How do vegetables and fruits differ in cooking? A storehouse of useful substances

Instructions

Many may be surprised by the statement that a tomato is a vegetable, and, say, tea is a vegetable. However, from the point of view everything is so. In botany, fruits are the juicy fruits of trees or shrubs and the ripened ovaries of flowers. Essentially, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and eggplants, peas and beans fall under this category.

In botany, vegetables are any edible part of plants, with the exception of fruits, berries, nuts and seeds. There are still debates about root vegetables - whether they are vegetables, potatoes and the like, or whether they are modified systems. Most often they are classified as vegetables, because they are the edible part of the plant. However, raw potatoes, for example, are not considered a vegetable. But greens are also vegetables, which means that tea is also a vegetable, because it is greens that are eaten.

What are vegetables

Ozhegov's dictionary defines vegetables as root crops, bulbous, leaf and some other plants grown in ridges, as well as their fruits themselves. To put it more succinctly, it is the edible part of a plant that grows on the ground and is not a herb, fruit, grain, nut or spice.

All vegetables can be divided into several groups. The first includes root vegetables. These are the well-known carrots, beets, radishes, horseradish, etc. The second includes tubers - potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potatoes. The third group consists of onions - garlic, onion, leeks, shallots, wild garlic and others. The fourth group - cabbage - includes all varieties of cabbage (white, Savoy, Peking, Chinese - up to 50 types), rapeseed, mustard and highly valued by amateurs Japanese cuisine wasabi. The fifth group is tomato. It includes tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. The sixth group - legumes - includes beans, peas, chickpeas, soybeans, peanuts, and lentils. Representatives of the last seventh group of pumpkins are pumpkin, cucumbers, zucchini, and squash.

What are fruits and berries

From Latin “fruit” is translated as “fruit”. Therefore, the term “fruit” is absent in botany - the term “fruit” is used instead. By fruit, biologists understand the succulent organs of plants (not necessarily edible) that appear after the flower of the plant has faded and an ovary has formed in its place. Distinctive feature fruit is the presence of seeds, no matter whether large or small, hard or soft. Many vegetables also have these characteristics - cucumbers, tomatoes, as well as peas and nuts. Fruits are divided into pome fruits (apples, pears), stone fruits (peaches, apricots), citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines, lemons), subtropical and tropical (mango, avocado, pineapple, banana) and melons (watermelon, melon).

A berry, as botanists understand it, is a type of fruit containing many seeds. Based on this criterion, currants, bananas, watermelons, tomatoes, gooseberries, kiwis and even potatoes can be classified as berries. But strawberries, strawberries and rose hips are considered by experts to be false berries, since not only the ovary, but also the receptacle - the lower part of the flower, on which the sepals, petals, stamens and pistil are located - take part in fruit development.

Distinctive features of vegetables, fruits and berries

Having analyzed the above, we can deduce several fundamental differences between vegetables and fruits. First, vegetables are any part of a plant, and fruits are its fruit. Secondly, fruits necessarily contain seeds, which can subsequently germinate, thereby giving life to a new plant. A vegetable is only a part of a plant, which is completely incapable of reproducing its own kind. Third - fruits grow on plants with hard or soft stems, vegetables are part herbaceous plants. Fourth, fruits and berries differ in size and number of seeds.

As it turns out, the Russian ancestors were right when they called the overseas tomato fruit a “mad berry.” Not in the sense that tomatoes can cause rabies, but because they really do. In everyday life, it is unlikely that anyone will take advantage of this knowledge and begin to zealously defend the laws of botany for the sake of justice. Moreover, even the US Supreme Court renounced these laws in 1893, which for the sake of economic benefit(vegetables were subject to customs duties) classified the tomato as .

Following traditions despite science

Only in 2001, the European Union issued a decree requiring tomatoes to be classified as fruits. However, to overcome centuries-old traditions extremely difficult. As a rule, people differentiate between vegetables, fruits and berries according to taste and use in cooking. Something that has a sweet taste and is used to make desserts is fruit. And what is salted, stewed, pickled - vegetables. Therefore, fruits such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, and beans are considered vegetables in the same way as roots, tubers, and stems.

It must be said that the Italians were initially close to the truth when they called the tomato fruit pomo d’oro - golden apple. According to the definition of botanists, it really belongs to the fruit, and according to the type of fruit it is classified as a berry. Traditionally, fruit is often called everything that grows on a tree. However, citrus fruits grow on trees, zucchini, watermelon, and melon are located on long vines, and blueberries, cranberries, and lingonberries are located on low bushes. But they have one thing in common - they are all berries.

