Are Cucumbers A Fruit Or Vegetable
Though many people think of cucumbers as vegetables, the scientific definition indicates that theyre a type of fruit. This distinction is based primarily on the biological function of the... Cucumbers are botanically classified as fruits, but in cooking, they are treated as vegetables.
They originated in Southeast Asia and are now cultivated globally with about 100 varieties. The cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, used as culinary vegetables. Cucumbers are botanically fruits but culinarily vegetables, according to a Supreme Court decision in 1893.
Learn how cucumbers are classified, why they are healthy, and how they differ from tomatoes and pumpkins. While it is true that cucumbers have some characteristics that are similar to fruits, such as their high water content and sweet taste, they are technically a type of vegetable because they are the edible stem of a plant, rather than the ripened ovary of a plant, which is the definition of a fruit. Learn how cucumbers can be classified as fruit or vegetables depending on the botanical or culinary definition.
Find out why cucumbers are part of your 5-a-day and how to enjoy them in various dishes. Cucumbers are botanically fruits and technically berries. Heres why science and the kitchen dont always agree on what counts as a vegetable.
Cucumbers are more nutritionally similar to vegetables than fruits, with their low calorie and sugar content. Therefore, cucumbers are classified as vegetables from a nutritional standpoint as well as a culinary perspective. If youre looking for an answer that puts the plants biology over its use in the kitchen, here you have it: Botanically speaking, cucumbers are fruits.
But exactly why is a cucumber a fruit?... Heres the simple takeaway: A cucumber is botanically a fruit but culinarily a vegetable. Both answers are right! But for us gardeners, the most useful way to think of a cucumber is as a fruiting vegetable.
