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135 Comments
- EntropyMan, on 10/12/2007, -21/+225Funny you should cite Wikipedia, because if you click on the definitions of Fruit and Vegetable, you will see that by any scientific definition, Watermelon (and even Bittermelon) are fruits. Fruits are ripened ovaries (i.e., parts that produce seeds), including tomatoes, cucumbers, and lots more. Vegetables are the non-fruit parts of plants we eat. Celery stalks are a good example. It has very little to do with sweetness and is most closely tied to whether or not it contains seeds.
Anyway, even by the lay definition of 'fruit' and 'vegetable,' watermelon is a fruit and Oklahomans are tards for trying to legislate otherwise. Next thing you know, they'll be trying to legislate science into creationism! Oh. - goeatsmsht, on 10/12/2007, -5/+88For years, people with too much time on their hands have debated that point, too. Growers in the United States consider it to be both fruit and vegetable, which is a convenient way to sidestep the issue.
Technically, watermelon is the fruit of a plant originally from a vine of southern Africa. Like the pepper, tomato and pumpkin, it is the ripened ovary of a seed plant and its contents, which, botanically speaking, make it fruit.
Consumers use watermelon primarily as a fruit because of its sweet flavor and refreshing qualities. But according to other sources, Webster's dictionary among them, a vegetable is anything made or obtained from plants. And so the answer gets a bit murky.
Watermelon is a member of the cucurbitaceae plant family of gourds (classified as citrullus lantus) related to the cucumber, squash and pumpkin. It is planted from seeds or seedlings, harvested, and then cleared from the field like other vegetables.
And because it is grown as a vegetable crop, using vegetable production systems, watermelon is also considered a vegetable.
The whole watermelon is edible, even the rind. In places such as China, watermelon is stir-fried, stewed and often pickled. In this case, the watermelon is being used as a vegetable. Pickled watermelon rind is a favorite in Russia.
Early watermelons were mainly rind and seeds. Today's varieties are larger, the flesh sweeter, the seeds smaller and the rind thinner.
It is perhaps the most refreshing, thirst-quenching fruit of all. Watermelon consists of 92 per cent water and eight per cent sugar, so it is aptly named.
"North Americans primarily treat watermelon as a fruit, eaten out of hand or in salads and sweet desserts," says the National Watermelon Promotion Board based in Orlando, Fla., which represents 1,767 growers, shippers and importers.
Fruit or vegetable, watermelon is a good source of vitamin C, thiamin and vitamin B6. It is also a source of vitamin A, magnesium and potassium, contains no cholesterol and is very low in sodium.
Watermelon contains higher levels of the antioxidant lycopene than any other fresh fruit or vegetable, including the tomato.
SOURCE: http://www.canada.com/topics/lifestyle/story.html?id=ea4a7886-2264-4777-a79c-859b6b75042f&k=74992 - noahhoward, on 10/12/2007, -4/+69"Webster's dictionary among them, a vegetable is anything made or obtained from plants"
That is kind of vague... under that definition maple syrup is a vegetable, so is sugar... and pot. - sronbheatha, on 10/12/2007, -3/+30Who ever said that politicians have it easy. I hear there was tough opposition from the celery lobby.
- fluidfoundation, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27thats the tastiest veggie I've ever filled with vodka and stuck in the freezer for a week.
- TroubleInMind, on 10/12/2007, -5/+26In other news, Oklahoma has named a cat as the official state dog. Spokesman says "Well, we already had a state cat, so there you go".
- Angostura, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Botanically, Watermelon, tomato etc. are fruits.
Curiously, the strawberry is not botanically really a fruit, is a pseudocarp - a multiple fruit. Each of the 'pips' is an individual fruit, the fleshy red part is a swelling of the stem. - praisethelard, on 06/06/2008, -10/+26That's the tastiest veggie I've ever put my dong in.
Guys? - FyreGoddess, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Are you allowed to legislate botanical classifications?
- NaziHatinChimp, on 10/12/2007, -6/+19I live in South Carolina but I hail from Oklahoma. I will never be cut a break.
- ZackScott, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17Almost any fruit can also be considered a vegetable.
Dictionary.com says a vegetable is: "Any plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food, as the tomato, bean, beet, potato, onion, asparagus, spinach, or cauliflower. OR The edible part of such a plant, as the tuber of the potato."
So the watermelon can be defined as both a fruit and vegetable. Besides, vegetable is a culinary term, not a scientific term. Here's what Wikipedia says:
"Vegetable is a culinary term which generally refers to an edible part of a plant. The definition is traditional rather than scientific and is somewhat arbitrary and subjective."
