Unit - - Vegetables and Fruits associated with fruit, sugars are an important component of flavour in vegetables such as carrots, sweet corn and peas. Dietary fibre compounds like cellulose, lignin, pectins and other substances are also found in vegetables and fruits. Dietary fibre in vegetables and fruits have several health benefits like lowering blood sugar and cholesterol levels. .
Classification of Vegetables Vegetables are classified according to the part of the plant consumed, colour of the vegetable or according to the nutritive value. . Nutritive value of vegetables Roots and tubers like carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes contain a large amount of starch (carbohydrates), hence they contribute to energy value of the food. .
Composition of vegetables and fruits Vegetables contain a high amount of water. They also contain carbohydrates, dietary fibre, protein, vitamins and other nutrients that are important for human health. Lettuce, cucumbers and leafy vegetables contain about % water, therefore only % of their mass is dry matter. Hard vegetables like carrot and pumpkin have around - % dry matter.
Carbohydrates are the main components of vegetables and fruit. They represent more than % of their dry matter. Carbohydrates are present as starch, sugars and dietary fibre. Starch is mainly found in root vegetables, such as potatoes and sweet potatoes.
The main sugars that are present in vegetables and fruits are glucose, sucrose and fructose. Although more usually Table . Classification of vegetables based on parts of plants consumed Parts of plants Examples Roots Carrot, beet root, radish, turnip, colocasia Tubers Potatoes, sweet potatoes, tapioca Bulb Onion, garlic, leeks Leaves Cabbage, lettuce, spinach, amaranth, fenugreek leaves, coriander leaves, mint leaves, greens Flowers Plantain flower, cauliflower, broccoli Fruits Tomatoes, brinjal, lady’s finger, pumpkin, cucumber, gourds (ash gourd, bottle gourd), capsicum, drumstick, plantain Legumes (pods and seeds) Peas, beans, chowli, broad beans, French beans, double beans, Bengal gram tender, red gram tender. Stems Plantain stem, ginger, amaranth stem, celery stem, lotus stem and greens - - Vegetables and Fruits Green leafy vegetables also contain vitamin-C eg., Agathi, drumstick leaves and coriander leaves.