In a botanical sense, there are many plants most people consider vegetables that are actually fruits.
The most famous example is probably the tomato. Its status as a fruit or a vegetable was so controversial that in 1893 the Supreme Court had to weigh in and settle the issue.
What it comes down to isn’t sweetness, but seeds. “Any thing that grows on a plant and is the means by which that plant gets its seeds out into the world is a fruit,” Merriam-Webster dictionary wrote. Fruit isn’t part of the plant itself, but a reproductive part growing from the plant.
“The thing a tomato plant produces isn’t a part of the plant itself, any more than the egg a chicken lays is part of the chicken,” the dictionary said. Even though tomatoes are technically a fruit, it doesn’t stop people from treating it and most of the other foods on this list as a vegetable.
When we eat vegetables, on the other hand, we’re eating the plant itself or some of its parts, like roots, stems, or leaves.
Tomatoes are not the only example of common vegetables that are actually fruits.
Here are 10 more foods you’ve mistaken for vegetables
1.Peppers – Every kind of pepper, from the bell pepper to the jalapeño, is a fruit and not a vegetable.
2. Pumpkins are full of seeds. Pumpkins and all other gourds are technically fruits, not vegetables.
3. Cucumbers – Speaking of gourds, cucumbers are an unexpected member of that family, too. So that would put them on the fruit list.
4. Ocra – Packed with fiber, potassium, and vitamin C, okra is one of the most nutritious fruits out there.
5. Avocados – although it doesn’t seem like a fruit, avocados are actually single-seeded berries.
6. Corn – Corn is treated like a grain in agriculture and like a vegetable in the kitchen. But scientifically, neither of those categories are right. Those kernels are the seeds that corn plants use to reproduce, so that qualifies corn as a dry fruit.
7. Chickpeas – Another common legume is chickpeas or garbanzo beans. We usually don’t see them inside their pods, but chickpeas are classified the same way as peas and beans.
8. Peas aren’t actually the fruit, but the pods are. That’s because they contain the seeds — the peas — that the plant uses to reproduce.
9. Beans – Just like peas, beans are a member of the legume family — they’re seeds that come in pods, and that makes them fruit.
10. Zucchinis are a member of the gourd family, meaning just like cucumbers and pumpkins, they’re considered a type of berry.
Source: www.businessinsider.com
