Solving the Debate: Is a Tomato a Fruit or a Vegetable?

The Botanical Classification: Tomatoes are Fruits

From a scientific and botanical point of view, a tomato is a vegetable whose edible part consists of sweet fruits called berries. The middle part of the tomato fruit is the so-called mesocarp. Mesocarp was formed from the walls of the ovary.

In contrast, the skin of the tomato was formed by the development of the skin. Skin covered the perianth pistil. So the tomatoes we eat are the fruits of the tomato plant.

The tomato is a flowering plant with fleshy botanical fruits - berries. According to botanists, fruits are an edible reproductive body of a seed plant. A flower's ovary produces the botanical fruit, which has at least one seed. Therefore, even the floating dandelion puffs are also fruits.

The tomato plant can be grown in raised beds or as a potted plant on a windowsill or balcony as a flowering plant. Growing tomatoes is not demanding. That is why you can grow your edible fruits with a little effort. You also do not need to use special tomato fertilizer. Organic fertilizer like compost is enough.

The Culinary Classification: Tomatoes are Vegetables

The nutritional classification of fruits and vegetables considers botany, use, taste, and nutrient content. Botanists consider many foods, such as tomatoes, as botanical fruit. However, there are certain differences between fruits and vegetables.

In general, high sugar content defines fruits. Vegetables tend to have lower sugar content than fruits.

From a nutritional and culinary perspective, many foods are considered vegetables, not fruit. Vegetables include those fruits that are not sweet or tart. Additionally, they must be commonly eaten with other vegetables.

Tomatoes are often alternatively used between fruit and vegetable. Despite the low sugar content, a botanical fruit like tomato is very often used in fruit salad and savoury dishes. It has a soft texture. Hence, tomatoes can be enjoyed raw as well. Culinary-speaking, vegetables have a tougher texture and usually require cooking.

The classification of tomato plants and their belonging to vegetables is dictated by a small amount of sugars in the edible part and the useful purpose of the fruit. They are closely related to other fruit-vegetables like eggplant.

Botanical vs. Culinary Classification System of Tomatoes

An interesting fact is that even in the 19th century in the USA, tomatoes were considered a fruit.

On February 4, 1887, an action was brought against the collector of the port of New York to recover back duties paid under protest on tomatoes imported by the plaintiff from the West Indies in the spring of 1886.

U.S. Supreme Court decided to settle the dispute about whether the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. In 1893 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tomatoes are vegetables. It happened when U.S. Supreme Court was ordering tariffs on fruit and vegetables (NIX v. HEDDEN, 149 U.S. 304). Back then, an import tax was levied on vegetables, not fruit. These activities aimed to protect American tomato growers from foreign competition.

Interestingly, Tennessee and Ohio still define tomatoes as their state fruit. In New Jersey, it is the state vegetable. So it can be said that the dispute 'Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?' from over a century ago never ended.

It would be a mistake to call tomato plants a fruit because we divide utility plants into, among others, vegetable plants and fruit plants (e.g., pears). The division into fruit and vegetables is also not used in the horticultural nomenclature.

Summary - Tomatoes are Both Fruits and Vegetables

In conclusion, the tomato belongs to the nightshade vegetables that botanists believe produce edible and juicy berries. These features make the tomato unique; in terms of nutrition, they are considered vegetables.