Vegetable From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Vegetable (disambiguation). Farmers' market showing vegetables for sale in Lhasa, Tibet Fruit and vegetable output in 2004 A vegetable is an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. The word is not scientific, however, but instead is largely based on culinary and cultural tradition. Thus the application of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. For example, some people consider mushrooms to be vegetables[1][2][3] while others consider them a separate food category.[4] Some vegetables can be consumed raw, and some may (or must) be cooked in various ways, most often in non-sweet (savory or salty) dishes.[citation needed] However, some vegetables are often used in desserts and other sweet dishes, such as pumpkin pies and carrot cakes. Fruit or vegetable? An Euler diagram showing the overlaps between "fruits" and "vegetables" in the informal (culinary) sense, and "fruits" in the botanical sense. In everyday (non-technical) language, the words "fruit" and "vegetable" are mutually exclusive: plant products that are called fruits are hardly ever classified as vegetables, and vice-versa. However, for scientists the word "fruit" also has a precise botanical meaning, which is considerably different from its common meaning. While peaches, plums, and oranges are "fruits" in both senses, many items commonly called "vegetables" — such as eggplants, bell peppers, and tomatoes — are technically fruits; and so are also most cereals, and some spices like pepper and chili. On the other hand, many items commonly called "fruits" — including figs, pineapples, and strawberries — are not fruits in the strict botanical sense. Some vegetables defined as different parts of plants The list of food items called "vegetable" is quite long, and includes many different parts of plants: Celery leaf, an edible plant classified as a vegetable * Flower bud: broccoli, cauliflower, globe artichokes * Seeds: Sweetcorn (maize), peas, beans * Leaves: kale, collard greens, spinach, beet greens, turnip greens, endive, lettuce * Leaf sheaths: leeks * Buds: Brussels sprouts * Stems of leaves: celery, rhubarb (sometimes loosely called a "fruit", because sweet pies are made from it) A tomato is a botanical fruit but a culinary vegetable. * Stem of a plant when it is still a young shoot: asparagus, bamboo shoots, and ginger * Underground stem of a plant, also known as a tuber: potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potatoes, and yams * Whole immature plants (sprouts): soybean (moyashi), mung beans, urad, and alfalfa. * Roots: carrots, parsnips, beets, radishes, turnips, and burdocks. * Bulbs: onions, garlic, shallots * Fruits in the botanical sense, but used as vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, capsicums (bell peppers and hot peppers), eggplant, tomatillos, christophene, okra, breadfruit and avocado, and also the following: o Legumes: green beans, snap peas, soybean Simple fruit Epigynous berries are simple fleshy fruit. From top right: cranberries, lingonberries, blueberries red huckleberries Simple fruits can be either dry or fleshy, and result from the ripening of a simple or compound ovary with only one pistil. Dry fruits may be either dehiscent (opening to discharge seeds), or indehiscent (not opening to discharge seeds).[12] Types of dry, simple fruits, with examples of each, are: * achene – (dandelion seeds, strawberry seeds) * capsule – (Brazil nut) * caryopsis – (wheat) * fibrous drupe – (coconut, walnut) * follicle – (milkweed, magnolia) * legume – (pea, bean, peanut) * loment * nut – (hazelnut, beech, oak acorn) * samara – (elm, ash, maple key) * schizocarp – (carrot seed) * silique – (radish seed) * silicle – (shepherd's purse) * utricle – (beet) Lilium unripe capsule fruit Fruits in which part or all of the pericarp (fruit wall) is fleshy at maturity are simple fleshy fruits. Types of fleshy, simple fruits (with examples) are: * berry – (redcurrant, gooseberry, tomato, avocado) * stone fruit or drupe (plum, cherry, peach, apricot, olive) * false berry – Epigynous accessory fruits (banana, cranberry, strawberry (edible part).) * pome – accessory fruits (apple, pear, rosehip, saskatoon berry) There are also many dry multiple fruits, e.g. * Tuliptree, multiple of samaras. * Sweet gum, multiple of capsules. * Sycamore and teasel, multiple of achenes. * Magnolia, multiple of follicles. Fruit chart To summarize common types of fruit (examples follow in the table below): * Berry – simple fruit and seeds created from a single ovary o Pepo – Berries where the skin is hardened, like cucurbits o Hesperidium – Berries with a rind, like most citrus fruit * Epigynous berries(false berries) – Epigynous fruit made from a part of the plant other than a single ovary * Compound fruit, which includes: o Aggregate fruit – multiple fruits with seeds from different ovaries of a single flower o Multiple fruit – fruits of separate flowers, packed closely together * Other accessory fruit – where the edible part is not generated by the ovary Types of fruit True berry Pepo Hesperidium False berry (Epigynous) Aggregate fruit Multiple fruit Other accessory fruit Blackcurrant, Redcurrant, Gooseberry, Tomato, Eggplant, Guava, Lucuma, Chili pepper, Pomegranate, Kiwifruit, Grape, Pumpkin, Gourd, Cucumber, Melon Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit Banana, Cranberry, Blueberry Blackberry, Raspberry, Boysenberry, Hedge apple Pineapple, Fig, Mulberry Apple, Apricot, Peach, Cherry, Green bean, Sunflower seed, Strawberry, plum, pear.