What do botanists say?

Science does not tolerate speculation and fantasies. If the fruit is a juicy pulp with many small seeds, then it is classified as a berry. And berries, in turn, are fleshy fruits, which also include apples, pears and many varieties of nightshade and. Another characteristic feature of fruits is the appearance of a fruit covered with a shell from the ovary of a flower. But many fruits appear from the ovary of a flower, so it would be more correct to divide the fruits into fleshy fruits, drupes (cherries, plums) and dry fruits (legumes, nuts).

It must be said that the Latin concept of fructus did not initially set the task of a clear gradation between varieties of fruit, since it is translated simply as “fruit”. The concept of a vegetable is rather not a biological term, but a culinary one, which is characterized in the famous Dahl dictionary as a “vegetable garden.” Therefore, for most people, their favorite garden fruits will remain vegetables.

Almost everyone loves fruits and berries. After all, they are so tasty and healthy! We admire the various fruits lying on the table: peaches, apples, pears, plums, apricots - and we don’t know which one to choose. We inhale the aroma of berries: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries - and our mouths water. And here is the watermelon... Is it really a berry too? What is the difference between a fruit and a berry? Let's try to figure it out.

What is the difference between a fruit and a berry?

What are fruits and berries?

Fruit – juicy fruit of a tree or bush

Berry - juicy, fleshy fruit

Comparison of fruit and berry

Fragrant berries and juicy fruits are very popular. It is probably impossible to meet a person who would be indifferent to such tasty and healthy delicacies.

Contemplating a large assortment of all kinds of apples, pears, peaches lying idly on the table, we involuntarily torment ourselves in uncontrollable attempts to decide which of them to give preference to. Catching the exquisite aroma of wild strawberries, strawberries or raspberries, the imagination draws wondrous images whose outlines cause dizziness.

Almost every day a person eats various fruits and berries, without particularly worrying about the differences and similarities between them. However, as for the opinion of experts, their statements on this matter are unambiguous and long-formed.

Biologists undoubtedly understand that it is possible to determine what a fruit looks like and what is considered a berry.

The term “fruit” is of Latin origin and translated into Russian means “ fetus" Therefore, in the scientific literature, the definition of fetus is used exclusively. This concept is used to describe the juicy and edible part of a plant in the form of a fruit formed as a result of pollination of a flower from the ovary. Simply put, a fruit is the fruit of any plant or tree that contains seeds for later reproduction. Thus, a fruit is, first of all, a fruit.

Based on this information, a logical conclusion suggests itself, based on which the fruit is a tomato, a melon, a peach, and a cucumber.

There are some varieties of berries that people are accustomed to classifying as fruits. In the everyday mind, melon and watermelon are perceived as fruits, and favorite cucumbers and juicy tomatoes as vegetables. Although, with scientific point From a perspective, due to their biological development, these crops are considered berries.

Nature treated man with great generosity, presenting him with various fruits as a gift. The palette of colorful fruits with their inherent unforgettable gastronomic qualities has forever become part of human life. Characteristic nutritional value and positive influence on the human body, due to the high content of healing elements and various vitamins, fruits are simply irreplaceable.

There are fruits that can be eaten and those that cannot be eaten.

A berry is considered to be a fruit with a fleshy and juicy structure, containing a large number of seeds and is a type of fruit. Science defines a berry as a type of multi-seeded fruit. Therefore, berries include gooseberries, bananas, watermelons, kiwis and even tomatoes.

An interesting nuance that is worth mentioning is the fact that botany considers strawberries and wild strawberries to be false berries. This position is largely explained by the fact that in the formation of the fetus, in addition to the ovary, receptacle. Due to natural formation, some fruits that we always perceive as fruits are, from a scientific point of view, berries. Prominent representatives of this group are citrus fruits. When people call oranges and lemons fruits, they often don't realize that they are actually real berries. Botany considers berries as Bell pepper with avocado, and eggplant with grapes.

No less interesting can be considered the situation that has formed around, beloved by domestic consumers - tomatoes. The fact is that throughout the post-Soviet space, science classifies the tomato as a berry, but for ordinary people it is an ordinary vegetable. A diametrically opposite situation has developed in the United States and the European Union, where tomatoes are, legally, legislative level determined by the fruit. The reason for this incident was the fact that large customs duties are levied on the vegetable group of goods.

However, in Everyday life, usually the term “berry” is applied to the fruit small size, round shape with bright color tone and sweet and sour taste. Therefore, in the understanding of the average consumer, berries are considered to be both real berries (gooseberries, currants) and false ones (strawberries, wild strawberries).

