What's the Difference Between Fruits and Vegetables?

Do you know the difference between fruits and vegetables? No matter what you call them, fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet.

What’s the Difference Between Fruits and Vegetables?

Fruits and vegetables both come from plants, but the secret is that they are different parts of the plant. Let’s dive in and figure out the difference between fruits and vegetables.

Vegetables

Vegetables are any part of the plant that does not contain the seeds. So vegetables are the roots, stems, leaves, and even the unopened flower buds.

Did you know that broccoli and cauliflower are just clusters of unopened flower buds?

Things like carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onions, and beets are root vegetables. Celery and green onions are the stems of the plant that we eat. Lettuce and spinach are examples of leaf vegetables.

Fruits

Since vegetables are any part of the plant that does not contain the seed, fruits are any part of the plant that does contain the seed. This means that many things that we commonly consider vegetables – like cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, avocados, and even peas, green beans, and nuts – are technically fruits!

Classifying fruits can get kind of confusing. Seedless fruits (like watermelons and grapes) are still considered fruits. Fruits without an obvious seed (like bananas and pineapples) are still fruits. Corn is technically a fruit, because the corn cob contains all the seeds (the kernels). But corn is also a grain, so it is usually classified in that category. Even sunflower seeds are technically fruits!

This fun video from Sci Show Kids helps to show you the difference between fruits and vegetables.

Nutritional Differences Between Fruits and Vegetables

Nutritionally, the difference vary more between specific fruits and vegetables than between the groups of fruits and vegetables as a whole. In general, foods that we consider “vegetables” tend to be less sweet – things like cucumbers, squash, beans (or choose your favorite). “Fruits” tend to be sweet or tart – apples, oranges, berries, and stone fruits.

In general, the sweeter fruits tend to have more sugar (which means a few more calories), but the starchy vegetables (like potatoes and corn) also have a few more calories than vegetables like celery, broccoli, or lettuce.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (Choose My Plate) recommends that at every meal, half of your plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables. Varying the colors and types of fruits and vegetables will help you to get a balanced diet.

Be sure to check out these articles for more information on how to choose and store your fresh fruits and vegetables, no matter what you want to call them!

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