Avocado is considered as fruit as per botanical terms. It’s domestic to Mexico and grows best in a warm climate on avocado trees. But on the USDA website, it’s listed as a vegetable because of its various uses in cooking.

The nutrient-rich fruit is a treasure of vitamins and minerals and has become a favorite of weight watchers. Hitting the diet chart, this fruit is packed with fiber, potassium, heart-friendly unsaturated fats, and a huge number of antioxidants.

Is Avocado a Fruit or Vegetable?

Coming to the most prominent question of this article–Is avocado a fruit or vegetable? The answer is YES! Technically and based on botanical terms, it’s a fruit, more precisely, a large single-seeded berry. But due to its sweet and savory flavor, this buttery fruit is entitled as a vegetable in USDA listing.

Also Read: Do Almonds Grow on Trees?

Is An Avocado a Berry

Avocado fruit looks similar to peaches and plums, but it’s a berry. Why? Because these drupe fruits have hard-woody endocarp. Whereas, avocado has the soft and very thin endocarp (the inner layer of any fruit that covers the seeds or pit) and fleshy mesocarp, the pulpy middle part between the endocarp and exocarp. These are the characteristics of a berry, according to the botanical definitions.

The Culinary Culture of Avocados

Avocado has a nutty or buttery taste. It’s generally more cooked as a savory snack. With a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon juice, avocado tastes so heavenly! You can use it as a spread on a sandwich, blanched in pasta, guacamole dip, and an exceptional replacement for butter too. Use soft avocado for a dip and hard ones for salads; you can also prepare creamy avocado pesto.

Due to these qualities, most people misunderstand this fruit as a vegetable. Apart from savory dishes, avocado also enhances the taste of sweet platter. By just adding in puddings or baking in cupcakes, this fruit is lip-smacking.

Nutritional Value of Avocados

This creamy textured fruit is also known as butter fruit and alligator pear. This multiskilled fruit is a prominent source of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and contains approximately twenty vitamins and minerals: Vitamin C, E, K and B-6, Riboflavin, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Niacin, Folic Acid, Potassium, Beta Carotene, Magnesium, and Pantothenic acid.

Along with the power of vitamins and minerals, Avocado also contains a substantial amount of fats. You don’t need to worry about the fat content of this fruit as fat is required for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, nutrients, and minerals. Consumption of good fat helps in weight loss, healthy skin, and reducing the risk of heart disease.

The Difference in Fruits and Vegetables

It’s not as difficult as it seems to differentiate between fruits and vegetables. Fruits carry seeds and obtained through plant parts called flowers. More specifically, the ovary of a flower develops into fruits. On the contrary, vegetables come from roots, leaves, and stems.

Avocado comes in the category of fruit. But due to the savory taste and its uses in cooking, it’s often misconstrued as a vegetable. Because of this reason, some other fruits are also classified as vegetables:

Tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, and zucchini are also coming in both categories due to their culinary uses and origin. A very famous quote is associated with this confusion “Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it into a fruit salad.” Conversely, you can put an avocado both in fruit salad as well as into vegetable salad, as avocado is an all-rounder food.

Hope this article helps in clearing the doubt about “Is Avocado a Fruit or Vegetable?” If you enjoyed reading it, don’t forget to share and comment.

  • nava plant
  • September 18, 2019 At 12:40 pm
  • Avocado my favorite fruits
  • I want to share this article
  • thanks
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Avocado my favorite fruits I want to share this article thanks

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