There are many vegetables in nature. But only pumpkin can boast of a variety of appearance. It is huge and small, flat and spherical, bumpy and smooth. Often there is a dispute, is a pumpkin a vegetable or a fruit? Read about this and much more in the article.
History reference
The birthplace of pumpkins is America. This vegetable is considered the oldest culture of the peoples of such countries as Mexico, Bolivia, Peru and Chile. Pumpkin thanks to the strength of growth, nutritional and healing properties, excellent taste, huge size of fruits and high productivity has become the basis of life of the ancient civilizations of the American continent. It was consumed in large quantities. Pumpkins were widely used in the household. Ancestors considered it a cult plant. And today, the main ritual attribute of Halloween is a large orange pumpkin.
What is pumpkin: fruit or vegetable?
If you follow the claims of botanists, then the fruits are the fruits of shrubs, trees with juicy flesh, formed from an ovary of flowers. In fact, this definition is suitable for cucumbers with tomatoes, and for eggplant with zucchini.
Is a pumpkin a vegetable or a fruit? Let's turn to science again. For nerds, a vegetable is an edible part of any plant. The exception is berries, fruits, seeds and nuts. As for root crops, it is not yet determined what it is. Although they are often considered vegetables, guided by the fact that they are edible. Thus, a pumpkin fruit or a vegetable, there is no exact definition. Therefore, what this culture is is unknown. Scientists consider pumpkin a fruit, and most consumers consider it a vegetable.
What is a pumpkin: a vegetable or a berry?
To answer this question, we turn to scientific sources. In the botany section, a berry is a fruit with a large number of seeds, which has a dense shell and juicy flesh. Pumpkin - berry or vegetable? Let's try to figure it out. For example, a watermelon. His scientists consider the berry, as it fits the description. But we, ordinary consumers, do we call it that? Take grapes. Many consider it a fruit, although it is a berry. So what is a pumpkin - a berry or a vegetable? Open question. On the one hand, it has a lot of seeds, a dense crust, juicy tasty pulp. It seems to be a berry. But at least once someone called a pumpkin a berry?
Classification
All people who consume fruits adhere to their systematization precisely on culinary grounds. In this understanding, fruits are considered to be fruits with juicy sweet flesh, which are consumed raw, and vegetables - those that need cooking. But confusion may arise. For example, a tomato. It is most often eaten raw, although it is a vegetable. The apple can be baked in the oven, that is, processed, but it will still be fruit.
There are many classifications of fruits. All of them are confused and not fully understood. Therefore, one should not pay attention to such a separation of fruits according to various characteristics. Eat everything that benefits the body, and do not understand: pumpkin is a vegetable or fruit. Let scientists do this.
Types of culture
Cultivated and wild types of pumpkins create a variety of shapes and colors. The first in nature, there are only five, and the last - sixteen. But today in the world not all types of pumpkins are grown, but basically only three. It is a large-fruited, hard-boiled and nutmeg pumpkin. They are easy to distinguish if you pay attention to the stalks. In the first species, it has a round-cylindrical shape, in the second - its surface is ribbed with grooves, in the latter - it has the shape of a pentahedron, expanded at the base, somewhat reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower.
Large-fruited pumpkin
The birthplace of culture is Bolivia and Peru. In ancient times, pumpkin was brought to China and India, where it began to be grown everywhere. It is here that it reaches gigantic proportions, each fruit weighs one hundred kilograms or more.
This is the sweetest pumpkin variety. It contains fifteen percent sugar, while in a watermelon - only eleven. Fruits have different colors, round or flat in shape; small tubercles are often found on them. Species of pumpkin have varieties. Large-fruited culture has three of them:
- Mammoth. It is distinguished by its huge size, bright colors, thin pulp, large seed chamber and low sugar content. Gardeners love this pumpkin and are happy to grow varieties such as Titan and Goliath.
- Winter. This pumpkin has small sizes of flat tuberous fruits. They are painted in dark green or gray. The fruit tastes very sweet. The pulp is dense and has a bright orange color resembling a carrot, which indicates a high content of carotene. The most delicious table varieties of this type include Marble and Kherson.
- Sulfurous. This type of pumpkin has a rounded flat shape and weighs up to thirty kilograms. The pulp is thick and not sweet.
Nutmeg pumpkin
Description this variety of culture will not be complete, if not to say that it is the most thermophilic tropical plant. It grows in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Central America. In our climate, it does not ripen in open ground. Fruits are distinguished by their elongated shape, smooth or slightly ribbed surface. Unripened pumpkin is green, and ripe fruits are yellow or brownish.
This variety has a thick pulp and a small seed chamber. Rich in vitamins and carotene. Sugar in this pumpkin is only ten percent. Mainly grown varieties such as Turkestan, North American and Japanese.
Hard pumpkin
To understand pumpkin is a vegetable or fruit, you need to get acquainted with this culture. For example, Mexico is considered the birthplace of hard-barked pumpkin. The following varieties of it are distinguished:
- Bush. These are zucchini, zucchini, eggplant. They have long been known in Europe; they came to us from the Mediterranean countries. They are consumed exclusively in an unripe form. In ripe fruits, the juiciness of the flesh is lost and the crust becomes stiff, hence the name. The bush of the plant is very convenient to process.
- Long-toed. A feature of this variety of hard-barked pumpkin is the ability to tie many fruits of small sizes. It is rare.
- Decorative. This pumpkin is grown to decorate the gardens. It is a ritual item among the peoples of Mexico and the South of America. It can grow in the form of striped balls, spotted pears or miniature copies of other fruits.