Chocolate: Is it a Fruit or a Vegetable?
Chocolate is one of the world’s favorite treats, but is it a fruit or a vegetable? Let’s examine both possibilities in order to get to the bottom of this delicious conundrum.
Fruit
Chocolate is often associated with fruit because it is made from the fermented and dried beans of the cacao tree. While cacao trees produce mango-like fruits, there is no evidence to suggest that chocolate can be classified as a fruiting tree, even if we consider it’s cacao bean origins.
Another reason why chocolate is often considered to be a fruit is because of it’s sweet taste. In general, fruits tend to be very sweet because their natural sugars provide energy for animals in the form of calories. Chocolate does have a sweet taste, but the sweetness does not come from natural sugars. Instead, it is created from added sugar, milk and other flavorings that are not characteristic of a fruit.
Vegetable
On the other hand, chocolate could be considered a vegetable since it comes from a tree, follow the same process of vegetable production and contains essential nutrition such as vitamins and minerals.
Furthermore, while some may debate that it’s not a vegetable because it has a sweet taste, some vegetables such as bell peppers, beets and carrots are known to naturally possess a sweet flavor.
Conclusion
It is clear that chocolate cannot be classified as either a fruit or a vegetable. Despite being made from fruits of the cacao tree, the process of transforming it into the delicious treat we know today does not make it a fruiting tree. Equally, the added sugar and flavoring constitute it to not be a vegetable.
Ultimately, what makes chocolate unique is its flavor and texture, and for that reason alone, it stands alone in its own delicious category.
Long live chocolate!
