Is Pepper Fruit or Vegetable?
Pepper is a common ingredient in cooking, but is it a fruit or a vegetable? There is a lot of confusion concerning the answer to this question, as some consider pepper to be a fruit, while others consider it a vegetable.
Fruit Characteristic
Fruits generally have seeds, grow from flowers, and develop from the ovary of a flowering plant. Additionally, fruits are sweet or tart and are often eaten as a snack. Peppers meet some of these fruit criteria, since they:
- Have seeds – each pepper is filled with edible seeds.
- Grow from flowers – peppers grow from flowers on a pepper plant.
- Develop from the ovary – the ovary of a flowering pepper plant forms pepper.
Vegetable Characteristic
Vegetables, on the other hand, tend to be savory, non-sweet and hard or soft. Usually they are cooked before they are eaten. Peppers fit these criteria perfectly, as peppers are:
- Savory – unlike other fruits, peppers are not overly sweet.
- Non-sweet – peppers are not sweet like most fruits.
- Hard or Soft – peppers can be either hard or soft, depending on when they are picked.
- Cooked before eaten – peppers are most often cooked before they are eaten.
Conclusion
It is hard to classify pepper as either a fruit or a vegetable, since they meet criteria of both categories. Ultimately, whether or not you consider pepper a fruit or a vegetable is up to you.