Similarities and differences

The size of the fetus is important. Usually you can grasp the berry with 2 fingers, but to pick up the fruit you will have to use at least the entire hand. In addition, a stereotypical understanding has taken root in the “popular” consciousness that fruits should grow on trees, but berries can only be found on small bushes. Following this folklore logic, rowan cannot grow on a tree, although such contradictions for ordinary person are not the object of mental stress. A similar contradiction is observed with cherries. People tend to perceive it as a berry, although it is localized on trees, and in terms of size, it has more in common with small fruits.

A characteristic difference between a fruit and a berry is the fact that the name “fruit” is used mainly to refer to fruits garden plants(cultivated), but berries can be fruits like cultural origin, and growing in natural natural conditions. The well-known phrase " berries“is perceived as something natural and natural, but “forest fruits” causes, at least, general surprise and bewilderment.

It is worth noting that the berries are classified as both edible and poisonous. A striking example related to the second group is wolfberry . Fruits cannot be poisonous by definition.

To summarize, you need to understand that for a scientist, a berry is a fruit. However, in everyday life, berries and fruits differ only in size. Additionally, in the “everyday” definition, fruits primarily form on trees, while berries grow on bushes. Fruits in most cases are the fruits of garden and domestic crops, but berries can grow in the wild. The fruit is characterized by the presence of a large bone core, but the berry has many seeds in its pulp.

In everyday life, every person uses fruits and vegetables for cooking, without thinking about whether there are any fundamental differences between them or not. Meanwhile, botanists have a clearly defined position on what exactly belongs to fruits and what to vegetables. Let's try to understand this difficult issue.

Fruits are the fruits of plants that appear after the flowers fade and the ovary forms. These fruits must have seeds, large or small, soft or hard - but they are always present in fruits. In addition, the shell around the seeds can be either hard (called the shell) or fleshy (called pulp). Many people believe that fruits mainly grow only on trees and shrubs, but due to the features described above, fruits can also include the fruits of plants, which many people traditionally consider vegetables. For example, botanists around the world are of the opinion that fruits include cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, pumpkin and strawberries.

Vegetables are the individual parts of plants that are suitable for cooking. These can be various tubers, soft stems, leaves or inflorescences, that is, those parts of plants that are not associated with reproduction. Vegetables do not have a hard, tall stem because they life cycle small enough. This is due to the fact that such plants are annuals, that is, they grow for only one year, and die with the arrival of cold weather. In this regard, there is no need to have a hard stem and strong leaves, since the main emphasis is on growing seeds that will be viable next year. But in this case, in most cases, plant seeds are not eaten by humans, with the exception of, for example, dill or corn.

If a person believes that vegetables and fruits differ only in what plants (tree or herbaceous) they grow on, then this approach is not entirely correct. Biologists are of the opinion that it is necessary to separate these concepts based on the specific part of the plant they relate to. In other words, fruits are ripened fruits that contain one or more plant seeds, while vegetables are any edible part of a plant, be it a root, leaf, tuber or stem.

Conclusions website

1. Fruits are the fruits of a plant, while vegetables are any part of it;
2. Fruits necessarily contain seeds, which are subsequently able to germinate and give life to a new plant, and vegetables are a part of the plant that is not capable of reproducing its own kind;
3. Fruits grow on plants that have both hard and soft stems; as for vegetables, they are part of plants that are only herbaceous.

Botanical definition berries: A fleshy fruit that develops from a single ovary. Grapes are good example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit, in which the ovary transforms into an edible pericarp as it ripens. The berry may have one or more carpels with a thin coating and fleshy internal part. The seeds are usually embedded in the pulp of the ovary (there are some exceptions, such as peppers). A plant that produces berries is called berry-bearing or berry(fruits that resemble berries but are not actually berries may also sometimes be called "berries").

In everyday life, a “berry” is any small berry fruit. These "berries" are typically juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly colored, sweet or sour, and pitted, although seeds may be present.

A large number of berries, such as tomatoes, are edible, while others from the same plant family, such as belladonna fruits ( Atropabelladonna) and potato fruits ( Solanumtuberosum), are poisonous to humans. Some berries, such as red peppers ( Capsicum), There is not pulp around the seeds, but free space.

botanical berries

Botanically speaking, a berry is a fruit in which the seeds and pulp of the fruit develop from the same ovary. The ovary can be inferior or superior.

