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•A farmer in Oregon managed to successfully grow a ‘tomacco’ plant. This is a hybrid of a tobacco and tomato plant. This fascinating endeavor, straight out of a Simpsons episode, managed to bear fruit for a year and a half! Now the question is, does it get smoked or eaten? Tomatoes are not a veggie but a fruit. They are

HEALTHY & FUN FRUITY FACTS

Tatianna

10/12/20211 min read

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Tomatoes are not a veggie but a fruit. They are regarded as the world’s most popular fruit and have more genes than humans.

Tomatoes are actually fruits and are made of 94.5% water. The tomato plant originates from the nightshade family (which includes eggplant, potato, capsicum, and chilli) from Central America.

A farmer in Oregon managed to successfully grow a ‘tomacco’ plant. This is a hybrid of a tobacco and tomato plant. This fascinating endeavor, straight out of a Simpsons episode, managed to bear fruit for a year and a half! Now the question is, does it get smoked or eaten?

Fruits and vegetables are defined differently, depending on whether you’re a gardener or a chef.  The word ‘fruit’ is a botanical term, and ‘vegetable’ is a culinary term. The Oxford Dictionary defines fruit as being developed from the ovary of a flowering plant, containing the seed of the flower.  The term ‘vegetable’ refers to the edible parts of plants, such as the roots, stems, and leaves (think potatoes, celery, and lettuce) and which are not strictly the fruit of the plant from which they come.  So, a tomato can be considered a fruit and a vegetable. These common veggies are actually fruit: Zucchini, Eggplant, Olives, Peapods, Cucumber, Pumpkin, Butternut Pumpkin, Avocado, Peppers

In the extreme case of Nix vs. Hedden in 1893, a Supreme Court in the United States had to settle a case between a food importer and tax collector, who contested whether the tomato was a fruit or vegetable. The importer wanted to label the tomato a fruit (which had a lower import tax) but the tax collector demanded that it be recognized as a vegetable.  Verdict: The court ruled that the tomato was most commonly known as a vegetable and should therefore be treated as such when imported.