10 Fruits Often Confused as Vegetables: A Comprehensive Guide

Is a pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable? What’s the answer? You may call it a vegetable, but it’s a fruit. There are many such fruits mistaken for vegetables. Let’s check the list.

What’s the real difference between a fruit and a vegetable

A fruit develops from a flower part of a plant and consists seeds. On the other hand, a vegetable other edible parts of plants such as leaves, stems or roots.

10 Green Bean

String bean or green beans have been cultivated for more than 7000 years. Although we have known green bean such long time, most of us think that it’s a vegetable. But, botanically green bean is a fruit.

There are more than 130 different types of green beans in the world. It’s a favorite garden plant which found throughout the world. The pods of green bean can be found in green or purple colors.

9 Okra

As you know, okra or ladies finger don’t have a sweet taste like fruits. But technically it’s a fruit. It is cultivated throughout the world and used widely in Indian and CAribbean dishes. 90% of this fruit is water. Okras can be eaten in raw, steamed or fried.

8 Olive

Considering the culinary uses olive is a vegetable. But scientifically, the seed containing lives are a fruit. Unlike most fruits, olives don’t taste sweet but savory.  Originated from the Mediterranean, the evergreen olive trees can now be seen in warms areas throughout the world. Due to its bitterness, olives can’t be eaten in raw. They need to be processed with brine to make them edible.

7 Eggplant

There are 770 different varieties of eggplants that grow in temperate climate around the world. They vary in both size and color. Contrary to popular belief, eggplant is not a vegetable, but a fruit. It has white flesh inside with small seeds. Eggplants come in purple, green or lavender colors. It tastes very bitter in raw form.

6 Bell Peppers

Can you find any relation between bell peppers and fruits? It may seem difficult. But, from the biological perspective, bell peppers are fruits. They are also not spicy but contain little sweetness. This sweetness varies by the color. Bell peppers are available in Green, yellow, orange, red colors. The red is the sweetest and green has a bitter taste. Yellow and orange bell peppers are little sweeter than the green bell peppers.

5 Pea

Humans have started cultivation of peas thousands of years ago. Since then it’s one of our favorite food. Peas are produced on long pods. These peapods are fruits from the technical perspective. Peas are grown well in cool temperate areas. Don’t forget that peas would be lost their sweetness after several hours of harvesting.

4 Cucumber

The widely cultivated cucumbers belong to the family if melons. Apart from culinary uses, we use cucumbers have many other benefits including to soothe sunburn, for glowing skin, reduce skin tanning and for damaged hair.

Although most of us don’t become aware of one important fact about cucumber – it’s not a vegetable. The seed bearing cucumbers are a fruit in biological terms. Cucumbers can be eaten in raw and also 96% of this fruit is water.

3 Pumpkin

The large pumpkin has a special place in cooking. For example, who could easily forget the taste of pumpkin pie which served during the festival of Thanksgiving and Christmas? Pumpkin is also famous for the decoration of Halloween. The sphere shaped, thick-shelled pumpkin contain seeds and pulp inside. So, in scientific terms pumpkin is a fruit instead of a vegetable. Pumpkins are not just tasty but also rich in nutrients.

2 Avocado

Due to savory taste and usage in some famous dishes of avocado, you may call it a vegetable. But in truth, avocado is a fruit. Because it contains a single large seed surrounded by pulp. The cultivation of avocados has been started since 8000 B.C. Avocado is also one of few fruits that contain heart-friendly monounsaturated fats.