Examples of botanical berries include:

• Avocado ( PerseaAmericana), single-seeded berry
• Barberry ( Berberis; Berberidaceae)
• Bearberry ( Arctostaphylos spp.)
• Bilberry (blueberry)
• coffee berries
• Vodjanika ( Empetrum spp.)
• Currant ( Ribes spp; Grossulariaceae), red, black and white
• Elderberry ( SambucusNigeria; Caprifoliaceae)
• Gooseberry ( Ribesspp; Grossulariaceae)
• Indian gooseberry (Phyllanthus emblica)
• Grape , ( Vitis vinifera )
• Honeysuckle: The berries of some species are edible, while others are poisonous ( Lonicera spp; Caprifoliaceae)
• Cowberry ( VacciniumVitis- idaea)
• Canadian pride or viburnum Lentago ( Viburnum spp; Caprifoliaceae)
• Oregon Grape ( Mahoniaaquifolium; Berberidaceae)
• Strawberry tree ( Arbutusunedo), not to be confused with the common strawberry (strawberry)
• Tomatoes and other species of the nightshade family
• Boxthorn

Modified Berries

Citrus fruits, such as orange, kumquat and lemon, are berries with a thick skin, a very juicy interior, they have a special name - " orange».

Berries that develop from the inferior ovary are sometimes called epigonic or false berries, while true berries develop from the superior ovary. A peculiarity of epigonic berries is that the structure of the berry includes tissues taken from parts of the flower and located behind the body of the ovary. The floral tube, formed from the basal part of the sepals, petals and stamens, becomes fleshy as it matures and connects with the body of the ovary, forming the fruit. Common fruits sometimes classified as epigonic berries include bananas, coffee, members of the genus Vaccinium(such as cranberries and blueberries) and members of the Cucurbitaceae family (such as cucumbers, melons and pumpkins).

Another specialized term is used for fruits of the genus Cucurbitaceae, which have a hard outer rind. They are called " pumpkins» ( Pepos). While Pumpkins are the most common plants of the Cucurbitaceae genus, the fruits passiflora And papaya sometimes also referred to by the term "Pumpkin".

Non-botanical berries

Many fruits that are commonly called berries are not actually berries according to scientific classification, but fall into one of the following categories:

TOresidual

Stone fruits are fleshy fruits with a hard layer surrounding the seed, formed from (usually) a single seed ovary.

• Bird cherry ( Celtis spp; Cannabaceae)
• Pennsylvanian cerebellum

Other single-seeded stone fruits that lack a stony endocarp include:

• sea ​​​​buckthorn ( HippophaeRhamnoides; Elaeagnaceae). The achene is surrounded by hypanthium, which forms a fleshy layer.

Pomaceae

Pome fruits produced by plants in the Rosaceae family, such as apples and pears, have a structure (kernel) that clearly separates the seeds from the ovary tissue. However, some pome fruits small size sometimes called berries, for example, the bright red hawthorn of the genus Crataegus, or the blueberry-like fruits of serviceberry.

Composite fruits (Infructescence)

Composite fruits contain seeds from different ovaries of the same flower. Examples are blackberries and raspberries.

Complex fruits

Compound fruits consist of several flowers that blend into each other or are closely spaced. The mulberry is a berry-like example of a complex fruit. It develops from a cluster of tiny individual flowers that shrink as the fruit develops.

False Fruits

In false fruits, the edible part is not formed from the ovary. Berry-like examples:

• Strawberry - the “fruit” is actually a collection of seed-like achenes obtained from a collection of ovaries, and the fleshy part develops from the receptacle (false inflorescence)
• Sea grapes ( Coccolobauvifera; Polygonaceae) - the fruit is in a dry capsule surrounded by a fleshy calyx
• Wintergreen ( Gaultheriaprocumbens) - the fruit is in a dry capsule surrounded by a fleshy calyx

Color and Potential Health Benefits

Because the berries contrast well with their surroundings, they are more attractive to animals that eat them, thereby helping in the dispersal of plant seeds.

Berries have color due to the presence of natural pigments in plants, many of which are polyphenols, such as flavonoids, anthocyanins, and tannins. Pigments are mainly localized in the skin and seeds of berries. Berry pigments are typically antioxidants and have the highest oxygen radical adsorption capacity (ORAC) among plant foods. Considering good content nutrients and ORAC, certain types of berries have been classified into a new functional food category called “superfruits.”

However, to date, no physiological evidence has been found that the polyphenols contained in berries have antioxidant effects inside the human body, so the claim that polyphenols have antioxidant health benefits often seen on food labels in the US and Europe is invalid.