Color

Since “vegetable” is not a botanical term, there is no contradiction in referring to a plant part as a fruit while also being considered a vegetable (see diagram). Given this general rule of thumb, vegetables can also include leaves (lettuce), stems (asparagus), roots (carrots), flowers (broccoli), bulbs (garlic), seeds (peas and beans) and botanical fruits such as cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and capsicums (bell peppers). Botanically, fruits are reproductive organs (ripened ovaries containing one or many seeds), while vegetables are vegetative organs which sustain the plant.
The question "is it a fruit, or is it a vegetable?" has even found its way into the United States Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously in Nix v. Hedden, 1893, that a tomato is a vegetable for the purposes of 1883 Tariff Act, although botanically, a tomato is a fruit.
The distinction between fruits and vegetables is not just semantic. In Judaism, where religious Jewish people recite a blessing before eating food, and each food group has a separate blessing, defining a food as a fruit or vegetable will affect which blessing is chosen.
Commercial production of vegetables is a branch of horticulture called olericulture...

[edit] Etymology
Vegetable is also used as a literary term for any plant: vegetable matter, vegetable kingdom.[1] It comes from Latin vegetabilis (animated) and from vegetare (enliven), which is derived from vegetus (active), in reference to the process of a plant growing. This in turn derives from the Proto-Indo-European based on English wake, meaning "not sleep". The word vegetable was first recorded in print in English in the 14th century. The meaning of "plant grown for food" was not established until the 18th century. [2]

[edit] In the diet
Vegetables are eaten in a variety of ways as part of main meals and as snacks. The nutrient content of different types varies considerably. With the exception of pulses, vegetables provide little protein and fat.[3][4] Vegetables contain water soluble vitamins like vitamin B and vitamin C, fat-soluble vitamins including vitamin A and vitamin D, and also contain carbohydrates and minerals and fiber. Among the nutrients vegetables may have include antioxidants, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anticarcinogenic nutrients. Also, decaying or rotting vegetables (plant matter in general) may have reduced nutrients, but are often full of probiotic bacteria.

[edit] Color

Vegetables for sale on a street in Guntur, India
The green color of leafy vegetables is due to the presence of the green pigment chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is affected by pH and changes to olive green in acid conditions, and bright green in alkaline conditions. Some of the acids are released in steam during cooking, particularly if cooked without a cover.
The yellow/orange colors of fruits and vegetables are due to the presence of carotenoids, which are also affected by normal cooking processes or changes in pH.
The red/blue coloring of some fruits and vegetables (e.g. blackberries and red cabbage) are due to anthocyanins, which are sensitive to changes in pH. When pH is neutral, the pigments are purple, when acidic, red, and when alkaline, blue. These pigments are very water soluble.

[edit] Storage
Many root and non-root vegetables that grow underground can be stored through winter in a root cellar or other similarly cool, dark and dry place to prevent mold, greening and sprouting. Care should be taken in understanding the properties and vulnerabilities of the particular roots to be stored. These vegetables can last through to early spring and be nearly as nutritious as when fresh.[citation needed]
During storage, leafy vegetables lose moisture and vitamin C degrades rapidly. They should be stored for as short a time as possible in a cool place, in a container or plastic bag.

[edit] See also

Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on
Vegetable

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Vegetable
List of vegetables
Vegetarianism
Veganism
Herbivore
Market gardening

[edit] Notes
^ Swedenborg, Emanuel. (2003) Swedenborg Concordance 1888. Kessinger Publishing. p. 502. ISBN 0-7661-3728-7.
^ Ayto, John (1993). Dictionary of Word Origins. New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 1-55970-214-1.
^ Woodruff, Sandra. (1995) Secrets of Fat-Free Cooking. Avery. p. 85. ISBN 0-89529-668-3.
^ Whitaker, Julian. (2001) Reversing Diabetes. Warner Books. pp. 269-71. ISBN 0-446-67658-6.

[edit] External links
UC Vegetable & Research Information Center
Michigan Vegetable Information Network
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable"
Categories: All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements since August 2007 Vegetables Vegan cuisine Vegetarian cuisine
Views
Article
Discussion
Edit this page
History
Personal tools
Sign in / create account

if (window.isMSIE55) fixalpha();
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
interaction
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact Wikipedia
Donate to Wikipedia
Help
Search

Toolbox
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Printable version
Permanent link
Cite this article
In other languages
Afrikaans
العربية
Aragonés
Asturianu
Bân-lâm-gú
Boarisch
Беларуская
Bosanski
Български
Català
Česky
Cymraeg
Dansk
Deutsch
Español
Esperanto
Français
한국어
Hrvatski
Bahasa Indonesia
Íslenska
Italiano
עברית
Basa Jawa
ქართული
Lietuvių
Magyar
Bahasa Melayu
Nederlands
Nedersaksisch
日本語
‪Norsk (bokmål)‬
‪Norsk (nynorsk)‬
Nouormand
Plattdüütsch
Polski
Português
Română
Runa Simi
Русский
Sámegiella
Simple English
Slovenščina
Српски / Srpski
Suomi
Svenska
தமிழ்
ไทย
Türkçe
ייִדיש
粵語
中文


This page was last modified 19:13, 12 September 2007.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
if (window.runOnloadHook) runOnloadHook();
Make a donation to Wikipedia and give the gift of knowledge!