So anyway, these aren't scientists making legislation and vegetable isn't even a scientific term. So what's the big deal? - ksieradski, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12@ FyreGoddess: Are you allowed to legislate botanical classifications?
Yep.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_v._Hedden
"Nix v. Hedden ~ was a case in which the United States Supreme Court addressed whether a tomato was classified as a fruit or a vegetable under the Tariff Act of March 3, 1883" - FloppyLlamaDigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12>I've always wanted to try that....doest that vodka actually taste like watermellon after?
No, the watermelon tastes like vodka.
And gets you drunk like vodka. - WarpFox, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I always thought, at least as a practical definition-
seeds inside = fruit (apples, oranges, tomatos)
no seeds inside = vegetable (potato, onion, carrot)
simple enough, yes? - tremulant14, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I think if you have to argue the fact that its a vegetable, then you shouldnt make it a state vegetable.
- cerejota, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8@Godel
Squash is a fruit. Just because it is not sweet it doesn't make just a vegetable.
@ everyone:
Technically, all fruits are vegetables, but not all vegetables are fruits.
However, fruits are not only defined by ovum or no ovum (then nuts would be fruits too) but as seeds enclosed in a carbohydrate rich medium. These generally taste sweet, but not only. - dmsean, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8floppyllamadigg i found it tastes like watermelon. just *how much* vodka did you use?
I mean, i couldn't taste the alcohol and still passed out on the lawn that night. - TroubleInMind, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Tomatoes are fruit, my brotha. Back to Enid with you!
- voldak, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10I (unfortunately) live in Oklahoma. I'm not lying to you when I tell you that it gets harder to live here EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE.
- roosterjm2k2, on 10/12/2007, -9/+14IDIOTS: People who call people idiots without understanding their reasoning!
Depending who you ask, in what area you are in, and in what sense you are asking, there are many fruit/vegetables that blur the line and end up on either side of the line.
Botanically speaking, its one thing. Generally speaking, its another...and if you look from the perspective of a farmer/grower, its another.
As goeatsmsht pointed out, growers often put EVERYTHING into 2 categories. Fruit, or vegetable. If the plant lives to reproduce again and again (like a tree) its a fruit. If the plant dies and a new one is planted every season...its a vegetable. - NeoCortex, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6It's no worse than trying to legislate the exact value or pi, or the celestial object classification of Pluto on a state level.
- Oldschoolhack, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I live in Oklahoma.... that alone deserves me being dugg down....
I'm almost too embarassed to even submit this comment. - killinger777, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Nice to see this was a bipartisan effort.
- Bahimiron, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8If a vegetable is any editable part of a plant, does that mean that a watermelon on Digg is only a vegetable for 120 seconds after posting?
- ZackScott, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Guys, would you believe it if I told you a square is also a rectangle? Well it is. And a watermelon is also a vegetable. Want to know why? Because vegetable is a culinary term. Want to know what a vegetable is? It is an edible part of a plant. So stop relying on just what you were told as a kid about fruits and vegetables and just do some research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vegetable - asa400, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5It's what plants crave.
- kuzotz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7hey don't call me a ***** tard. Most people in oklahoma know that watermelon is a fruit, but look at our idiotic legislators...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Slow news day, huh?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I think the honor of being the Oklahoma Official Vegetable should be given to Rep. Joe Dorman and Sen. Don Barrington who sponsored this nutty bill.
- caution, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5If watermelons are vegetables, the terrorists have already won.
In other words, WTF is the point here? - bobpaul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Grains are a fruit by pure botanical definition, but antitomato is clearly not using botanical definitions. Corn is generally considered a vegetable by consumers. Wood pulp is never a fruit, though. Neither are potatoes (vodka). The point is, whether a plant can ferment to alcohol is not a valid determinant of whether or not something is a fruit. I think you primarily just need sugar to feed the yeast; thus sugar cane and beets should also be fermentable and are clearly not fruits by any other definition.
- dp1mat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Makes me ashamed to be an okie. Wish they would fix some the bridges and over passes in Tulsa. They are falling down onto cars.
- gnawph2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Lol, I love when complaints about someplace are always answered with "GTFO!".
- nighttrain2007, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4It's the state legislature. Why, what would you have as their top priority?
- mateo60, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Being from Oklahoma, I'm so happy that our legislature has solved this pressing issue, which probably required weeks of debate, that was more important than teacher salaries and healthcare. Thanks Oklahoma legislature for making me proud to be an Oklahoman.
- CletusJones, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I actually got dumber by reading that story, and all of these comments. I think I will go read MAD magazine now.
