If you have clicked on this article, you have either wondered this question yourself, or you are wondering why someone would ask such a silly question. Of course a strawberry is a fruit, right? How could anyone ever question that?
If this is your line of thinking, you should consider this: how surprised were you when you first discovered that a tomato was actually a fruit?
Once you take into account that there are so many fruits that taste like vegetables, and vice versa, it doesn’t become so outlandish to wonder if a strawberry really could be a vegetable, after all.
Below, we will answer all your questions. Continue reading to find out whether a strawberry really is a fruit, or if it is actually a vegetable…
What Is The Difference Between A Fruit and A Vegetable?
Before we start looking at whether a strawberry really is a fruit, or whether it is a vegetable, we’ve got a question to ask you: do you really know the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?
We often think of fruit being a sweet, sugary food item that can be added to desserts, or eaten after dinner as a dessert. On the other hand, we think of vegetables as more savory foods. The reality is that this is not always the case.So, let’s find out what really is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable.
Identifying A Fruit
The matured, developed receptacle of a flower is often what is referred to as a fruit. The fruit typically develops from a flower into an edible component. If anything has seeds, you can quickly tell for yourself whether it is a fruit or a vegetable.
If there are seeds, it is almost certainly a fruit (although this isn’t always the case). A strawberry fits these criteria of a fruit, but the fact that its seeds reside on the surface makes things more difficult. For protection, almost every other fruit stores its seeds internally.
Identifying A Vegetable
Compared to fruits, vegetables have a broader definition. This is the case since a fruit only has one portion, the ovary, while a vegetable may have multiple parts to a plant. Basically, if it’s not a fruit, it’s probably a vegetable.
In addition to being foliage, like cabbage, veggies can also have shoots or stems, notably asparagus. Vegetables like tubers, carrots, and radishes can also be plant roots. Certain vegetables, like cauliflower and broccoli, even have flower buds.
Is A Strawberry A Fruit Or A Vegetable?
Now that we are aware of the differences between a fruit and vegetable, it makes it a little easier to work out what a strawberry is.
As we mentioned earlier, the difficulty of labelling a strawberry with absolute certainty is the fact that its seeds are located on the outside, whereas most fruit hide their seeds inside their forms.
Ultimately, a strawberry most closely fits the description of a fruit. Objectively speaking, a strawberry is a unique type of food because it is entirely made up of seeds.
According to definitions, berries are compact, delicious fruits with a circular shape and no stones. Strawberries are not considered berries through this description, and neither blackberries, raspberries, nor mulberries.
This is interesting since all of the aforementioned fruit have the word ‘berry’ in their names. Hence, a strawberry is neither a berry nor a typical fruit. It is referred to as a fruit aggregation.
This is so that, despite the fact that strawberries are produced by mature ovaries and originate from a flowering plant, the red, fleshy portion of the strawberry is actually the section that has bloomed rather than the ovary.
In essence, a strawberry is more like a fruit than a vegetable, despite not strictly being a fruit. Oddly, though, since they are sprouting from the outside of another blossoming food material, the small seeds you can see on the strawberry would be regarded as fruit.
Fruits You May Not Know Are Actually Vegetables (And Vice Versa)
While a strawberry is not technically a fruit, it is more of a fruit than a vegetable. There are plenty of other fruits and vegetables in the world that most people get confused with, and some may confuse you even further.
The most famous example of a ‘is it a fruit or a vegetable?’ discussion is the tomato. Most people are aware that a tomato is actually a fruit, although it still comes to the surprise of some people.
The seeds grow inside the tomato, making it a fruit, even though most consider it to be a vegetable. More examples of vegetables that are actually fruit include avocados, peppers, cucumbers, winter squashes, eggplants, and even olives.
On the flip side, you may not be aware that rhubarb is actually considered to be a vegetable. Even more surprisingly, watermelon is considered to be a vegetable, and it is actually the official state vegetable of Oklahoma!
The confusion often lies in the fact that most of us consider fruit to be sweet and sugary, while vegetables are more often used in savory dishes. This isn’t always the case, and that is why it can be so confusing to work out what really is a fruit, and what really is a veggie.
Final Thoughts
So, there we have it! A strawberry is, oddly, not a fruit, nor a vegetable. It is, instead, its own unique form of food, and it is the seeds on its fleshy exterior that are actually the fruits. We hope you found this article helpful.
Have you ever made something so delicious that you wished you could savor it forever?
Only to find that the recipe has now mysteriously vanished from your phone and the entirety of the internet. Yep, there’s not much more painful than that.
Hi, my name is Mark Williams and I have been infatuated with cooking since I was young. I would beg my mother to pull a chair up to the counter so I could watch what she was doing.
