Most of the people still get confused over the topic that ” Is tomato a fruit.” I find this topic interesting because curiosity of human mind must get an accurate answer. I was also curious to know the answer of this question.


is tomato a fruit
Is tomato a fruit?

I searched on the search engines, asked my friends, etc. but no one were able to give me the exact answer that is tomato a fruit  or it is a vegetable. They were also getting confused until one of my professor cleared our doubt.

From that day I’m quite clear on what tomato is and I think you should also know the answer of this simple yet interesting question. Well, before understanding is tomato a fruit or not, let us understand “what is fruit and vegetable?”


In simple words fruit develops from the ovary of a flower and is a seed bearing structure. Hence all the flowering plants like bottle gourds, tomatoes, okra, eggplant, bell peppers, etc. produces fruit that we consume or are beneficial for our health.

There are certain other criteria too i.e. presence of seeds, taste, nutrition, etc. Fruits are often high in natural sugar and are mainly eaten raw.

Botanically we classify something as a fruit on this basis i.e. why we can call tomatoes, okra, eggplant, bell peppers, etc. a fruit. But are they not vegetables? 

To understand this we should understand that what is a vegetable? 

Culinary experts classified vegetables as plant parts such as stems, leaves, roots, etc. that are edible, have nutrients and is beneficial for human health. So anything edible and is derived from plants is a vegetable like leaf of spinach, fruit of bottle gourds, fruit of tomatoes, tuber of potatoes, flower buds of broccoli, etc.

But botanical definition is nearly same excluding the fruit. Botanical experts do not consider fruit in the group of vegetables. 



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Is tomato a fruit?

tomato is a fruit vegetable

Botanically tomato is a fruit but we can also call it as a fruit vegetable but more botanically correct will be calling it a fruit. Now the main question is that why this confusion arises in our mind?

This confusion over tomato is because of our syllabus in primary schools. Most of the new kids going to schools are taught that tomato is a vegetable. When they grow up and read different definitions of fruit and vegetables they start getting confused.

But I hope so after reading this article your confusion must have end. Now you know that tomato is botanically a fruit but culinary experts can call it as a fruit vegetable because unlike fruits that are eaten raw, tomatoes are cooked.

If anyone now ask you what tomato is then proudly answer them that tomato is botanically a fruit but culinary experts considers it a vegetable too i.e. why it is called a fruit vegetable.

If you have any queries related to tomato or any other plants then you can comment below, I generally replies within a week.

Aditya Abhishek has completed Bachelor Of Science in Agriculture from SDSUV, Uttarakhand. He focuses on learning and delivering knowledge on Agriculture and Home Gardening. He created Agriculture Review as a common platform for all nature enthusiast to learn better practices of agriculture, gardening & shop quality products & services.

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