The Definition of Vegetable Part 1

In my previous post, I wrote something like "eggplant is a vegetable," but a commenter pointed out that "eggplant is a fruit."

Thanks to this comment, I noticed an interesting fact that the definitions of vegetable and fruit are different depending on the country/region.

Actually, there are no clear definitions between them in most countries including Japan, but many Japanese people believe that eggplant is a vegetable.

According to the classification proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, herbaceous plants are vegetables, and plants grown on trees are fruits.

Therefore, tomato, watermelon, melon, and strawberry are classified as vegetable, though foreigners might not believe it.

Continue to Part 2.

野菜の定義 Part 1

一昨日の投稿で、私は「茄子は野菜である」と書きましたが、ある添削者の方に「茄子は果物ではないか」と指摘されました。

この指摘のおかげで、国によって野菜 (vegetable) と果物 (fruit) の境界が異なるという興味深い事実に気が付きました。

実のところ、ほとんどの国でこれらの明確な区別は無いようですが、多くの日本人は茄子を野菜と認識します。

日本の農林水産省の分類では、草本性植物を野菜、樹木になるものを果物としています。

このため、外国の方は信じられないかもしれませんが、「トマト」や「スイカ」、「メロン」、「いちご」などは野菜に分類されます。

明日の投稿へ続く

• In my previous post, I wrote something like "eggplant is a vegetable," but a commenter pointed out that "eggplant is a fruit."
• In my previous post, I wrote something like "eggplant is a vegetable", and one of the commenters pointed out that "eggplant is a fruit."

Interesting! I've heard that watermelons, pumpkins and bananas are considered berries in some european countries.