The Berry Confusion: Bananas Are Technically Berries and Strawberries Aren’t

In the fascinating world of botany, the classification of fruits can often present surprising contradictions to our everyday understanding. This is especially true in the case of what we commonly refer to as berries.((https://www.livescience.com/57477-why-are-bananas-considered-berries.html))

A closer examination of bananas and strawberries offers a remarkable insight into this discrepancy. While bananas are seldom thought of as berries in the culinary realm, and strawberries are almost universally accepted as such, scientific reality tells a different story.((https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bananas-berries-or-fruits#botanical-classification))

Here is the confusion explained:

1. Bananas are berries. In botanical terms, a berry is a fruit produced from the ovary of a single flower with seeds embedded in the flesh. Bananas fit this definition. They develop from a flower with a single ovary and have their seeds encased in the flesh. Thus, scientifically speaking, bananas are classified as berries.((https://stanfordmag.org/contents/bananas-are-berries))
2. Strawberries are not berries. On the other hand, strawberries do not fit the botanical definition of a berry. In strawberries, the seeds are on the outside. Botanically, each of these “seeds” (more accurately called “achenes”) is considered a separate fruit. The fleshy part that we eat is derived not from the plant’s ovaries but from the receptacle that holds the ovaries. Therefore, in botanical terms, strawberries are not classified as berries.((https://carnegiemuseums.org/magazine-archive/1997/mayjun/dept4.htm)),((https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/health/food-and-nutrition/are-strawberries-berries-uhm-not-really-but-bananas-are-berries-and-it-gets-weirder/))

This difference highlights the interesting ways in which scientific classifications can differ from everyday language and culinary categories. In everyday use, we categorize fruits based on taste, texture, and culinary applications, often not aligning with botanical criteria.((https://www.britannica.com/science/fruit-plant-reproductive-body)),((https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know/bananas-are-berries-raspberries-are-not))