Fruits and Vegetables

This concept mainly deals with different types of fruits and vegetables. The concept will make the students aware of various fruits and vegetables names.

After reading the concept, students will be able to:

• Know about different types of vegetables like green leafy vegetables, root vegetables, shoot vegetables etc.
• Understand what is a vegetable, and the importance of vegetables.
• Identify different types of common fruits by their names.
• Differentiate between summer season vegetables and winter season vegetables.

Each concept is explained to class 4 students using descriptions, illustrations, and concept maps. After you go through a concept, assess your learning by solving the two printable worksheets given at the end of the page.

Download the worksheets and check your answers with the worksheet solutions for the concept of Fruits and Vegetables provided in PDF format.

What are Vegetables?

Vegetables are the leaves, stems, roots, or other parts of plants that people eat as food.

Examples: Potato, carrot, spinach, etc

Fruit and vegetable store?

• To buy vegetables, we go to the market or buy them from push carts.
• Going to a market is a better option because we get to see a variety of vegetables, but in a vegetable push cart, the options are sometimes limited.

Before going to the market, the vegetable sellers separate the spoilt and rotten vegetables from the good ones.In the market, they always try to sell the previous day’s vegetables first.They sprinkle water on vegetables to keep them fresh.If all vegetables are sold, they go to the wholesale market to buy and stock vegetables for the next day.They buy vegetables, put them in gunny bags, and then carry those bags either to their shops or home.

Different Types of Vegetables:

The vegetables that we can categorised into the following types—

1. Leafy Vegetables:

• Green plant leaves that are eaten are called leafy vegetables.
• These vegetables are highly nutritious as they are rich in vitamins and minerals.
• Leafy vegetables also contain dietary fibres and help in digestio.n
• Leafy vegetables generally come from herbaceous and woody plants.
• The leaves of fodder crops are also consumed, like barley and wheat.
• Leafy vegetables are either eaten raw in salads or cooked before consumption.

Examples:

2. Root Vegetables:

• Plant roots that are consumed as vegetables are called root vegetables.
• These are underground plant parts and act as the storage organs of plants.
• Many plants store carbohydrates in their roots, which are different from true roots. These roots are called tuberous roots.
• Root vegetables are also called starchy vegetables, as they are rich in starch.
• The leaves of fodder crops are also consumed, like barley and wheat.
• Leafy vegetables are either eaten raw in salads or cooked before consumption.

Examples:

3. Shoot Vegetables:

• The plant stems that are eaten as vegetables are called shoot vegetables.
• These are storage shoots and modified shoots of the plant.

Examples:

Some Common Fruits That We Eat:

1. Mangoes:

• Mangoes are tropical fruits rightly called the ‘King of Fruits’ for their amazing taste.
• It is mainly grown in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and some countries in south-east Asia.
• It is a sweet fruit and rich in vitamin A.
• Raw mango is used to make daal and chutneys.
• A mango has a long and flat seed at its centre.

2. Watermelon:

• Watermelon is a sweet fruit that is predominantly consumed during the summer.
• It has a reddish or pinkish sweet pulp with many black seeds.
• The fruit’s outer skin is green in colour.
• Watermelons have a very high-water content.

3. Jackfruit:

• It is a tropical fruit, and both its ripe and unripe forms are consumed.
• Ripe jackfruit is very sweet in taste.
• Raw jackfruit has a meaty flavour and is used as a substitute for meat in vegan dishes.
• The outer surface of this fruit is green and rough in texture.

4. Coconut:

• Coconut grows in tropical coastal regions.
• Both coconut water and coconut flesh are edible.
• It is also used to extract coconut oil which is used in cooking and cosmetics.

5. Sugar apple:

• Sugar apple is a sweet tropical fruit rich in vitamins.
• The flesh of this fruit is either whitish or light yellow.
• Raw jackfruit has a meaty flavour and is used as a substitute for meat in vegan dishes.
• The outer covering of this fruit is divided into segments, and when these fruits ripen, those segments tend to separate.
• It has hard, black, and shiny seeds

6. Chikoo

• It is a sweet fruit that grows in tropical areas.
• It has a thin skin that can be peeled.
• The flesh looks light brown, and the seeds are shiny black.
• Only ripe fruits are eaten because unripe ones are very hard.

7. Banana

• Banana is a yellow-coloured fruit with no seeds inside.
• It has different variants and has loads of nutritional importance.
• This fruit is eaten in both ripe and unripe forms. The unripe banana, which has green skin, is used to make curries. Even banana blossoms are consumed in many ways
• Banana is rich in vitamins and minerals and good for the gut.

Summer vegetables and winter vegetables:

Vegetables and fruits can be classified based on the seasons in which they are found in the market

• The vegetables found mainly during the summer season are called summer vegetables.

Examples: Bottle gourd, pointed gourd, brinjal, etc.

• The fruits found mainly during the summer season are called summer fruits.

Examples: Mango, jackfruit, watermelon, etc.

• The vegetables found mainly during the winter season are called winter vegetables.

Examples: Cauliflower, cabbage, beetroot, radish etc.

• The fruits found mainly during the winter season are called winter fruits.

Examples: Apple, orange, grapes, etc.

However, due to the development of farming techniques, some of the above-mentioned vegetables and fruits (especially vegetables) are found in the market throughout the year.

Importance of Vegetables and fruits:

• Fruits and vegetables are essential components of a healthy diet.
• These contain water, vitamins, minerals, and fibres.
• Fresh vegetables and fruits can be eaten raw.
• Vegetables are added to different food preparations in different forms like baked, boiled, steamed, fried, etc.
• Fruits and vegetables are canned or frozen for future use.

New Words:

Did You Know?

Many fruits have seedless varieties like watermelon, grapes, papaya, cucumber, etc.The first vegetable to be grown in space was the potato.The part of broccoli we eat is tiny flowers that have not blossomed. Once the flower blooms fully, the broccoli tastes bitter and unpleasant.

Aggregate fruits are made of hundreds of little fruits, each containing a seed. Examples: Raspberries and blackberries.Most of the nutrients in a potato are found just below its skinSome foods we know as vegetables are actually fruits, like cucumbers, squashes, eggplants, and pumpkins.