Is a strawberry a fruit or a vegetable?

I think everyone (or almost everyone) loves strawberries. It lowers blood sugar. Moreover, it is helpful for the prevention of acute respiratory infections. It treats influenza, as it reduces fever as a natural aspirin. And strawberries are also a natural aphrodisiac. But is strawberry a fruit or a vegetable?

Differentiating between fruits and vegetables is almost impossible.

If you look at an apple, you could say that the term “fruit” stands for a plant whose fruit grows from a flower. Year after year, the apple tree bears its blossoms in spring. And the apples are shaken off the tree in autumn. People plant vegetables like carrots or spinach every year to harvest them. So far, so good. But, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and zucchini develop from a flower. And they are not perennial.

Further criteria for differentiation is that people eat raw fruits. But, they like to cook vegetables before eating. Or that fruits are the fruits of a plant and vegetables are the roots of a plant. But, it is not that simple! There are many exceptions.

Description of culture

The strawberry gets its name from its rounded shape. The root “club” in translation means “round.”

Strawberries have an unusual pedigree. People believe that it appeared due to the hybridization of wild strawberries with eastern strawberries. In European forests, this plant grew more than 60 thousand years ago. It indicates that it managed to survive even the Ice Age. Medieval England, France, and Germany have traces of it. Ancient Romans certainly knew about wild strawberries. They included berries in their diet.

People have found new a lot of new varieties at this point. It makes it possible to grow them even in the north. Frost-resistant types can survive temperatures below -35 °C under snow cover.

The origin of strawberries

The red, fleshy part of the strawberry plant originates in the Blossom. More precisely, in the flower base. It is the round, light green inner part of the flower, which is curved outwards.

The development

In the course of maturity, the flower base bulges more and more outwards and increases in volume. The petals fall off, and the color changes gradually. It goes from the initial yellow-green to a bright, rich strawberry-red. The threads, packed on the flower base, get apart and spread over the entire surface of the fruit.

The Maturity

When the strawberries are ripe, we can use them and eat them. For the plant, the focus is not on the red, juicy flesh. But instead, on every single tiny green dot that’s there on its surface. These are the only points or threads from the flower base. Each one of them has the potential to create a new, complete strawberry plant.

Beneficial features

Ascorbic acid, which is present in large quantities in fruits, has a beneficial effect on the immune system. Two hundred grams of berries per day allows you to provide the body with the elements necessary to protect against viruses during the period of colds and flu.

Also, ascorbic acid has a beneficial effect on the state of the cardiovascular system, contributing to the production of natural collagen, which is necessary to maintain the elasticity of the vascular walls.

Curcumin and quercetin, which are part of the fruit, help remove toxic substances from muscle tissue and joints, preventing the development of arthritis and other joint diseases.

Minerals from strawberries contribute to:

removing excess cholesterol from the blood;
maintaining the thyroid gland;
reduce the likelihood of diabetes.

Strawberries have Magnesium and potassium in an ideal ratio, which helps prevent the development of hypertension.

Antioxidants help cleanse the body and improve vascular health, which can reduce the likelihood of stroke.

Experts have shown that daily consumption of fruits for eight weeks can stimulate the brain, improve short-term memory and reduce the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Fisetin, found in strawberries, helps prevent diseases that arise due to age-related changes in the body.

In combination with ascorbic acid, antioxidants help to normalize intraocular pressure and reduce the likelihood of ophthalmic diseases. Also, these substances lead to the destruction of cancer cells in the mammary gland and enhance the effectiveness of anti-cancer therapy.

Regular absorption of strawberries helps to accelerate the breakdown of fats in the body and improve metabolic processes.
Strawberries are diuretic. Therefore, it helps to improve the functioning of the urinary system and eliminate swelling of the lower extremities, which is most important during pregnancy.
Folic acid and B vitamins have a beneficial effect on a pregnant woman’s body and reduce the likelihood of intrauterine fetal developmental defects.
Real berries have a mild calming effect and help fight stressful situations and postpartum depression.
The vitamins contained in the plant’s fruits improve the condition of the hair, skin, and nail plates. Daily consumption of berries can replace the intake of vitamin complexes.

The analysis

But what does that mean for the allocation of the strawberries? Biologists use explicit criteria to categorize the fruits as follows:

From a biological point of view, not a berry
The term “pseudo-berry” is not applicable biologically.
Green threads/dots = tiny nuts, so-called achenes.

Kind of fruit or vegetable?

The decision if the strawberry is a fruit or a vegetable isn’t easy. But, both terms are not clearly defined. Today, however, the following distinction predominates:

Fruit:

Mostly high sugar content
Can consume without further preparation
They are usually harvested over several years
Only the parts of plants, called fruits from a biological point of view, are used.

Vegetables:

Mostly low sugar content
Often further processing by boiling, heating, and seasoning.
Usually annual or even complete harvest of the entire plant.
Many plant parts, such as bulbs, leaves, stems, etc., are used.

But fruits and vegetables have the following things in common:

They are rich in the minerals potassium and Magnesium.
They contain vitamins and folic acid. Including vitamin C, provitamin A, vitamin E, and K. Some groups contain other vitamins.
Contain fiber
And are low in energy (exception: pulses and seeds).

So, Is a strawberry a fruit or a vegetable? If you use this distinction as a guide, the strawberry is a fruit.

Neither fruit nor vegetables – a Nut instead?

From a biological point of view, the strawberry has nuts as a means of propagation. But it is not one of the nuts we know. The strawberry fruit is also known as the so-called collective nut fruit since the false fruit serves as a collecting container for countless nuts or achenes.