There are many vegetables in nature. But only a pumpkin can boast of a variety of appearance. It is huge and small, flat and spherical, bumpy and smooth. Often there is a dispute, is a pumpkin a vegetable or a fruit? Read about this and much more in the article.
Historical background
The pumpkin is native to America. This vegetable is considered the oldest culture of the peoples of such states as Mexico, Bolivia, Peru and Chile. Pumpkin due to the strength of growth, nutritional and healing properties, excellent taste, huge fruit size and high yield became the basis of the life of the ancient civilizations of the American continent. It was eaten in large quantities. Pumpkins were widely used in the household. Ancestors considered it a cult plant. And today the main ritual attribute of Halloween is a large orange pumpkin.
Is pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable?
If you follow the statements of botanists, then fruits are considered to be the fruits of shrubs, trees with juicy pulp, formed from the ovary of flowers. In fact, this definition is suitable for cucumbers with tomatoes, and for eggplants withzucchini.
Pumpkin is a vegetable or a fruit? Let's go back to science. For botanists, a vegetable is the edible part of any plant. The exceptions are berries, fruits, seeds and nuts. As for root crops, it has not yet been determined what it is. Although they are often considered vegetables, guided by the fact that they are edible. Thus, a fruit is a pumpkin or a vegetable, there is no exact definition. Therefore, what this culture is is unknown. Scientists consider pumpkin a fruit, while most consumers consider it a vegetable.
Is pumpkin a vegetable or a berry?
To answer this question, let's turn to scientific sources. In the botany section, a berry is considered a fruit with a large number of seeds, which has a dense shell and juicy pulp. Pumpkin - a berry or a vegetable? Let's try to figure it out. For example, watermelon. Scientists consider it a berry, as it fits the description. But we, ordinary consumers, do we call it that? Let's take grapes. Many consider it a fruit, although it is a berry. So what is a pumpkin - a berry or a vegetable? Open question. On the one hand, it has a lot of seeds, a dense crust, juicy tasty pulp. It looks like a berry. But has anyone ever called a pumpkin a berry?
Classification
All people who eat fruits adhere to their systematization precisely on a culinary basis. In this understanding, fruits are fruits with juicy sweet pulp, which are consumed raw, and vegetables are those that need to be cooked. But confusion can arise. For example, a tomato. It is most often eaten raw, although it isvegetable. An apple can be baked in the oven, that is, processed, but it will still be a fruit.
There are many classifications of fruits. All of them are confused and not fully understood. Therefore, one should not pay attention to such a division of fruits according to various characteristics. Eat everything that benefits the body, and do not understand: a pumpkin is a vegetable or a fruit. Let the scientists do it.
Crop Types
Cultivated and wild gourds create a variety of shapes and colors. The first in nature, there are only five, and the last - sixteen. But today, not all types of pumpkin are grown in the world, but basically only three. These are large-fruited, hard-barked and nutmeg pumpkins. They are easy to distinguish if you pay attention to the stalks. In the first species, it has a rounded cylindrical shape, in the second, its surface is ribbed with grooves, in the latter, it has the shape of a pentahedron, expanded at the base, somewhat reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower.
Pumpkin large-fruited
The birthplace of culture is Bolivia and Peru. Even in ancient times, pumpkin was brought to China and India, where it began to be grown everywhere. It is here that it reaches gigantic proportions, each fruit weighs one hundred kilograms or more.
This is the sweetest variety of pumpkin. It contains fifteen percent sugar, while watermelon contains only eleven. The fruits have a different color, round or flat shape, they often have small tubercles. Pumpkin species have varieties. A large-fruited crop has three of them:
- Mammoth. Differs in hugesize, bright colors, thin flesh, large seed chamber and low sugar content. Gardeners love this pumpkin and grow varieties such as Titan and Goliath with pleasure.
- Winter. This pumpkin has a small size of flat tuberous fruits. They are dark green or grey. The fruits are very sweet in taste. The pulp is dense and bright orange in color, reminiscent of a carrot, which indicates a high content of carotene. The most delicious table varieties of this species include Marble and Kherson.
- Sulfurous. This variety of pumpkin has a rounded flat shape and weighs up to thirty kilograms. The flesh is thick and not sweet.
Butternut squash
The description of this variety of culture will not be complete, if not to say that this is the most heat-loving tropical plant. It grows in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Central America. In our climate, it does not ripen in open ground. Fruits are distinguished by an elongated shape, a smooth or slightly ribbed surface. An unripe pumpkin is green, while a ripe fruit is yellow or brownish.
This variety has thick flesh and a small seed chamber. Rich in vitamins and carotene. The sugar in this pumpkin is only ten percent. Grow mainly varieties such as Turkestan, North American and Japanese.
Pumpkin hardbark
To understand whether a pumpkin is a vegetable or a fruit, you need to get acquainted with this culture. For example, Mexico is considered the birthplace of hard-barked pumpkin. The following varieties are distinguished:
- Bush. These are zucchini, zucchini, eggplant. They have long been known in Europe, they came to us from the Mediterranean countries. They are used exclusively in unripe form. In ripe fruits, the juiciness of the pulp is lost and the peel becomes stiff, hence the name. The bush of the plant is very convenient in processing.
- Long-braided. A feature of this variety of hard-barked pumpkin is the ability to set many fruits of small sizes. Rare.
