There is almost a universal confusion between a fruit and a vegetable. Some of the products got from trees qualify as vegetables, while others are difficult to classify. Many people believe that vegetables are supposed to be cooked before eating, while their counterparts are eaten raw. Here is where the debate begins because, there are those vegetables that do not require to be cooked before consumption. Do they qualify as fruits then?

If we look at the botanical definitions, we find that a fruit is defined as the ripened reproductive body of seed plant. The reproductive body is the ovary and this therefore translates to mean that the ripened ovary is the fruit. The ovary ripens after fertilization with a male seed. Many of the ripened ovaries contain seeds in them and the seeds, when planted, are what give rise to a tree or plant that bears the ovaries.

There are other definitions that refer to these products but they are not botanical in nature. In social life, people talk of the consequences of ones actions as the fruits of his labor, be they good or bad. It is not uncommon to hear of a persons success being termed as the product of his labor. In the spiritual realm, people do refer to acts of goodness and all related virtues as fruits of the Holy Spirit. While this is debatable, it is not difficult to conclude that the products must be visible through ones lifestyle for them to be classified as such.

Back to the botanical definition, these products are recognized by their ability to produce seeds. However, not all of them contain seeds and some are actually known to be false. For example, the fig tree produces some products that look like they are edible, sweet but are not in real sense. Most of those used in cooking have simply been given the name culinary fruits.