What is a fruit?

0:46 Welcome to Science Is Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. Before we start, we have some very special listeners to celebrate today. First, a huge shout out to six-year-old Thomas in first grade and his four-year-old sister Charlotte.

1:03 Yeah! Thomas actually asked us how a tomato can be both a fruit and a vegetable, which is exactly what we are talking about today. This one is for you both.

1:14 We also want to wish a huge happy fourth birthday to Lane in Clearwater, Florida. Lane listens every day on the way to school and loves Science is not boring.

1:25 Happy birthday, Lane! And another huge happy seventh birthday to Sophia in Minnesota, who listens every single day. Thank you all so much for listening.

1:36 If you haven't already, tap follow wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode.

1:42 Okay, Mira. So Thomas wants to know about tomatoes. But aren't they just salad vegetables?

1:48 That is the big question, Finn. Today we are diving into the wild world of plant science. And get ready, because almost everything you think you know about the produce aisle is wrong. Wait, what do you mean? Did you know that a strawberry is not actually a botanical berry, but a banana is?

2:09 No way! A banana is a berry. That doesn't make any sense. It is scientifically true, and that is just the beginning.

2:17 The debate over what makes a fruit a fruit and a vegetable a vegetable was so intense that it literally went all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

2:27 The Supreme Court? Like judges in robes had to decide if a tomato goes in a fruit salad.

2:34 Exactly! But before we get to the big trial, we have to talk about the science. In botany, which is the study of plants, the rules for fruits are very strict.

2:45 Okay, what is the scientific rule?

2:47 To a botanist, a fruit is any seed-bearing structure that develops from the ovary of a flowering plant.

2:54 Wait, plants have ovaries, like animals?

2:58 Yep. When a plant blooms, the base of the flower has a little chamber called an ovary that holds the plant's eggs. Once pollen reaches it, the ovary swells up and grows into a fruit, protecting the seeds inside.

3:12 So the fruit is like a protective shield for the baby plant seeds.

3:16 Exactly. So if it has seeds on the inside and it grew from a flower, it is a scientific fruit. That means cucumbers, pumpkins, avocados, and yes, tomatoes are all fruits.

3:30 Wait, a cucumber is a fruit? I put that in my salad. Sure is.

3:36 Cut it open and you see dozens of seeds. So botanically, it is a fruit. Then what the heck is a vegetable? In science, a vegetable is any other edible part of the plant. Think about a carrot. What part of the plant is that?

3:53 Well, it grows under the dirt. So is it the root?

3:58 Spot on! Carrots are roots. They absorb water and nutrients. Since they do not have seeds and do not come from a flower, they are vegetables. Whoa, what about celery? Celery is the leaf stalk of the plant. It's the crunchy structural support. And spinach? Those are the leaves. We are literally eating the plant's solar panels.

4:21 Haha, I'm eating solar panels. That makes me feel like a cyborg. But wait, if science is so clear about this, why was there a Supreme Court case?

4:31 That brings us to the year 1883. The United States government passed a new law called the Tariff Act. It placed a 10% tax on imported vegetables.

4:42 Why would they tax vegetables? Did they just want people to eat more candy?

4:48 No, they wanted to protect American farmers. If foreign vegetables cost 10% more, grocery stores would buy from local American farmers instead.

4:58 Okay, that makes sense. But what does this have to do with fruit?

5:03 Because the law said imported vegetables had a 10% tax, but imported fruits had a 0% tax. They were totally free to bring into the country. Oh, I see where this is going. Enter a man named John Nicks. He ran John Nixon Company, one of the biggest produce sellers in New York City. In 1886, he ordered a massive shipment of tomatoes from the West Indies.

5:29 And the tax collector stopped his ship?

5:31 Yes. The tax collector for the Port of New York was a man named Edward Hedon. Hedon looked at the giant pile of tomatoes and said, these are vegetables. You owe me 10% of their value.

5:44 Wait, but tomatoes have seeds. They grow from the flower. Did John Nicks tell him the science?

5:51 He did. Nick said, Excuse me, Mr. Hedon, tomatoes are scientifically fruits, which means they are tax free. But Hedon refused to back down. He forced Nyx to pay the tax under protest. That's not fair.

6:07 The science was on his side.

6:09 Nix thought the exact same thing, so he hired lawyers and he sued the tax collector. It became the famous case of Nyx versus Hedon. The lawsuit took years. It slowly worked its way through the legal system until finally, in 1893, seven years after the tomatoes arrived, it reached the United States Supreme Court.

