The homeland of tomatoes is considered to be South and Central America. Christopher Columbus brought an exotic plant to Europe at the turn of the XV-XVI centuries, since then there has been debate, a tomato is a fruit or vegetable.
- Berry
- Vegetable
- Fruit <
- Output <
Are the tomatoes fruits or vegetables?
Berry
What is a tomato – a berry or a vegetable? The science of plants relates it to the Solanaceae family. The stem of a tomato is grassy, its height can be different: from 0.3 to 2.0 m.
Biologists attribute the round or oval fruit of the plant to multi-nest berries, which contradicts the household definition of tomatoes. The basis for such a classification is the following definition: a berry in botany is a small fleshy or juicy fruit that does not need to be cut when eaten. Is the statement true that a tomato is a berry?
Tomatoes are grown in vegetable gardens as a vegetable plant, they cannot be used as a dessert. Juicy and tasty, different in size and color, they are used as a side dish or addition to meat or fish dishes. This contradicts the assertion of scientists that a tomato is a berry.
Vegetable
At the end of the 19th century by considering what Tomato – vegetable or fruit. dealt with the US Supreme Court. In English for a long time there was no division of fruits into fruits or vegetables, so the question of the species affiliation of tomatoes did not arise. The reason for the interest of lawyers in the problem was commonplace – the payment of taxes.
According to the laws of this country, a businessman importing vegetables that could be grown within the United States was required to pay customs duties. Imports of fruits were not subject to such duties.
The court in the case of Knicks v. Hadden ruled that a tomato is a vegetable. The following definitions became the basis for such a decision:
- tomatoes grow on beds together with other crops;
- tomatoes can be used raw, like cucumbers, and added to dishes as an integral component;
- they can be used as a side dish for second courses;
- tomatoes cannot be served as a dessert, and used for sweet pastries, like traditional fruits and berries.
Tatyana Orlova (candidate of agricultural sciences):
Existence uet more classifications for the production of vegetable crops on economic grounds. It takes into account the combination of biological and production characteristics of plants. According to this classification, vegetables are divided into root vegetables, leafy vegetables, onions, etc. But the tomato, pepper, eggplant from the nightshade family are classified as fruit vegetables.
In Russia and in many European countries they consider that tomato is a vegetable.
Tatyana Orlova (candidate of agricultural sciences):
In agronomy it is customary for science in different countries to consider the fruits of perennial woody and shrub plants (strawberries are an exception. It is a fruit, but grows on grassy bushes), and various food organs of herbaceous annuals and perennials are vegetables. There is an exception here. This is tomato perennial woody plant with red fruits colors like tomatoes.
Fruit
Tomatoes can o consider fruit
The European Union decided to recognize tomato as fruit in 2001. Such a decision on the status of tomatoes, similar to the verdict of the US Supreme Court, aims to regulate trade relations of countries participating in the common market.
To understand, a tomato is a berry, a vegetable or a fruit, you need to determine what is considered a vegetable in biology:
- the presence of parts of the plant that it obviously cannot reproduce: these are stems, leaves, roots and buds;
- they are edible, cookable, have a taste different from sweet.
Vegetables include:
- sorrel and leaf lettuce (leaves);
- carrots and parsley (root vegetables);
- colored cabbage (kidneys).
The term fruit has replaced the designation “fruits” in everyday speech.Botany considers them those parts of a plant that develop from flowers and contain seeds within themselves. In ordinary life, the fruit is considered the sweet fruit growing on trees or shrubs.
According to this point of view, a lot of plants that we consider vegetables to be fruit can be attributed to fruits (inside of them there are seeds intended for propagation):
- bean;
- pumpkin and zucchini;
- cucumbers;
- peppers.
coming from In this classification, a tomato is a fruit, it develops from seeds (which confirms the position of EU experts).
Conclusion
According to the canons of biological science, a tomato is a juicy fruit but in the domestic sense and in agriculture, tomatoes are considered vegetables.
The value of tomatoes for health is undeniable: the unique compound lycopene lowers cholesterol and lowers blood pressure.
