Is corn a fruit, vegetable or cereal?

Is corn (fruit), fruit, vegetable or cereal? The question may seem silly to children but surely many adults will not know the answer.

Under scientific explanation, the answer "Is corn a fruit, vegetable or cereal?" more complicated than we thought.

First, we need to learn a little basic knowledge about the biology of corn / maize.

Picture 1 of Is corn a fruit, vegetable or cereal?
A corn has many fruits (seeds) of corn lined up.(Photo: Charles / Bapt).

Maize is the name of a food crop native to the Americas. Currently maize is cultivated around the world. A corn with many stalks like bamboo and sugar cane. From these segments grow corn leaves.

Inside the leaves is corn ears. They are female inflorescences enclosed in numerous leaf sheaths. On each flower is a pistil that extends outwards to the leaf sheath. This is the corn stubble. Maize (or fruit) will form when the pistils collect pollen from male flowers at the top of the corn.

On one corn there can be up to 400-600 female ovules, but only the filaments (pistils) that catch pollen form seeds. The seeds stick to one core, lined up to make a corn.

Determining whether a food is a fruit, cereal or vegetable depends on what part of it we eat. If we eat the part that is derived from the female reproductive organs then call it a fruit. If you eat other parts of the plant, then it's called a vegetable.

" The corn kernels are derived from the female flowers of the plants so they are biologically a fruit , " explains Marvin Pritts, a Cornell University professor of agriculture.

Each corn consists of a silk membrane fused with the husk; the meat (or endosperm, which is 80% starch); corn kernels (sprouts, embryos) contain vitamins and enzymes; The corn's leg only contains fiber, which leads to nutrients from the core.

Structure like nuts (grain, peanuts, beans) so no one called "corn" that is often called "corn grain" . That means the corn is biologically identified as a cereal like oats.

So is corn a vegetable ? Science is not. But in terms of processing, it's right.

Fruit is something that can be eaten directly, but no one holds live corn to bite such as eating apples, pears, or peaches. Vegetables are often processed by cooking, as is corn.

Some would argue that "vegetables" usually refer to leaves, tops and trunks. But according to scientists, "vegetables" is a vague concept. Carrots, potatoes are not but a "vegetable". Bell peppers are also a vegetable. Squash is a fruit but the way to eat like vegetables.

Therefore, whether corn is a fruit, a cereal or a vegetable is a difficult question to answer. In your opinion, is corn a fruit, vegetable or cereal?