Thousands of years ago, our ancestors cultivated apples from their wild cousin, Malus sieversii.
While it is a fact that apples are manmade, one thing that may confuse you is the classification of apples – Are apples fruits or vegetables?
A lot of people classify apples as fruit (many nutrition blogs even call them fruit) whereas many argue that apples are vegetables.
Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum of apple classification, there’s no denying that apples are amongst the most commonly produced and consumed edible plant parts in the world.
People around the globe grow apples and a number of types can be stored and consumed for a year if stored properly.
Although apples are known as fruits across the globe, the discussion on apple identification is far from over. As such, many ask the question: Are apples true fruits or vegetables?
In this article, we will discuss the topic to find out.
Is An apple a Fruit or a Vegetable?
Ideally, from all “properly” understood perspectives, apples are fruits. Apple is considered fruit from both a food and botanical perspective because of its sweet flavor and because it develops from ovaries.
That was the short answer, now we will explain how we coming to this conclusion.
Are Apples Fruits?
To determine if apples are in the fruit category, let’s consider if they have the necessary attributes of fruit based on botanical and culinary definitions.
From a Botanical Perspective
Before we can say with certainty if an apple is a fruit or not from a botanical viewpoint, we need to know what a fruit is. And to know what a fruit is, we need to understand the definition of the class.
Of course, there are many definitions of fruit, but we will just look at the most important parts of a few of these definitions.
For example, McGill University’s Computer Science department in Canada defines fruit as: “In botany, a fruit is the mature ovary – with seeds – of a flowering plant. In many species, fruit contains the mature ovary and some surrounding tissue.”
So, do apples fit into that definition of a fruit? Yes.
Apples are produced from the mature ovary of a flowering plant, and they contain seeds.
Plus, apples fit into the last part of the above definition because they are produced from the mature ovary and some of the surrounding tissues.
When fruit is produced from the ripe ovary and other parts of the flower, it is referred to as false fruit.
Valencia College explains the identity of false fruit as, “Some fruits, like strawberries and apples, are made up of other flower parts as well as the ovary or ovaries. The calyx can grow fleshy and contain more actual fruit tissue than the ovary.
When a fruit contains other fruit tissue than just the ovary, it has accessory tissue and can be classed as an accessory fruit.
What can we say about the definitions above? We can conclude that apples are fruits, botanically. They can also be called false or accessory fruits based on how we classify them.
Why are Apples Called False Fruits?
An apple is called false fruit or accessory fruit because it undergoes a unique fertilization process known as “double fertilization.”
This creates fruits that develop from the ripened ovary of the flower and other parts of the flower tissue. The false or accessory fruits grow abnormally from actual fruits, but they are still fruits; with their own category.
Indeed, they typically -but definitely NOT ALL- are derived from other parts of the flower, not the ovary of the plant.
They also can develop in large numbers without fertilization. Some parthenocarpic fruits can develop without any seeds! Apples, on the other hand, grow from the thalamus (the part of the flower) which is the main reason they are called false fruits of apple trees.
Apples have seeds in them which makes them different from most false fruits, as they can be planted to get more apple trees. Some common examples of false fruits are strawberries, pears, and figs.
From A Culinary Perspective
Many of the edible plant parts botanically called fruits are vegetables, when considered from a cooking perspective. For example, a tomato, cucumber, and pumpkin are also botanically fruits, but called vegetables in cooking.
Now let’s consider what an apple is regarded as in culinary arts. Fortunately, the culinary definition of fruit is relatively simple.
In culinary terminology, an edible part of a plant is a fruit when it is sweet by nature, and even sweeter when talking about a botanical fruit. A vegetable in culinary arts is an edible part of a plant that is less sweet or savory in flavor.
So, by that definition, apples are fruits by culinary perspective because the taste is generally sweet.
Are Apples Vegetables?
At this point we have established that apples are fruits (in both botanical and culinary perspectives), but can we classify apples as vegetables as well? To determine that, we need to first consider the definition of a vegetable.
Unlike fruit, there is no definition of vegetables in botany. ScienceDaily states the word “vegetable” is a culinary term and has no scientific significance at all. According to ScienceDaily, what one considers to be a culinary vegetable is somewhat subjective and arbitrary.
In the culinary arts, any part of an herbaceous plant that humans eat for food – whether it’s an entire plant or a part of a plant – is a vegetable. For example, mushrooms are fungi, but they are referred to as vegetables in the culinary world.
The Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of California has provided a definition of vegetables:
“Vegetable, the edible product of a herbaceous plant – that is, a plant with a soft soft tissue of stem, as distinguished from the edible nuts and fruits of trees or other woody stems of shrubs and trees.”
Woody-stemmed plants such as trees and shrubs, therefore, by definition, do not produce vegetables. Since apples come from apple trees, we can conclude that they are not vegetables.
Furthermore, if we take the culinary classification of fruits determined by the amount of sugar they provide, then apples are fruits because they taste sweet, and are not considered vegetables because they aren’t savory.
Based on all of that we’ve discussed in this article, it seems like it is only right to classify apples as fruits, not vegetables.
Wrap Up
In every possible and recognized way apples can be defined, they are fruits, not vegetables.
From a culinary and botanical sense, apples are fruits, not vegetables, because they have a sweet taste, and they are developed from ovaries.
Additionally, apples would also be false or accessory fruits as they develop from other parts of the flower in addition to the ripened ovary.
Regardless of the other debate around apples, they are very popular around the world and are consumed in so many ways. They can be eaten raw, and as an ingredient in pies, tarts, and other dishes.
Apples are also used to produce numerous beverages, baby food, and several products such as candy. Apples can also have health benefits.