Pumpkin: fruit or vegetables? | BRIGITTE.de

Is pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable? Unfortunately, the botanical classification of the autumn delicacy is not that easy, but we bring light into the darkness.

Fruit or vegetables: what is the pumpkin part of?

In order to be able to answer this question, we must first clarify the difference between fruits and vegetables.

  • As a fruit Seeds and fruits called that grow on trees or bushes. This Plants are perennial and their fruits can be harvested anew every year.
  • Vegetables, on the other hand, are usually Parts of an annual plant (for example, bulbs, leaves or roots) that grow on the ground.

Since pumpkins are fruit, From a botanical point of view, therefore, they belong to the fruit. However, they grow on an annual plant, which in turn means that they can be assigned to vegetables. In addition, it is generally said that Fruit tastes sweet (clearly not the case with pumpkin!) and can be eaten raw while Vegetables need to be cooked. But this is not always the case either – after all, you can eat a pumpkin raw, for example.

Is pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable? Fruit vegetables!

Because of the ambiguous assignment one has chosen those plants agreed on the term fruit vegetables. In addition to the pumpkin, these include zucchini, cucumbers, melons, peppers, tomatoes and eggplants: they all have both typical characteristics of both fruits and vegetables because they come from a fertilized flower but not from a perennial plant. By the way, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and zucchini are related because they all belong to the pumpkin family.

Basically, it doesn't really matter which category pumpkins belong to – the main thing is that they taste good! And did you know that the pumpkin is healthy? One more reason to make a delicious pumpkin soup, pumpkin jam or pumpkin bread. With us you will find the right recipes for it, we also explain how you can hollow out a pumpkin and store the pumpkin.