Vegetables are an essential part of any healthy diet, and they can be cooked in a variety of ways. But did you know that there are actually different classifications of vegetables in culinary terms with their Categories?
In this blog post, we will help you understand the different classifications of vegetable so that you can choose the right ones for your next meal.
So without wasting any time let’s get started!
Classification of Vegetables
Brassica
Brassica or the cabbage family consists of vegetables used for their head, leaves, or flowers and mostly used in broths and braised dishes to accompany meats.
Examples – Cabbage, Cauliflower, brussels sprouts and bok choy
Fruit Vegetables
These are the fruits of flowering plants. They also contain seeds.
Examples – Tomato, avocado, Brinjal and Pepper
Gourds and Squashes
The gourds are classified into summer squashes and winter gourds. There are over 750 varieties of gourds grown around the world. The long trailing vines of a complex root system bears this vegetable, adorned by large leaves and attractive flowers.
Examples – Bottle gourd, butternut squash and ridged gourd.
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Greens
This refers to vegetables that are leafy and eaten cooked, with the exception of lettuce. Most of the greens are mildly spiced and slightly strong in flavour.
Examples – Spinach, watercress and radicchio
Fungus
Although not a real vegetable, fungus is a plant that has no seed, stem or flower and usually reproduces from the spores. It Is commonly known as mushrooms.
Examples – Button, Mushrooms, Shitake, Portobello and porcini
Roots and Tubers
Though roots and tubers are the same, however, scientifically speaking tubers are fat underground stems whereas roots are the single bulbs, which extend into the ground that supplies the plant with nutrients. The tubers would be more starchy.
Examples
Root vegetables – Carrots, Radish and Onion.
Tubers – Potatoes, Jerusalem, artichoke and colocasia
Pods and Seeds
In some vegetables, only seeds are eaten such as in case of peas, corn, and pulses whereas in others the plant is eaten as whole such as okra, snap peas and french beans. They contain the highest source of proteins and carbohydrates.
Examples – Green peas, okra, snap peas and pulses
Stems
Also known as stalk vegetables, they have the highest percentage of cellulose fibre and are usually eaten when they are young and tender.
Examples – Celery and rhubarb
Baby Vegetables
This is a very modern classification of vegetables that include vegetables created with hybrid varieties or are picked up before maturity.
Examples – Tiny turnips, baby cauliflower, baby carrots and baby Squashes.