Vegetables

We explain what vegetables are and what their properties are. Also, how they differ from vegetables and legumes.

What are vegetables?

Vegetables are a type of food of plant origin, that is, a type of edible plant, whose characteristic feature tends to be the presence of green color in its stems, leaves or inflorescences. They are more or less equivalent to vegetables and greens, but not to fruits, since the latter have a characteristic sweet or sour flavor, which vegetables lack. That is why we usually talk about “fruits and vegetables”.

It is important to understand that vegetable It is a term of popular origin, which has no real scientific basis. It comes from Latin viridisa word from which also comes the name of the color green, predominant (but not exclusive) in this group of foods.

Vegetables have an important presence in life and culture: the Mediterranean diet includes a wide selection of vegetables, and most of the recommended nutritional regimens have a large presence of vegetables as a source of fiber and vitamins and antioxidants.

There are different types of vegetables, depending on their edible part:

• leafy vegetables such as cabbage, chard or spinach.
• stem vegetables such as leek, celery or asparagus.
• Flower or inflorescence vegetables such as artichokes, broccoli or cauliflower.
• fruit vegetables such as eggplant, zucchini, cucumber or pepper.
• bulb vegetables such as garlic, onion or beet.
• Seed vegetables such as peas, beans or soybeans.
• root vegetables such as turnip, radish, carrot or cassava.
• Tuber vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes or yams.
• Rhizome vegetables like ginger.

Differences between vegetables, vegetables and legumes

The terms vegetable, vegetable and legume are often used interchangeably, because In all cases they are edible vegetables. However, there are certain key features to differentiate these three terms.

First of all, Vegetables are foods of plant origin grown in orchards or irrigated fields. In fact, the origin of the word goes back to Latin hortus (“vegetable patch”). So when we talk about vegetables, we are referring to a category of vegetables that contains both vegetables and legumes. In other words, Vegetables are classified as vegetables and legumes

Therefore, Vegetables are those vegetables in which the color green predominates whether in the leaves, stems or other parts of the plant. This does not mean that the portion we consume must necessarily be green: of garlic, for example, we consume the final bulb, but the plant has long green leaves.

For its part, Legumes are vegetables, and are the fruit or seeds of leguminous plants whose characteristic feature is that they are produced within a tender and elongated envelope called sheath. Such is the case of beans or peas.

Properties of vegetables

Despite their great diversity, vegetables have a set of important common traits, such as:

• The color green predominates in them due to the chlorophyll of its plants, but at the same time its edible portions can have a very different pigmentation, which reflects its content of organic substances. For example, the orange or yellow color of some vegetables reveals the presence of beta-carotene, while the red and blue color indicates the presence of anthocyanin.
• present an important contribution in fiber, minerals and vitamins with a very low protein and lipid content, and a variable amount of carbohydrates. Its main vitamins are A (in yellow or red vegetables) and C (in mostly green vegetables).
• There are more than 20,000 species coming from all the continents of the planet (except Antarctica). 20% of the total of these species represents 90% of the food consumed by humanity.
• Their high content of vitamins and minerals (such as potassium, iron, magnesium and fluoride) makes them important allies for disease prevention and for weight loss or heart protection diets.

Importance of vegetables

Vegetables are a fundamental food in the human diet. Its inclusion in the regular diet provides large amounts of nutrients and natural fiber, which improves digestive processes and guarantees the body the nutritional diversity necessary to have a healthy diet.

Vegetables have accompanied humanity since the beginning of civilization, and were the first foods to be consumed. For example: olives and figs in the Mediterranean or tomatoes and yucca in most pre-Columbian American cultures.

Growing and harvesting vegetables

Vegetables, as vegetables, are plant foods grown in gardens, irrigated fields and other forms of farming either with massive agroindustrial methods, or in small-time gardens intended for family subsistence. Their crop diversity is due to the fact that they not only constitute basic foods in most human diets, but can also be incorporated into the preparation of other dishes, such as meats, fish and soups, among many more.

Most vegetables are annual and biennial, i.e. are harvested a year or two after planting begins but a few species are perennial. In warm intertropical zones its cultivation is determined by the rainfall pattern, while in temperate zones it is determined by heat and the length of daylight.

On the other hand, Vegetable harvesting occurs following specific time patterns since when separating them from the rest of the plant (or separating the plant from the soil) the vegetables continue to lose water through natural transpiration, which is why they tend to dry out and mature. Potatoes, for example, benefit from a short ripening period in a warm, humid environment, while other types of vegetables require more immediate transportation to the consumer.

Main vegetable producing countries

Continue with: Agriculture

References

• “Vegetable” in Wikipedia.
• “Information about the word Vegetable” in the Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary.
• “What are vegetables and why should you eat them?” in Quaker of Mexico.
• “Fruits and vegetables” at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).