Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the edible parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however. Therefore the usage is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation.

Generally speaking, a herbaceous plant or plant part which is regularly eaten as unsweetened or salted food by humans is considered to be a vegetable. Mushrooms, though belonging to the biological kingdom Fungi, are also generally considered to be vegetables, at least in the retail industry.[1][2] Nuts, seeds, grains, herbs, spices and culinary fruits are usually not considered to be vegetables, even though all of them are edible parts of plants.

Is it a fruit or a vegetable?
A simplified Venn diagram shows the overlap in the terminology of "vegetables" in the culinary sense and "fruits" in the botanical sense.
A simplified Venn diagram shows the overlap in the terminology of "vegetables" in the culinary sense and "fruits" in the botanical sense.

The word "vegetable" is a culinary term, not a botanical term. The word "fruit" on the other hand can be a culinary term or a botanical term, and these two usages are quite different.

Botanically speaking, fruits are fleshy reproductive organs of plants, the ripened ovaries containing one or many seeds. Thus, many botanical fruits are not edible at all, and some are actually extremely poisonous. In a culinary sense however, the word "fruit" is only applied to those botanical fruits which are edible, and which are considered to be a sweet or dessert food such as strawberries, peaches, plums, etc.

In contrast to this, a number of edible botanical fruits, including the tomato, the eggplant, and the bell pepper are not considered to be a sweet or dessert food, are not routinely used with sugar, but instead are almost always used as part of a savory dish, and are salted. This is the reason that they are labeled as "vegetables". Thus a plant part may scientifically be referred to as a "fruit", even though it is used in cooking or food preparation as a vegetable.

The question "The tomato: is it a fruit, or is it a vegetable?" found its way into the United States Supreme Court in 1893. The court ruled unanimously in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is correctly identified as, and thus taxed as, a vegetable, for the purposes of the 1883 Tariff Act on imported produce. The court did acknowledge however that botanically speaking, a tomato is a fruit.

[edit] A list of vegetables defined as different parts of plants

* Flower bud: broccoli, cauliflower, globe artichokes
* Seeds: Corn
* Leaves: kale, collard greens, spinach, beet greens, turnip greens, endive
* Leaf sheaths: leeks
* Buds: Brussels sprouts
* Stems of leaves: celery, rhubarb (sometimes called a fruit because sweet pies are made from it)
* Stem of a plant when it is still a young shoot: asparagus
* Underground stem of a plant or tuber: potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potato (often incorrectly called a yam in the USA), also the true yam
* Whole immature plants: bean sprouts
* Roots: carrots, parsnips, beets, radishes, turnips
* Bulbs: onions, garlic, shallots

* Fruits in the botanical sense: tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, capsicums (bell peppers and hot peppers), eggplant, tomatillos, christophene, okra, also the following:
o Legumes: peas, beans
o Whole unripe seed pods of legumes: green beans, snap peas