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We started by scanning Yahoo!'s Fruits and Vegetables categories. We uncovered a number of interesting web sites, but realized the answer would be more easily found with a specific search. We typed "difference between fruit and vegetable" into the Yahoo! search box and quickly discovered some relevant web pages. Ask Dr. Dictionary, a feature of Dictionary.com, provides a succinct
explanation: A fruit is actually the sweet, ripened ovary or ovaries of a seed-bearing plant. A vegetable, in contrast, is an herbaceous plant cultivated for an edible part (seeds, roots, stems, leaves, bulbs, tubers, or nonsweet fruits). So, to be really nitpicky, a fruit could be a vegetable, but a vegetable could not be a fruit. The Nutriquest team offers a similar answer, adding that most fruits are sweet because they contain a simple sugar called fructose, while most vegetables are less sweet because they have much less fructose. The sweetness of fruit encourages animals to eat it and thereby spread the seeds. The site also presents an interesting list of fruits that are often thought to be vegetables: - tomatoes
- cucumbers
- squashes and
zucchini
- avocados
- green, red, and yellow peppers
- peapods
- pumpkins
But hey, what about the nut? Well, according to our friends at The Straight Dope, a nut is actually a "a dry, one-seeded, usually oily fruit." Potato potahto, tomato tomahto, let's call the whole thing off.
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