EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -To a botanist, a fruit is an entity that develops from the fertilized ovary of a flower. This means that tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, corn kernels, and bean and pea pods are all fruits; so are apples, pears, peaches, apricots, melons and mangos.

Detailed explanation-2: -According to the botanical definition, then, cucumbers are considered fruits. You might not think of cucumbers as fruit, but in botanical terms they have more in common with melons such as cantaloupe and watermelon than with other vegetables.

Detailed explanation-3: -The botanical classification: Cucumbers are fruit. A botanical fruit would have at least one seed and grow from the flower of the plant. With this definition in mind, cucumbers are classified as fruit because they contain tiny seeds in the middle and grow from the flower of the cucumber plant.

Detailed explanation-4: -Tomatoes fit the scientific definition of fruit as they form from a flower and contain seeds. So botanically, tomatoes are fruit. However, the way we eat them and treat them in cooking means that they also fall into the legal category of vegetables.

Detailed explanation-5: -Tomatoes are botanically defined as fruits because they form from a flower and contain seeds. Still, they’re most often utilized like a vegetable in cooking. In fact, the US Supreme Court ruled in 1893 that the tomato should be classified as a vegetable on the basis of its culinary applications.