An apple a day keeps the doctor away. This saying is one of the most popular, especially to kids, which is a way to promote good health. Even without extensive advocacy to eat apples, a lot of people enjoy eating this tasty treat. Because besides its deliciousness, they have several health benefits to support our body. Furthermore, apples are not the only ones we can eat to gain health benefits but also other fruits such as banana, avocado, mango, and many others. Not only that these fruits provide essential nutrients to our bodies, but they also taste good. Because of this, we can say that fruits are delicious, and most of them have a common taste of sweetness.
Moreover, there is another group in the food pyramid, which could also provide health benefits called ‘vegetables.’ This food group is somehow similar to fruits because of the way they grow, mostly on plants. Interestingly, doctors often recommend eating fruits and vegetables to boost our immune system and improve our overall health. Over the years, it is evident that the result of eating fruits and vegetables is incredible since ample consumption of such food is linked to lesser risks of acquiring diseases.
However, there is a typical mystery between fruits and vegetables, which many of us do not know. Most people may probably ask the same question as to – why are fruits sweet and vegetables are not? This question may be a natural phenomenon for some people. That’s why in this article, we are going to look into the differences between fruits and vegetables.
Why do most fruits taste sweet?
If you are a fruit lover, we can say that not all of them taste sweet. It is because some fruits taste sour, while others are a bit bland. The perfect example of its varying flavor is lemon, which tastes exceptionally sour. Furthermore, some fruits are a mixture of sweetness and sourness, which only differs from the levels of substance included in the fruit. However, people often describe fruits as sweet since, in a culinary sense, we use vegetables for cooking while fruits are not, primarily because we often consider them as sweet stuff. This notion made people think of fruits as sweet, while vegetables are not.
First and foremost, the most distinct part between a fruit and a vegetable is their flavors. Most fruits taste sweet, mainly because they are full of sugar, including fructose and glucose. The amount of sugar within a fruit varies, which explains why some fruits taste much sweeter than others. One reason behind its sweetness is because the plant where it grows puts sugar in them to make them more edible for animals.
Why are vegetables not sweet?
In contrast to fruits, vegetables have an entirely different taste. In simpler terms, most vegetables taste bad, which is the reason why we often see kids not eating when vegetables are on the table. It is common for some people since vegetables often taste bitter, and it is why most people hate them.
The explanation behind the bitterness of vegetables is due to mustard oils, which they produce from a naturally occurring chemical. Vegetables naturally produce this chemical called glucosinolate during physical or chemical reactions, which occurs when we eat and cook. This chemical is a unique substance not found in fruits; that is why vegetables have a stronger bitter taste. This bitter taste also adds up to the distinction between fruits and vegetables.
With all these factors, we can say that the taste of fruits and vegetables can be easily identified. As mentioned earlier, fruits and vegetables have something in common. Both foods are primary sources of nutrients that our body needs. Studies show that people who eat more fruits and vegetables have a lower risk of having various medical conditions such as heart diseases, diabetes, cancer, and many others.
Since the early years until now, these two food types continue to be a part of the human diet. Throughout the years, people are cultivating hectares of lands for the cultivation of different kinds of vegetables and fruits. Despite their unmatching flavors, some people choose to compose their diet entirely from fruits and vegetables instead of meat.