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– Is a tomato a fruit?
– What are the most nutritious foods that exist?
The answer varies depending on who you ask the question to. A scientist will answer that fruit – and not fruit, since the correct technical term is masculine – is the structure developed from the ovary of a fertilized flower. The same scientist will also say that vegetables are a type of fruit, whose characteristic is the fact that it is hard, dry and has seeds protected by a pod – as is the case, for example, of beans, peas, peanuts and lentils. . At fairs and greengrocers, however, the rigidity of scientific classification gives way to a much simpler criterion. For farmers and housewives, the sweet fruits are called fruits and the rest are vegetables. “This is not a technical definition, but a popular distinction that has been consecrated through use”, says biologist Marcos Arduin, from the Federal University of São Carlos (Ufscar).
In this way, sweet fruits, such as avocado, persimmon, grape and banana, are called fruits. Others that are more salty or sour – such as tomatoes, chayote and eggplant – are considered vegetables. “This style of classification broadened the category of vegetables. With it, there is room to include roots (such as carrots and radishes), branches (such as broccoli) and grains (such as rice and sunflowers)”, says Marcos. A curious case is that of the strawberry. Not everyone knows that he is actually a false fruit. What we eat is just a part of the flower – the receptacle – which becomes fleshy and full of juice after fertilization. The real fruits are just the tiny grains that look like seeds adorning their red skin.