Vegetable

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Farmers' market showing vegetables for sale in Lhasa, Tibet

Fruit and vegetable output in 2004

A vegetable is an edible plant or part of a plants other than a sweet fruit or seed. The word is not scientific, however, but instead is largely based on culinary and cultural tradition. Thus the application of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. For example, some people consider mushrooms to be vegetables^{[1] [2][3]} while others consider them a separate food category.^[4]

Some vegetables can be consumed raw, and some may (or must) be cooked in various ways, most often in non-sweet (savory or salty) dishes.^{[citation needed]} However, some vegetables are often used in desserts and other sweet dishes, such as pumpkin pies and carrot cakes.

[edit] Is it a fruit or a vegetable?

A Venn diagram shows the overlaps between "fruits" and "vegetables" in the informal (culinary) sense, and "fruits" in the botanical sense.

In everyday (non-technical) language, the words "fruit" and "vegetable" are mutually exclusive: plant products that are called fruits are hardly ever classified as vegetables, and vice-versa. However, for scientists the word "fruit" also has a precise botanical meaning, which is considerably different from its common meaning. While peaches, plums, and oranges are "fruits" in both senses, many items commonly called "vegetables" — such as eggplants, bell peppers, and tomatoes — are technically fruits; and so are also most cereals, and some spices like pepper and chili. On the other hand, many items commonly called "fruits" — including figs, pineapples, and strawberries — are not fruits in the strict botanical sense.

The question of whether the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable found its way into the United States Supreme Court in 1893. The court ruled unanimously in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is correctly identified as, and thus taxed as, a vegetable, for the purposes of the 1883 Tariff Act on imported produce. The court did acknowledge however that, botanically speaking, a tomato is a fruit.

Languages other than English often have categories that can be identified with the common English meanings of "fruit" and "vegetable", however, their precise meaning may depend on local culinary traditions as well. For example, in Brazil the avocado is traditionally consumed with sugar as a dessert or in milk shakes, and hence regarded as a fruit; whereas in other countries (including Mexico and the United States) it is used in salads and dips, and hence considered a vegetable.

[edit] Some vegetables defined as different parts of plants

The list of food items called "vegetable" is quite long, and includes many different parts of plants:

Celery leaf, an edible plant classified as a vegetable

• Flower bud: broccoli, cauliflower, globe artichokes
• Seeds: Sweetcorn (maize), peas, beans
• Leaves: kale, collard greens, spinach, beet greens, turnip greens, endive, lettuce
• Leaf sheaths: leeks
• Buds: Brussels sprouts
• Stems of leaves: celery, rhubarb (sometimes loosely called a "fruit", because sweet pies are made from it)

A tomato is a botanical fruit but a culinary vegetable.

• Stem of a plant when it is still a young shoot: asparagus, bamboo shoots, and ginger
• Underground stem of a plant, also known as a tuber: potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potatoes (often called a yam in the USA), also the true yams
• Whole immature plants (sprouts): soybean (moyashi), mung beans, urad, and alfalfa.
• Roots: carrots, parsnips, beets, radishes, turnips, and burdocks.
• Bulbs: onions, garlic, shallots

• Fruits in the botanical sense, but used as vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, capsicums (bell peppers and hot peppers), eggplant, tomatillos, christophene, okra, breadfruit and avocado, and also the following:
  • Legumes: green beans, snap peas, soybean

[edit] Etymology

Carrots and other vegetables

"Vegetable" comes from the Latin vegetabilis (animated) and from vegetare (enliven), which is derived from vegetus (active), in reference to the process of a plant growing. This in turn derives from the Proto-Indo-European base *weg- or *wog-, which is also the source of the English wake, meaning "become (or stay) alert".

The word was first recorded in print in English in the 14th century, but applied to any plant. The word is still used in science with that meaning, as in vegetable matter, vegetable kingdom.^[5]. The meaning of "plant grown for food" was not established until the 18th century. ^[6]

[edit] In the diet

Vegetables are eaten in a variety of ways, as part of main meals and as snacks. The nutritional content of vegetables varies considerably, though generally they contain a small proportion of protein and fat,^[7][8] and a relatively high proportion of vitamins, provitamins, dietary minerals, fiber and carbohydrates. Many vegetables also contain phytochemicals which may have antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anticarcinogenic properties.^[9][10]

[edit] Color pigments

Vegetables (and some fruit) for sale on a street in Guntur, India

The green color of leafy vegetables is due to the presence of the green pigment chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is affected by pH and changes to olive green in acid conditions, and bright green in alkaline conditions. Some of the acids are released in steam during cooking, particularly if cooked without a cover.

The yellow/orange colors of fruits and vegetables are due to the presence of carotenoids, which are also affected by normal cooking processes or changes in pH.

The red/blue coloring of some fruits and vegetables (e.g. blackberries and red cabbage) are due to anthocyanins, which are sensitive to changes in pH. When pH is neutral, the pigments are purple, when acidic, red, and when alkaline, blue. These pigments are very water soluble.

[edit] Storage

Pulse seeds, to be cooked as a vegetable

Many root and non-root vegetables that grow underground can be stored through winter in a root cellar or other similarly cool, dark and dry place to prevent mold, greening and sprouting. Care should be taken in understanding the properties and vulnerabilities of the particular roots to be stored. These vegetables can last through to early spring and be nearly as nutritious as when fresh.

During storage, leafy vegetables lose moisture, and the vitamin C in them degrades rapidly. They should be stored for as short a time as possible in a cool place, in a container or plastic bag.

[edit] Standards

There is a series of ISO standards regarding fruits and vegetables.^[11].

[edit] See also

• Food quality
• Food safety
• Fruit
• List of vegetables
• Perennial vegetable
• Vegetarianism
• Veganism
• Herbivore
• Market gardening
• Vegetable carving

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

• Munro, Derek B., Small, E. 1997 Vegetables of Canada. NRC Research Press, Ottawa ISBN 978-0-660-19503-2

[edit] External links

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Vegetable

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vegetable

• UC Vegetable & Research Information Center
• Michigan Vegetable Information Network
• Indian Vegetables