Do you know what makes a fruit a fruit and a vegetable a vegetable? Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? If you know the answers to those questions this article might not be for you. But it could be. If you are like me, and a lot of other people, it can be a bit challenging categorizing certain foods like pumpkins, avocados, mushrooms etc. into a food group. There are a lot of different fruits that are mistakenly confused as a vegetable, below is a list of just a few of them. So how well do you know your fruit and veggies take this little quiz and look at the answers below to find out!

Before I quiz your knowledge of all the yummy fruits and veggies, I'll give you a bit of information. What sets a fruit apart from a vegetable? Botanically speaking fruits are the ripened ovaries of flowering plants. The fruit is the part of the plant that surrounds the seeds. The seeds found in fruit are meant to be planted to keep the cycle going. Basically it's the edible part of plant developed from a flower. Generally fruits are sweeter than vegetables. A vegetable is a plant or part of plant that is edible, but does not necessarily have a role in the plants reproductive cycle (no seeds to plant). Vegetables are herbaceous plants that are cultivated for an edible part. Vegetables are generally less sweet and more savory than fruit.

Okay now that you have that little bit of information try this 10 question quiz. I'll explain the answers below.

• 1) Tomato: Fruit, Vegetable, or Other?
• 2) Rhubarb: Fruit, Vegetable, or Other?
• 3) Mushrooms: Fruit, Vegetable, or Other?
• 4) Olives: Fruit, Vegetable, or Other?
• 5) Sweetcorn: Fruit, Vegetable, or Other?
• 6) Butternut Squash: Fruit, Vegetable, or Other?
• 7) Potato: Fruit, Vegetable, or Other?
• 8) Cucumber: Fruit, Vegetable, or Other?
• 9) Aubergine: Fruit, Vegetable, or Other?
• 10) Okra: Fruit, Vegetable, or Other?

Here are the answers and explanations:

• 1) Fruit: Tomatoes are a confusing food item. They have caused a lot of discussion and a lot of people would classify this fruit as a vegetable. A tomato does have seeds, ergo a fruit.
• 2) Vegetable: Although rhubarb is sweet and is used in things like rhubarb pie it is actually a vegetable.
• 3) Other: Technically speaking mushrooms are neither a fruit nor a vegetable; they belong to the fungi family. So the next time you eat a mushroom remember your eating a fungus.
• 4) Fruit: Who would have thought that olives are a fruit? Olives are grown on trees, and come from a flowering plant making them a fruit.
• 5) Other: First off, what in the world is sweetcorn? I don't think I've ever heard of it. Anyway this is a grain like wheat or barley, but it can be classified as a fruit or a vegetable...so I guess any answer you picked on this question would technically be correct.
• 6) Fruit: I always thought that a butternut squash was a vegetable. But because it has seeds technically it's a fruit.
• 7) Vegetable: Technically a potato is a tuber but botanically speaking tubers are part of the vegetable family. Nutritionally potatoes are classified as a starch.
• 8) Fruit: Cucumbers contain seeds making them a fruit.
• 9) Aubergine: I don't know what this is...but it is a fruit because of its seeds.
• 10) Fruit: Okra, like the cucumber, contains seeds so it is a fruit.

Fun fact: avocados, pumpkins, peppers, and eggplant are all fruits!

How did you do? Do you know your fruits from your veggies? Do you know any other fruits that are mistaken for vegetables or vice versa? Leave a comment below!