Like the pepper, tomato, and pumpkin, watermelon is a fruit, botanically. It is the fruit of a plant originally from a vine of southern Africa. Loosely considered a type of melon (although not in the genus Cucumis), watermelon has a smooth exterior rind and a juicy, sweet interior flesh.
What makes a melon a melon?
A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word “melon” can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a “pepo”.
What type of fruit is watermelon classified as?
berry
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus). Grant Heilman/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The fruit is a type of berry known botanically as a pepo. The sweet juicy flesh may be reddish, white, or yellow; flesh colour, shape of the fruit, and thickness of the rind depend on the variety.
Is watermelon a berry or a melon?
The elongated tough-skinned fruits of the family Cucurbitaceae, including watermelons, cucumbers, and gourds, are a type of berry referred to as pepos. Any small fleshy fruit is popularly called a berry, especially if it is edible.
Why is a watermelon considered a fruit?
If you talk to a botanist, they’ll maintain that watermelon is a fruit because it develops from the plant’s ovary after flowering and holds the seeds. A vegetable is anything eaten from other parts of a plant, like spinach leaves or carrots (which are roots).
What is difference between watermelon and melon?
The main difference between watermelons and melons is seeds – watermelon seeds are spread throughout the fruit, while melons have a central seed cavity.
Is an apple a berry?
Pomes. The pome fruits produced by plants in subtribe Pyrinae of family Rosaceae, such as apples and pears, have a structure (the core) in which tough tissue clearly separates the seeds from the outer softer pericarp. Pomes are not berries. However, some of the smaller pomes are sometimes referred to as berries.
Can dogs eat watermelon?
The answer is yes, with a couple of precautions. First, seeds could cause an intestinal blockage, so make sure you remove them. It’s also a good idea to remove the rind because it can cause gastrointestinal upset.
What fruit is actually a vegetable?
This category includes items many consider to be vegetables, including squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant and avocados. Yes, pumpkins are a fruit! Peas and beans are a bit trickier, because if you just eat what’s inside the pod, you’re eating the seed.
How do the British say watermelon?
Below is the UK transcription for ‘watermelon’:
- Modern IPA: wóːtəmɛlən.
- Traditional IPA: ˈwɔːtəmelən.
- 4 syllables: “WAW” + “tuh” + “mel” + “uhn”
Why is strawberry Not a berry?
Surprisingly, eggplants, tomatoes and avocados are botanically classified as berries. And the popular strawberry is not a berry at all. Botanists call the strawberry a “false fruit,” a pseudocarp. A strawberry is actually a multiple fruit which consists of many tiny individual fruits embedded in a fleshy receptacle.
Is a banana really a berry?
It turns out that blackberries, mulberries, and raspberries are not berries at all, but bananas, pumpkins, avocados and cucumbers are. So what makes a berry? Well, a berry has seeds and pulp (properly called “pericarp”) that develop from the ovary of a flower.
Is a potato a berry?
Tomatoes and potatoes are both members of the same genus, Solanum, and they both produce berries. We eat the berries of tomatoes, but we don’t eat the berries of potatoes because they are somewhat toxic. Unlike tomatoes, potato berries are small, rarely much exceeding an inch in diameter.
Is a cucumber a fruit?
The botanical classification: Cucumbers are fruit.
A botanical fruit would have at least one seed and grow from the flower of the plant. With this definition in mind, cucumbers are classified as fruit because they contain tiny seeds in the middle and grow from the flower of the cucumber plant.
Is a potato a vegetable?
In a nutshell, there is no doubt that a potato is botanically a vegetable. Although not your usual leafy green, it’s still packed with vital nutrients that are necessities for a balanced diet. Check out some of our potato based recipes for some meal inspiration or our potato waffles range for an extra treat!
Who invented seedless watermelon?
Professor H. Kihara
The system for producing seedless watermelons was developed by Professor H. Kihara, a Japanese scientist at Kyoto University, who described his work in 1951.
The Melon Family, Cucurbitaceae, is a plant family commonly known as melons, gourds or cucurbits and includes crops like cucumbers, squashes (including pumpkins), luffas, melons (including watermelons).
Which is healthier melon or watermelon?
Melon is richer in vitamins as it contains more vitamin K by 2400%, vitamin B6 by 262%, and vitamin C by 169%. On the other hand, watermelon contains more vitamin B5 by about 163%. Watermelon contains less sodium and more phosphorus, but melon is richer in iron, calcium, potassium, and copper.
Is cantaloupe a watermelon?
They are a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, along with honeydew melons, watermelons, and cucumbers.
Is a coconut a berry?
Botanically, the coconut is classified as a fruit–more specifically, it is a drupe. Drupes are more commonly called stone fruits. Other stone fruits include peaches and nectarines; blackberries and raspberries are drupes comprised of aggregates of drupelets.
Is Pineapple a fruit or a nut?
A pineapple is neither a pine nor an apple, but a fruit consisting of many berries that have grown together. This also means that Pineapples are not a single fruit, but a group of berries that have fused together. The technical term for this is a “multiple fruit” or a “collective fruit”.
Gerardo Gonzalez loves cooking. He became interested in it at a young age, and has been honing his skills ever since. He enjoys experimenting with new recipes, and is always looking for ways to improve his technique.
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