Although many people realize avocados are officially a fruit rather than a vegetable, you might be surprised to learn they fall in the same category as blueberries. You heard correctly; avocados fall scientifically into the category of berries. More precisely, their big pit in the center of the fruit defines them as single-seed berries; there are even more subtleties that qualify them for the label.
While fruit enthusiasts describe berries by their size, taste, and appearance, the scientific community groups berries based on their content and structure. Berries develop from one ovary of a plant; their outer covering is called the exocarp (in this case, the dark green, rough skin of the avocado); and either several seeds or a single big seed in the center. Between the skin and the seed is the fleshy mesocarp; in avocados, this edible light green flesh contains oils, vitamins, and fiber. Avocados satisfy all four requirements to be berries.
Like drupes—think of cherries, peaches, and olives—single-seed berries like the avocado have comparable compositions. Still, they lack a rocky pit hence they really come within the berry category. Though its common name suggests otherwise, the pit of the avocado is a layer called the endocarp, not the seed itself. Whereas the pit of a fruit like the peach has a thick, bark-like endocarp, the avocado’s endocarp is thin and flexible. Although there are various types of avocados, their anatomical basis sets them all as berries.
Besides what else qualifies as a berry? This group includes bananas, watermelons, oranges, lemons, and limes—things you might not have expected. Though not the peel, you can consume the inside flesh of avocados. Some fruits, strictly speaking as berries, have edible skins, though: Stemming from a single ovary, grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins, and peppers all qualify; so, they are titled as berries.
Though they belong to the berry family, not all “berries” botanically live up to their name. Cranberries and blueberries Raspberries and blackberries are not berries; strawberries neither are. Why do we give these fruits these names? Regarding berries, there are two classification schemes: botanical and gastronomic. While the culinary definition is based on our usage of the fruit, the botanical definition is firmly based on its morphology.
In a gastronomic sense, think avocados and berries have nothing in common? Surprisingly, there are few ways to let the buttery taste of an avocado mix with the sweet taste of culinary berries.