Vegetable. Plant parts used as vegetables

Vegetable is any of many nutritious foods that come from the leaves, roots, seeds, stems, and other parts of certain plants. People eat vegetables raw or cooked and use them as part of a main meal, in salads and soups, and as snacks. Vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet They are excellent sources of vitamins, especially riboflavin, thiamine, and vitamins A and C Vegetables also supply the minerals calcium and iron. Most vegetables do not have many calories.

The growing of vegetables is a branch of horticulture, a field of agriculture that also includes the raising of fruits. Scientists define a vegetable as the edible product of a herbaceous plant. A herbaceous plant has stems that are softer and less fibrous than the woody stems of trees and shrubs. Most vegetables are annuals— plants that live for only one year or one growing season.

The horticultural definition of vegetables distinguishes them from fruits, which grow annually on trees and other woody plants that live more than two years. In some cases, common usage differs from scientific definitions. For example, most people consider muskmelons and watermelons as fruits. But horticulturists regard them as vegetables because these melons grow on vines that must be replanted annually.

Most vegetables grown commercially in the United States and Canada are canned, dehydrated, frozen, or processed in some other way. Vegetables raised for processing include peas, potatoes, snap beans, sweet corn, and tomatoes. Those grown to be eaten fresh include cabbage, carrots, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes.

China grows far more vegetables than any other country. California produces about a third of all vegetables grown in the United States. Ontario leads the Canadian provinces in vegetable production.

The hobby of growing a home vegetable garden is becoming more popular. This article deals mainly with the commercial production of vegetables. For more information on home vegetable growing, see Gardening.

Plant parts used as vegetables. Vegetables can be grouped according to the part of the plant from which they come. Plant parts eaten as vegetables include bulbs, flower buds, fruits, leaves, roots, seeds, stems, and tubers.

Bulbs consist of many fleshy leaves that surround a short stem. The base of these leaves is large and grows underground, and it is the part usually eaten. Garlic, leeks, onions, and shallots are bulbs used as vegetables and seasonings.

Flower buds. The most common flower buds used as vegetables are broccoli and cauliflower. Broccoli plants have heads (thick clusters of flower buds) that are green and branched. The heads of cauliflower are tight, round, and white.

Fruits are the seed enclosures, along with the seeds, produced by a flowering plant Horticulturists consider the edible fruits of herbaceous annuals as vegetables. Fruits of vegetable plants include cucumbers, eggplants, muskmelons, okra, peppers, pumpkins, snap beans, squashes, tomatoes, and watermelons.

Leaves eaten as vegetables include those of Brussels sprouts, cabbage, chard, Chinese cabbage, cress, endive, kale, lettuce, mustard, and spinach. Some of these vegetables are cooked, but most of them are eaten raw in salads. Celery and rhubarb are petioles (leafstalks). Petioles support the leaf blades and are connected to the stems of a plant.

Plant parts used as vegetables. Vegetables are nutritious foods that come from various parts of certain kinds of plants. Bulbs, flower buds, fruits, leaves, roots, seeds, stems, and tubers may be eaten as vegetables

Roots that are vegetables may be fibrous roots or taproots. Fibrous roots branch and spread sideways underground. Sweet potatoes are enlarged, fleshy parts of fibrous roots. A taproot is the enlarged part of a root that grows straight down. Beets, carrots, horseradish, parsnips, radishes, rutabagas, and turnips are taproots.

Seeds. People eat the seeds of plants when they eat cowpeas, garden peas, kidney beans, lima beans, navy beans, and sweet corn. Certain seeds, such as kidney beans and navy beans, are harvested after they become hard. Other seeds, such as garden peas and sweet corn, are picked when they are still soft

Stems support the leaves, flowers, and fruits of a plant The two chief stems eaten as vegetables are asparagus and kohlrabi. Asparagus stems are tall and slender. Kohlrabi plants have large bulblike stems.

Tubers. Most tubers are a specialized kind of stem that grows underground. The main ones used as vegetables are potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes. People in the United States and Canada eat more potatoes than any other vegetable.