[Sca-cooks] Fruit or vegetable?

Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius adamantius1 at verizon.net
Sat Apr 26 00:44:49 PDT 2008


On Apr 26, 2008, at 1:09 AM, David Walddon wrote:

> I am looking for a working definition between a fruit and a vegetable.
>
> Does anyone have a good one? Or comments on the below?
>
> The many definitions I have found are at odds with each other or fog
> the issue with ambiguity!
>
> There is a broad definition of vegetable as the edible part of a
> plant. So a fruit could be considered a vegetable since one
> definition of a fruit is the mature ovary of a plant (an edible part
> of the plant).
>
> Another definition is that a vegetable is the edible product of a
> herbaceous plant (soft stemmed) and a fruit is the edible product of
> woody stems such as shrubs and trees. So a melon would be a
> vegetable, but most people would consider it to be a fruit. Tomatoes
> would be a vegetable (soft stemmed) but it could be consider a fruit
> because 1) it is the mature ovary and 2) yet another definition of a
> fruit is that it "carries seeds" vegetable do not (Lettuce, carrots,
> etc.)
>
> A definition from the late 1400's (in Italy) would be ideal since the
> paper I am working on deals with vegetables from that time period and
> place. Platina has multiple definitions for fruits and vegetables,
> but doesn't have a hard and fast rule (that I can find yet!). Florio
> (later period Italian to English dictionary) is of no help from the
> fruit end of things and confusing on the vegetable side.
>
> Any help or ideas would be appreciated.


I think one problem, or source of confusion, is that instead of coming  
up with and applying descriptions of conditions as they exist, some of  
us are expecting conditions to meet our descriptions. Another is that  
we seem to be looking for clearly non-intersecting sets, while it's  
more likely that we're looking at sets and subsets.

The two classes aren't mutually exclusive. Vegetable? A plant,  
especially the edible portion thereof. Fruit? With some notable  
exceptions, generally the mature reproductive portion of a food plant.  
Some of what we consider vegetables are also fruits, and some fruits  
that aren't noticeably high in sugar are classified as vegetables.

Adamantius




"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,  
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's  
bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter




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