- bobpaul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@antitomato--You created an account just to make that post and spam us with your blog? Wow, you really are a chode...
I guess you can go ahead and believe whatever you want, but you can make alcohol from lots of things that aren't fruits such as wheat, barley, corn, even wood pulp. Oh, I suppose it doesn't need pointing out that fruits don't make alcohol, but the fermentation of most plants produces alcohol. - OneAndOnlySnob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's dumb. Maybe the parts on the very end are reproductive in nature, but I also eat the stems. Fruit is ripened plant ovary, not stems and bud like things.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"The Cucurbitaceae family is considered vegetables and thus the watermelon is classed as a vegetable."
It's considered... that's a passive statement, not a factual one. And who 'considers' it as a veg.?
"If you want to learn more about this class of vegetable you could attend "Cucurbitaceae 2006" to be held September 17-21 in Asheville, NC"
Oh, figures... - brklynmark, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2You're a fruit.
/obligatory - Wargasmistaken, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Hmmm i live in Oklahoma.... and this just shows how productive our state senate really is.... wasting time debating about fruits and vegetables
- grindking, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2it is a vegetable so you shouldn't be embarassed.
- daRoach, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Mango salsa.
- glonq, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1from http://www.watermelon.org/pdfs/media/presskit2006/WatermelonFacts.pdf
Watermelon is a Fruit
Watermelon is the fruit of a plant originally from a vine of southern Africa. The watermelon fruit, loosely considered a
type of melon (although not in the genus Cucumis), has a smooth exterior rind and a juicy, sweet, usually red interior
flesh. The species descriptor Citrullus vulgaris is sometimes, synonymously, used to refer to this plant (vulgaris
meaning "common" — Shosteck, 1974).
Like the pepper, tomato, and pumpkin, watermelon is botanically a fruit. According to Webster’s dictionary and
Wikipedia, a fruit is the ripened ovary of a seed plant and its contents, and a watermelon is a large oblong roundish
fruit (2004, 2006). Consumers use watermelon primarily as a fruit because of its sweet flavor and refreshing qualities.
Watermelon is Also a Vegetable
According to Webster’s dictionary a vegetable is anything made or obtained from plants (2004). Watermelon is a
member of the cucurbitaceae plant family of gourds (classified as Citrullus Lantus), related to the cucumber, squash,
and pumpkin (Maynard, 2001). It is planted from seeds or seedlings, harvested, and then cleared from the field like
other vegetables. Since watermelon is grown - hikaruzero, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6Well, if you want to be TECHNICAL, dogs and cats are descended from the same kingdom, phylum, class, and order ... Animalia Chordata Mammalia Carnivora ... and you see, the dictionary definitions do not adequately represent the actual MEANINGS of "cat" and "dog" as they are used in today's contemporary America ...
... lol ... I find it hilarious that a watermelon can be considered a "fruit" botanically and a "vegetable" culinarily. But since when did words have different meanings depending not on their context, but rather on their intentions? Maybe it's just me but ... isn't the purpose of a word to establish a universal definition that is *independent* of intent?
Next thing you know, someone will be telling me that green pens have blue ink, and that by "blue" they mean the entire spectrum of "cold colours" as opposed to "red" which represents the "hot colours" from an "artistic perspective."
You know what, screw the beating around the bush, I'll just come out and say it: Watermelon is a fruit. The idea that something is a vegetable because it's made from a vegetable is recursively idiotic. I reject, on principle of common sense, any definition of "vegetable" which does not preclude sap, syrup, bark, and root. - OneAndOnlySnob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There's really no definition for a vegetable, it's kind of a catch-all. However, watermelons do flower, and therefore are clearly a fruit....
- Datyedyeguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why is this news?
- CraveAdrenaline, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Watermelon is Also a Vegetable
According to Webster’s dictionary a vegetable is anything made or obtained from plants (2004). Watermelon is a
member of the cucurbitaceae plant family of gourds (classified as Citrullus Lantus), related to the cucumber, squash,
and pumpkin (Maynard, 2001). It is planted from seeds or seedlings, harvested, and then cleared from the field like
other vegetables. Since watermelon is grown as a vegetable crop using vegetable production systems, watermelon is
considered a vegetable (Wolford, 2004) - Incom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i guess in OK priority legislation like the above mentioned is given only to the most important party members.
missouri declared something lame like this last year, a state frog, grass, rock or something idiotic - lbmouse, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2WRONG! Watermelons and cucumbers are epigynous berries which are classified as accessory fruits and NOT vegetables.
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