6:33 Seven years? Those tomatoes were definitely rotten by then.

6:38 The tomatoes were long gone, but the money Nyx paid was still on the line. The highest court in the country had to decide once and for all, is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?

6:51 How did judges even figure that out? Did they bring microscopes into the courtroom? Nope.

6:57 They used dictionaries. The lawyers literally stood in front of the judges and read the definitions of fruit, vegetable, pea, eggplant, cucumber, and squash from three different dictionaries.

7:11 That sounds like the most boring trial ever.

7:14 It was a huge deal! On May 10, 1893, Justice Horace Grey read the final decision. He admitted that botanically, tomatoes are fruits of the vine, just like pumpkins and cucumbers. Yes! So John Nix won his money back? Actually, no. Justice Grey said that laws are written in common language, not scientific language.

7:40 And in everyday life, tomatoes are eaten at dinner with the main course, not as a sweet dessert. Wait, so the judges ignored the science. They decided that culinary use, which means how chefs and grocery stores treat the food, was more important for the tax law. Because people treat tomatoes like vegetables in the kitchen, they were legally declared vegetables.

8:03 So a tomato is a scientific fruit, but a legal vegetable? That is so confusing.

8:09 It really is. And it means that to this day, chefs and scientists speak two different languages. A chef will tell you an eggplant is a vegetable, but a scientist will tell you it's actually a giant berry.

8:24 Okay, you mentioned bananas and berries earlier. We have to talk about that. How is a banana a berry?

8:30 In botany, a true berry has three fleshy layers around its seeds, and it develops from a flower with just one ovary. Bananas check all those boxes. So do grapes, kiwis, and watermelons.

8:45 Then what about strawberries? They literally have the word berry in their name.

8:50 Strawberries are lyars. They come from flowers with multiple ovaries. That makes them an aggregate fruit, not a berry. And get this: those little specks on the outside of the strawberry, those are the actual fruits.

9:05 Wait, the tiny seeds are the fruits?

9:08 Yes. Each little seed, called an achene, is a tiny individual fruit holding a seed inside. A single strawberry has about 200 of them on its skin.

9:20 Haha, everything I know is a lie. What about pumpkins? You said they were fruits.

9:26 They are, and since they have seeds on the inside, they are basically massive hard-shelled berries. And they can get huge. In 2023, a farmer named Travis Ginger grew a pumpkin that weighed £749.

9:44 £2,749? That is heavier than a small car.

9:50 Exactly. Imagine making a fruit salad out of a pumpkin the size of a car. Alright, Finn, time for the quiz. Are you ready? I think so. Hit me with the science facts. Okay, first question. In botany, what part of the flower swells up to become the fruit? Next one. What part of the plant are you eating when you eat a carrot?

10:19 Question three. In what year did the Supreme Court decide the famous tomato case? Alright, here's number four. What tax percent was placed on imported vegetables in 1883? Last question. Roughly how many tiny seed-like fruits are on the outside of a single strawberry. Great job! Let's go through the answers.

10:53 The answer to question one is the ovary of the flower becomes the fruit. For question two, a carrot is the root of the plant. Number three, the answer is the Supreme Court decided Nyx vs. Hedon in 1893. Question four. The government placed a 10% tax on imported vegetables. And the final answer is a strawberry has about 200 tiny fruits on the outside.

11:21 So, the next time you eat a salad, you can amaze your friends by telling them they are actually eating a bowl full of plant ovaries, leafstalks, and roots.

11:31unknown Ha ha ha ha.

11:32 I don't know if they will thank me for that, but I am definitely going to do it anyway.

11:37 If you had fun learning about the crazy science of fruits and vegetables, we would love it if you could leave us a five-star review. Just scroll down and tap the stars. Tell everyone this podcast is as top-tier as a £2,749-pound pumpkin.

11:53 Yeah! And please follow us right here so you get every new episode. Oh, and we have sister shows too. History and philosophy's not boring. And maths is not boring. Go give those a listen and a follow as well.

12:08 And if you want to shout out on the show, or just want to say hi like Thomas and Charlotte did, email us at hello at kidopoly.com. We love hearing from you.

12:18 Thanks for exploring the weird world of botany with us today.

12:22 See you next time on Science Is Not Boring.

12:24 Bye, everyone.