Is Celery A Fruit Or A Vegetable? Here’s What We Found

A popularly known food item with massive culinary as well as medicinal importance- Celery.

Celery has a vivid sweet, grassy flavour with immense nutritional value. Thus, it serves to be the best ingredient in soups, stews, salads, healthy vegetable stuffings and many more.

But most people are confused about whether celery is a fruit or a vegetable? Celery is crunchy and refreshing like fruit along with a green grassy look like a vegetable. Don’t worry! If you’re one of them, this is the right place for you to dig out everything you need to know about celery.

What Is Celery – A Fruit Or A Vegetable?

Celery is a vegetable and not a fruit. As a matter of fact, it belongs to the Apiaceae family, the same as the carrots and parsley family. Being cultivated since ancient times, celery has many nutritional and health benefits.

In the present day, the dulce variety of celery is widely familiar. Among vegetables, celery has the biggest sprig with green leaves, and long green stems called stalks.

The plant is grown in marshy areas, and the height measures around 1m (3 feet 3 inches) tall.

The texture is crunchy, fleshy and hollow with crossed ribs. It has a distinctly refreshing aroma, thus, also used as a flavouring in food products and perfumery.

Fruits Vs Vegetables

The definition of fruits says that they have seed-bearing structures and have to be a flowering plant. However, most of the vegetables also fall in this category.

A vegetable is, by definition, any part of the plant that is edible. They can be stems, roots, stalks, seeds, leaves, flowers or any other part.

Celery doesn’t possess a seed-bearing structure like fruits. But every part of celery is edible, its stem, roots, leaves and stalks. Hence, since ancient times the typical flavour of celery has been considered a vegetable and not a fruit.

What Is Better- To Eat Celery Raw Or Cooked?

There isn’t any specific method to consume celery, both in the scientific and culinary sense. You can eat it both ways, either raw or cooked. Usually, people prefer to cook and eat it because it doesn’t have a great taste when consumed raw.

The best way to eat celery is to steam it. This way, you can have the advantage of its complete pack of nutrients.

Celery tastes best with other ingredients like sweet and citrus fruits. Adding celery to your morning apple shake or lemon or fennel juice might become a healthier option during warmer days.

Due to its saline taste, it works great with cheese dips and peanut butter. You can add celery as part of your tomato soup or salads and enjoy your refreshing dish.

Can We Grow Celery Indoors?

Yes, you can grow celery plants in your house very quickly. All you need to do is follow the below guidelines, and you can have a celery plant on your balcony.

• Select the type of celery you want to grow. The golden kind of celery that is seen in many variants is in demand for home gardening.
• Start your plantation by blanching the seeds, meaning cover the seeds of celery with paper and hill up some soil around the plant.
• Wait for 120 days for it to be transferred in a pot.
• Take a 12-inch deep pot to transfer in it.
• Please provide the best suitable weather conditions for the plant after potting it.
• The best season to pot celery is the end of April month.
• Proper sunlight and water facilities should be arranged for the plant. Ensure that every hour of the day and night has moist soil.
• Add good fertilizers like compost to improve the quality of the soil, adding nutrition.

Nutrition And Health Benefits

• Popularly known in traditional Chinese medicine, celery contains a plant compound called apigenin with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
• Some researchers have proven celery to prevent jaundice, asthma and urinary tract obstruction.
• Apart from apigenin, celery also contains selinene, limonene, kaempferol and p-coumaric acid. All these have high antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.
• Celery is a significant food for weight loss as it has minimum or negative calories.

Amazing Facts About Celery

• According to some Greek myths, celery was the favourite food of Goddess Aphrodite.
• It is said that Romans created crowns and bouquets and wore them for dinner parties.
• The history of celery dates back to 1500 years A.D. It is assumed that the cultivation of celery probably started in Italy and then continued to Greece, France, Spain and then in Germany and England.
• The name ‘celery’ is derived from an ancient Greek city called Selinus, located on the southwest coast of Sicily.
• Celery seeds are used as a spice.
• Severe allergy to celery can cause anaphylactic shock that can be fatal.

Take Away

Having known almost everything about celery, try adding this excellent food item to your diet to stay fit and healthy.

The misconception of celery being a fruit is justified. With so many health benefits and uses to offer, including celery in your diet is a must. If you have any further queries on this or any other food, drop them in the comments below.