Tomato: Fruit or Vegetable? Options

[Butterflyphoenix]

^

FRUIT.
its a FACT.
not a debatable topic[;

I agree.

[ofconfidence]

FRUIT.
its a FACT.
not a debatable topic[;

[shoryuken]

VEGGI

FRUIT.
its a FACT.
not a debatable topic[;

showww mee linkk..

^
I agree.

u dum..

[nikx618]

FACT

[Tomates]

everytime i see this forum i keep thinking it says tomates XD

[Eww]

We all thought it was a vegetable before.

We were all wrong, it's a fruit.
This isn't debatable.

[shoryuken]

VEGGIEE...

FACT

We all though it was a vegetable before.

We were all wrong, it's a fruit.
This isn't debatable.

u sttylll wrrongg...

[hi-C]

I think of it as a fruit, but it's not like you're going to take a whole tomato to school to eat as a snack. =p

I eat tomatoes as snacks. The littler ones, not the big ones. Roma tomatoes are excellent to just eat 'cos their flavor is a little more robust.

So, definitions of each term, according to the Oxford English Dictionary:
Tomato - The glossy fleshy fruit of a solanaceous plant (Solanum Lycopersicum or Lycopersicum esculentum), a native of tropical America, now cultivated as a garden vegetable in temperate as well as tropical lands.

Fruit - The edible product of a plant or tree, consisting of the seed and its envelope, esp. the latter when it is of a juicy pulpy nature, as in the apple, orange, plum, etc.

Vegetable - A plant cultivated for food; esp. an edible herb or root used for human consumption and commonly eaten, either cooked or raw, with meat or other article of food.

Also, according to the Columbia Encyclopedia:

There is no clear botanical distinction between vegetables and fruits. Most vegetables consist largely of water, making them low in calories. They are excellent sources of fiber, vitamins A and C, potassium, calcium, and iron.

Therefore, the difference between a fruit and a vegetable seems to be the latter's link to commodification (see the italicized part in the definition of vegetable).

[JokeInsideJoke]

vegetable. i dont care what science says, it. is. a. vegetable!

[coconutter]

It is a debate in a sense that you would like to debate what you believe it is, not based on science facts.

[so0o_contagious]

fruit. even brenda song says so! haha.

you only have to listen to the first 22 seconds.

[sixfive]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but until the 1920s the tomato was considered a vegetable. It was around that decade that people started considering it a fruit to avoid taxes that vegetables had. So.... Vegetable, renamed fruit by a society who wanted to avoid taxes :)

[Harp]

I think it's a fruit, but kyro serves a good point.

[sixfive]

It's not a point, it's a fact.

[creole]

It does not really matter if the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. Either way, the flavors will still be the same..

[simx]

Ask a botanist and they'll tell you it's a fruit.
Ask a chef and they'll tell you it's a vegetable.

[hypnotique]

Ask a chef and they'll tell you it's a vegetable.

This chef says its a fruit.
I didnt waste 2 years in food sciences to think otherwise. :]

[creole]

For some reason, I always thought tomatos were related to apples. LOL

[hypnotique]

For some reason, I always thought tomatos were related to apples. LOL

Aww thats too cute

[Maccabee]

fruit

[illriginal]

I eat it like an apple with salt and pepper...

[shoryuken]

huu da h3ll eaat tommoto wyth peppur... WTF.. dat nastii

[creole]

huu da h3ll eaat tommoto wyth peppur... WTF.. dat nastii

maybe black pepper and tomatoes on top of spaghetti.
if yuuu know what im talking aboutz

[hypnotique]

I eat it like an apple with salt and pepper...

Holy shit me too.

Its bloody good =]

[illriginal]

Holy shit me too.

Its bloody good =]

Awesome

I even eat Cherry tomatoes like if they were candy.