You might not think about fruits and vegetables much except when you're having a salad, noshing on an apple or eating a casserole. What is a fruit and how is it different from a vegetable? Does this Spark an idea?
Ovaries and Ovules
Plants use their fruits to reproduce themselves. The flowers of the plant are pollinated. After fertilization, the seeds are surrounded by a fleshy growth, or a fruit. The fruit is a ripened ovary and the seeds within are ovules that contain the genetic material to reproduce the plant. That fruit is the plant's way of establishing itself into new areas. In most cases, the growth is edible for at least some animal species. Animals and birds carry off the fruit to new areas for propagation, or eat the fruit and spread the plant seed through their waste matter.
Fruits can be borne on trees such as pears, pomegranates and oranges. Fruiting vines include grapes, watermelon and cantaloupe. Bushes that bear fruit include raspberries and blackberries.
Sweet Fruits
When referring to fruits, most people mean a fruit that is edible by humans and is sweet such as apples, peaches or blueberries. Fruits can have one large seed such as a plum or many seeds such as watermelon. Strawberries are false fruits because the seeds are not enclosed by the fruit but on the outside. Some fruits such as raspberries and pomegranates have a gel-like substance around each seed. Two of the largest seeded fruits are avocados and mangoes. Bananas have some of the tiniest seeds.
Fruits That Are Vegetables
Some fruits are considered vegetables because they are not sweet. Cucumbers, squash, tomatoes and peppers are all fruits. Beans, peas, eggplant and pumpkins are fruits as well.
Vegetables
The term is used as a catch-all for edible plant material which is not categorized elsewhere. There really isn't a scientific definition for vegetable. The term has come to include the leafy parts of edible plants such as cabbages, kale, lettuces and spinach; edible flowers such as broccoli, artichokes and cauliflower; roots such as parsnips, beets and carrots; or the stems such as celery and rhubarb. Vegetables also include edible tubers such as white potatoes and sweet potatoes. Bulbs such as onions, leeks, scallions and garlic are vegetables, too.
Eating Vegetables and Fruit
Vegetables and fruits can be eaten raw or cooked. Some vegetables are more palatable and easier to digest if cooked because the heat breaks down the cellular walls. Cooking can bring out the sweetness in the vegetables.
Tags: Some fruits