Nov 3, 2023, 07:32 AM IST

8 vegetables that are actually fruits

DNA WEB DESK

A vegetable is the leaves, stems, flowers, and roots of edible plants. A fruit is the mature ovary of a plant. Anything that contains the seeds of the plant is a fruit, not a vegetable.

Tomato

Botanically, a tomato is a fruit—a berry, consisting of the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant.

Pepper

Peppers are fruits, botanically because they contain tiny seeds in the middle and grow from the flower of the pepper plant. 

Cucumber (kheera)

Botanically, cucumbers are fruits as they have seeds in the middle and grow from the flower of a cucumber plant. 

Brinjal/Eggplant

Brinjal or eggplant is actually a fruit that grows from flowers and belongs to the Solanaceae family and is classified as a berry botanically. It has a lot of little, edible seeds.

Okra/Lady's fingers

Okra/lady's fingers is a botanical fruit, meaning that it develops out of the same botanical part as other fruits, specifically the ovaries. 

Pumpkin

Botanically, a pumpkin is a fruit. Pumpkins are edible and full of seeds, so they are the fruit of the pumpkin vine. 

Sweet Corn

Botanically, corn is a fruit. It is produced from the flower or the ovary of the corn plant. Specifically, corn is classified as a caryopsis, a one-seeded fruit where the seed pod and the flesh are tightly joined together.

Bitter gourd or karela 

Bitter gourd or karela is a fruit in the gourd family with a unique appearance and flavor.