The apple of love

By Jim Cannon

research

Each year, millions of Americans, anxious after the confinement of winter, are excited when spring begins. Home improvement stores and nurseries entice gardeners with announcements of special sales on items for the home garden. People converge on the nurseries in throngs, looking for the best plants to purchase. Much of the frenzy focuses on plants that yield edible products; one favorite American pastime is backyard gardening. Many backyard gardeners say that they don't have sufficient yard space to grow fruits and vegetables, and restrict their hobby to vegetable gardening. The backyard gardener may have more growing space than he/she thinks.

If you eat ketchup with your hash brown or French fried potatoes, you know that ketchup is produced from tomatoes. You may enjoy a marinara sauce with pasta, and you know that the sauce contains tomatoes and tomato products. How about the sauce on the last pizza you ordered? The sauce is derived from tomatoes. The three items described are products of tomato plants, possibly the most common vegetable grown in home gardens.

Perhaps you enjoy some of the many flavors of jams and jellies with your toast. Have you tried the tomato jam? I enjoy fruit with yogurt, but I have not been able to find yogurt with tomatoes. If I tell you that the tomato is a fruit, does it sound odd to suggest a slice of cheesecake covered with a sugary tomato glaze?

You may think, "The tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit!" I reply, "Let's check the dictionary for a definition. We should be able to clear this confusion easily."

The dictionary describes fruit as: "(1) a product of plant growth, (2) a succulent plant part used chiefly in a dessert or sweet course."

The dictionary describes vegetable as: "… a herbaceous plant (as the cabbage, bean, or potato) grown for an edible part (e.g. stems, leaves, or roots) that is usually eaten as part of a meal."

After we compare the definitions in the dictionary, our search for a solution to our dilemma has become more puzzling. A tomato is a "product of plant growth," but we don't think of the tomato as a "dessert." The definition for a vegetable appears to describe the tomato better than the definition for a fruit. Is this enough information to draw a conclusion? If tomatoes were fruit, we might find chocolate covered tomatoes in the candy store! Let's bring this issue to closure quickly and look for the definition of tomato in the dictionary.

The dictionary describes tomato as: "(1) … rounded and red or yellow pulpy berry of a tomato, (2) … widely cultivated for its edible fruit." This is really confusing; is there another way to find whether the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable? Yes, there is!

I referenced a horticulture book and found information that provided the missing piece for our puzzle. Let me explain.

Most garden plants form flowers. In most cases, the flowers contain female and male reproductive parts in a single flower. When the female flower parts are fertilized (pollinated) by the male sexual cells, the flower produces a "fruit" which will contain seeds. The product of pollination, for example the tomato, is a "seed container." Earlier I mentioned one definition of fruit as "a product of plant growth." The definition applies to the tomato.

In contrast to the biological definition previously mentioned, when the fruit is the seed container, seeds are also produced without a "fruit." Some plants produce flowers, transforming to a bulb, and the bulb is the seed container. Examples of this kind of vegetation are carrots, radishes, turnips, and broccoli. The definition for a vegetable, mentioned earlier, applies to these plants I just described. Carrots are an edible "part of the plant" (it's the root!).

I hope this explanation has helped you understand how to respond the next time someone challenges you, telling you that a tomato is either a fruit or a vegetable; you can confidently reply, "A tomato is a fruit AND a vegetable!"

Reference

Sunset New Western Garden Book. Menlo Park, CA: Lane
Publishing Co., 1977

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