Sweet Pepper fruit or vegetable

Are sweet peppers fruit or vegetables?

The question, ‘Is sweet pepper a fruit or a vegetable?’ is a very common question. Tommies looks at this question in a practical way. Fruit and vegetables have a great deal in common. They are both healthy, because they contain lots of vitamins, fibre, minerals, and other healthy substances. This helps you to stay fit and protects health. Eating lots of different kinds of fruits and vegetables ensures that you get lots of nutrients. The most important answer to the question, ‘Is sweet pepper a fruit or a vegetable?’ is therefore:

Whether sweet pepper is a fruit or a vegetable, it’s definitely healthy! The snack peppers from Tommies are therefore an easy and healthy snack as part of a healthy diet.

Sweet pepper as a vegetable or fruit, where does the confusion come from?

Why do people ask the question, ‘Is sweet pepper a fruit or a vegetable?’, where does the confusion come from? ‘Fruit’ is the collective name for sugary edible parts of a plant. ‘Vegetable’ is the collective name for all other edible parts of a plant. We only eat the fruit of the sweet pepper, but nonetheless in everyday use the sweet pepper is often seen as a vegetable. That’s where the confusion comes from. Is a sweet pepper a fruit or a vegetable? All sorts of different answers to this question can be given, from various points of view. Read below for the viewpoints and answers in the discussion over whether sweet pepper is a fruit or a vegetable.

The cultural viewpoint

In our culture, sweet pepper is seen as a vegetable. Over time we have got used to talking about sweet peppers as vegetables. In addition, at the supermarket sweet peppers are usually found in the vegetable department, amongst other vegetables. So from a cultural viewpoint, we see the sweet pepper as a vegetable, and not as a fruit.

From a horticultural point of view, sweet pepper is a vegetable

What is the horticultural answer to the question, ‘Is sweet pepper a fruit or a vegetable?’ The distinction between fruits and vegetables within the horticultural industry is this:
– Everything that grows on a herbaceous plant is a vegetable
– Everything that grows on a woody plant is a fruit

Within the horticultural industry, sweet pepper is therefore viewed as a vegetable, and not as a fruit. The fact is that sweet peppers grow on a herbaceous plant.

Another horticultural argument that sweet pepper is a vegetable is that sweet peppers grow on an annual plant. In vegetable cultivation, the plant is finished when the vegetables are harvested. This is also the case with sweet peppers.

Botanists see sweet peppers as a fruit

According to botanists a fruit is the part of the plant that contains the seeds. The other parts of plants are considered vegetables. In the world of botany, you can therefore describe sweet pepper as a fruit, rather than a vegetable.

In culinary terms a sweet pepper is a vegetable

From a culinary point of view, everything eaten as an entrée or main course is seen as a vegetable. Fruit, under the culinary definition, is only eaten as dessert. So is a sweet pepper a fruit or a vegetable then? Tommies snack peppers can be eaten at any time of day, but sweet pepper is, in general, predominantly used in entrées and main courses. From a culinary perspective the sweet pepper is therefore clearly a vegetable.

Is sweet pepper a fruit or a vegetable? The answer from Tommies

As stated earlier, for Tommies it’s chiefly about the healthy qualities of our snack peppers, whether we call them vegetables or fruit. By reading the above you can see that the discussion about sweet peppers as fruits or vegetables can be considered from many points of view. That’s why we’ve come up with a great term for our tasty and healthy snack products: fruit veggies!