Why are tomatoes considered vegetables?

Tomatoes are actually considered fruits, not vegetables. This might seem confusing, but it comes down to the botanical definition:

* Fruit: The mature ovary of a flowering plant, containing seeds.

* Vegetable: Any edible part of a plant, including roots, stems, leaves, and sometimes buds or flowers.

Since tomatoes develop from the flower of the tomato plant and contain seeds, they fit the definition of a fruit.

However, culinary use often dictates how we categorize food. Tomatoes are frequently used in savory dishes like salads and sauces, making them seem more like vegetables in our everyday language.

The confusion even reached the legal realm! In 1893, the US Supreme Court ruled that tomatoes were legally fruits because of their botanical definition, even though they were commonly used as vegetables.

So, while tomatoes are botanically fruits, their culinary usage and historical precedent have led to their common classification as vegetables.