Fruit

Abstract

Teacher Background: In the culinary world, we define fruits as sweet and vegetables as not sweet. In the world of science, however, vegetables and fruits are separated differently. A fruit is the part of the plant that develops from the fertilized ovary (or from the pollinated flower), and has the seeds inside it. Under this definition, fruits include: pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, peppers, tomatoes, avocados, eggplant, apples, green beans, and anything else that has seeds inside it. “Vegetable” is not a botanical term but a catch-all category used to describe non-fruit plant parts we eat, such as celery, spinach, lettuce, and carrots.