Why is a tomatoe considered a fruit? Is a watermelon a vegetable or fruit and why?

A tomato is actually classified as a berry because it grows on a vine. I believe there are some other reasons as well.

A watermellon is a mellon because it grows on a vine, and on the ground, the seeds are on the inside and I think also because of the rine that protects the juicy goodness. So a that’s why a watermelon is a fruit.

Anything with a seed is a fruit.

Correct me if I am wrong: Fruit are the fertilized eggs of plants and contain seeds while vegetables do not contain seeds.

Beans and peas grow on vines. Many berries grow on bushes. A Mellon is a very rich guy.Tomatoes, at least here, grow on plants..I have two on my deck, and they shure ain’t vines.

Check out Tomato Taxonomy

Just to muddy the waters, all of the following are fruits not vegetables by the seed definition:

# Cucumbers
# Green beans
# Capsicum peppers
# Bell peppers

Fruit in botany has a different meaning than in culinary circles. Also, the common labels of vegetable or fruit pretty muddy and definitely not scientific terms.

And now that Marina, as always, has forced me to think, what about zucchini, yellow summer squash, Hubbard, winter, etc, pumpkins…

Maybe we can define fruits as those things that make delicious ice cream or are happy under whipped cream (ignore tomato ice cream, please.)

Actually, a tomato is considered a fruit because it grows above ground. Watermelons are fruit because they also grow above ground.

Seeds don’t really enter into the equation, neither do the fact they grow above ground, or that they grow on a vine.

Scientifically, the tomato is a fruit, because it is the ovum of a flowering plant. Legally, the tomato is a vegetable because the Supreme Court ruled that tariff rules apply to the traditional and colloquial definition of vegetable rather than scientific. In culinary circles, a tomato is a vegetable owing to the characteristics of its taste.

“Vegetable” isn’t a scientific term, so trying to use the scientific definition of “fruit” as a basis is flawed.

and @gailcalled – yep, squash, zucchini, pumpkin and cucumbers are all fruits from scientific classification. Everything in the gourd family is.

@gail…with your ice cream theory, then, how does garlic fit in? Garlic ice cream and Jelly Belly’s are yummy, believe it or not.

@Seesul You can have my share. :)

Don’t knock it before you try it. I didn’t think I would like it either.

Knock knock, Who’s there?

Garlic ice cream w. fudge sauce (NO): whipped cream (NO), on pasta (NO), on garlic ice cream bread (probably not). And since I have never eaten an authentic Jelly Belly (thank heavens and my fillings) I cannot imagine the ice cream.

However, pumpkin ice cream isn’t bad but not worth the calories.

Breyer’s Low Carb all the way for me—sans garlic sauce.