Tomatoes are truly a cause for confusion in terms of their classification. This hotly contested fruit that’s treated as a vegetable brings a fresh pop of color and flavor to your plate. With a sweet, tart, and slightly acidic taste, are tomatoes part of the citrus family?
Tomatoes aren’t citrus. They belong to the nightshade (Solanaceae) family, which includes peppers, potatoes, and eggplants. Its fruit is botanically classified as a berry because of its fleshy structure and development from a single ovary; size and sweetness do not define the category.
Tomatoes are technically fruits. But exactly what kind of fruit are they? Let’s discover what this rather perplexing fruit actually is.
Why Tomatoes Aren’t Citrus?
Their sweet and sour flavor, juicy flesh, and notable citric acid content have led many to assume that tomatoes belong to the citrus family.
However, when you examine what distinguishes one plant type from another, it becomes evident that tomato plants aren’t citrus but are instead members of the nightshade family.
Characteristics Of Citrus Plants
Plants that are botanically classified as citrus share the following characteristics:
- A member of the Rutaceae family of plants.
- A rind with an outer colored layer and inner pith; citrus zest is used as food.
- Grown on perennial trees.
- Highly fragrant skin.
- Segmented flesh with a juicy pulp.
- An essential oil can be extracted from the rind.
Popular citrus fruits include lemons, limes, grapefruit, oranges, pomelos, and mandarins.
Characteristics Of The Nightshade Family
Common attributes of nightshade plants include:
- Belong to the Solanaceae family of plants.
- Parts of the plant contain toxic alkaloid compounds.
- Tomatoes and peppers produce berries; other nightshade species can produce dry capsules.
- Foliage (leaves) with a hairy coating, usually odorous.
- The stems have alternate leaves that grow in a staggered pattern.
Edible nightshades include tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, and peppers.
The Difference Between Typical Citrus Plants And Tomatoes
The skin and flesh of an ordinary ripe tomato fruit are commonly eaten. That does not mean the plant’s leaves and stems are food.
Tomato skin differs from the aromatic rind of citrus fruit.
While citrus fruit grows on perennial trees, tomatoes grow on short vines.
Citrus plants belong to the Rutaceae family and tomato plants to the Solanaceae family.
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What Type Of Fruit Is A Tomato?
You might be amazed to learn that a tomato is botanically classified as a berry!
Usually, when you think of a berry, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries immediately come to mind.
These are known as culinary berries.
Botanical berries are regarded as true berries.
Besides tomatoes, the list of true berries also includes pumpkins, bananas, watermelons, avocados, kiwis, grapes, eggplants, and cucumbers.
This is because their structure meets the biological definition of a true berry.
Characteristics Of A True Berry
Tomatoes qualify as botanical berries because of their fruit structure. Berries are a fruit type, not a plant family.
- Botanically classified as a “simple fruit,” developed from a single flower with only one ovary.
- The fruit has three layers: an outer skin (exocarp), a fleshy middle (mesocarp), and an inner layer that contains the seeds (endocarp).
- A berry can have one or more seeds; seed number alone does not define the category.
- Sweetness and bright color are not required for botanical classification as a berry.
Surprising Facts About Berries
Common food names do not always match botanical categories. Raspberries and blackberries are aggregate fruits from multiple ovaries of one flower. Mulberries are multiple fruits formed from several flowers.
Strawberries are aggregate accessory fruits: the small structures on the surface are the individual fruits, while the familiar red part is enlarged receptacle tissue. Aggregate fruits do not all have exposed seeds.
Citrus fruits are a specialized berry type called a hesperidium. That shared fruit category does not put tomatoes in the citrus family. New York Botanical Garden lists tomatoes and peppers as berries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Cherry Tomatoes Citrus?
Cherry tomatoes aren’t citrus. Like all tomato varieties, they’re part of the nightshade family of plants.
The small, sweet, and widely-adored fruit is botanically classified as a berry due to its juicy flesh and multiple inner seeds.
They are the result of a single flower with one ovary.
Is A Tomato A Fruit Or Vegetable?
The tomato has always been subject to heated debate and confusion about where you should place it, and this is understandable.
Let’s discover the truth about the tomato controversy!
Botanically and scientifically speaking, tomatoes are fruits.
This is because they develop from the flower of the plant, and they contain seeds.
Eggplants, pumpkins, peppers, and cucumbers are all technically fruits.
Vegetables are actual parts of the plant, such as leaves, stems, and roots.
Think of beetroot, carrots, leafy greens, herbs, celery, etc.
In cooking, tomatoes are commonly treated as vegetables. The legal classification mentioned below concerned US import duties.
Whether a fruit grows on a tree, shrub or herbaceous plant does not determine whether cooks call it a vegetable.
Tomatoes are prepared and consumed as vegetables in cooking.
Unlike most fruits, tomatoes are added to savory dishes rather than sweet ones.
That’s why you will find tomatoes in the vegetable section of grocery stores.
The humble tomato has caused so much controversy that even the Supreme Court had to weigh in on whether it should be subject to vegetable import duties.
Since tomatoes are eaten like vegetables, they unanimously declared them to be vegetables!
It’s evident that a tomato is technically both a fruit and a vegetable.
The late British journalist, Miles Kington, explains it best: “Knowledge consists of knowing that a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom consists of not putting it in a fruit salad!”
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Are Tomatoes Acidic?
The pH of fresh tomatoes is generally between 4.3 to 4.9, making them acidic in nature.
Tomatoes contain three primary acids: citric acid, malic acid, and ascorbic acid (hello, Vitamin C!).
These compounds contribute to the tomatoes’ taste, texture, and acidity levels.
The acidity decreases as the tomato ripens.
