Vegetables Have No Gender
Have you heard that women’s watermelons are sweeter than men’s? That male eggplants are less bitter than female ones? That male peppers have fewer seeds? Well, you heard right.
Let me explain what happens when one vegetable is very fond of another vegetable. Their flower parts are sexed: the pollen comes from the male part and must enter the ovary, which is the female part of the flower. Sometimes the same flower has a male and a female part (such as eggplant), while other plants (such as watermelons) have separate male and female flowers.
But in spite of everything, fruit is fruit. The ovary fertilized with pollen grows into a fruit with seeds. The fruit is not “masculine” or “feminine” (and yes, that means eggplants and peppers are fruits. It’s also correct to call them vegetables ).
Therefore, when you buy an eggplant from the store, you are not looking at a male or female creature. It is a piece of flesh formed from the ovary of a flower, containing seeds, each of which will develop into a plant with both male and female parts. There are no “male” or “female” eggplants, no peppers, no watermelons, or anything else about which people come up with stupid fairy tales.
Fortunately, the people who spend all day introducing the public to vegetables are in this business, patiently explaining this nonsense over and over again:
- “This is a garden myth,” the Oregon State University annex says about a field of bell peppers.
- “There are no ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ eggplants, says Mary Keith of the University of Florida.
- “[Vegetable Specialist Joe] Kemble wants to make it clear that there is no male fruit,” says Alabama’s A&M and Auburn expansion page.
Most of the advice on the gender of fruits and vegetables centers around checking for some subtle clue about the vegetable – the number of sections on the pepper, the shape of the flower scar on the eggplant – but again, this doesn’t reveal anything special about the vegetable. content. Eggplants do not have round or oval scars; they just have flower scars and you can think of any story you like about them, but this story will not help you choose the right one. Try using these tips instead to choose the ripest, freshest foods.