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phedot Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 It's a Vegetable... I don't like fruit in my salads... So it is a vegetable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leesmithg Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 It's a fruit. So is a Bean Pod also confused to be a vegetable. As for supermarkets knowing anything about what they sell, ho ho, they should only sell seasonal goods then we might have a better diet in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonkwell Bogtrotter Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 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. :D Much like the Banana is a herb and not a fruit ;) Is a banana a fruit or a herb? Both. A banana (the yellow thing you peel and eat) is undoubtedly a fruit (containing the seeds of the plant: see answer regarding tomatoes), though since commercially grown banana plants are sterile, the seeds are reduced to little specks. However, the banana plant, though it is called a 'banana-tree' in popular usage, is technically regarded as a herbaceous plant (or 'herb'), not a tree, because the stem does not contain true woody tissue. http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq.../banana?view=uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mando Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 a tomato is a fruit for 2 reasons 1) it produces a flower which is pollenated and a berry is formed on the plant. 2) its a vehicle to spread its own seed. (the tomato) 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).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. supermarkets cant be trusted they sell a product called "Baby Corn" its not fekking baby corn the vegetable is called Okra!!! (one of my pet hates) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leesmithg Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 ^^^^ I still cannot understand how it can be used as a vegetable in cooking. I cook the tomato as a fruit always, never crosses my mind that it could be a vegetable I'm using. I think it's usually that people eat cheap tomatoes, you know the bitter ones. Try a sweet red vine tomato, you will soon realise it's a fruit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kangxi Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 emm, ya, i like both friuts and vegetables!!!!!!! so. i like tomato!!! i think it is fruit.... er, maybe, it is vegetable...... or both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZappBrannigan Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 so it's actually both? it's a fruit served as a vegetable? 586557958[/snapback] That sounds best way of putting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Derf Veteran Posted September 21, 2005 Veteran Share Posted September 21, 2005 I think it's usually that people eat cheap tomatoes, you know the bitter ones.Try a sweet red vine tomato, you will soon realise it's a fruit. 586558154[/snapback] Yea, the small vined-ripened really red coloured tomatoes that you get from a fruit store are very different then those big-blunky cheap things from the discount supermarket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawasabi Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gfunk4life Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 fruit its just not sweet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE BAT Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 Fruit, I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Veteran Posted September 22, 2005 Veteran Share Posted September 22, 2005 I know its a fruit, but I follow consumer trends and call it a vegetable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 fruitits just not sweet 586562203[/snapback] eat one with salt :happy: yum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blik Posted September 22, 2005 Share Posted September 22, 2005 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. ? Tomato A Red Tomato Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Subkingdom: Tracheobionta Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Subclass: Asteridae Order: Solanales Family: Solanaceae Genus: Solanum Species: S. lycopersicum Binomial name Solanum lycopersicum L. The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family, native to South, Central America and Mexico. It is an annual plant, typically growing to 1-3 m long, with a weakly woody stem that usually scrambles over other plants. The leaves are 10-25 cm long, pinnate, with 5-9 leaflets, each leaflet up to 8 cm long, with a serrated margin; both the stem and leaves are densely glandular-hairy. The flowers are 1-2 cm across, yellow, with five pointed lobes on the corolla; they are borne in a cyme of 3-12 together. The fruit is an edible, brightly coloured (usually red, from the pigment lycopene) berry, 1-2 cm diameter in wild plants, commonly much larger in cultivated forms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdog Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 biologically it is a fruit of a tomato plant. Nutritionally it is a vegetable. M-W: Fruit:a product of plant growth (as grain, vegetables, or cotton) notice how it has vegetables included in the def. Its like comparing apples to oranges (no pun intended ;)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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