Confusing, but still nutritious, so don't stop eating them.

Isadora Baum
November 14, 2019

Normally when something has the word "berry" in it, it makes sense that it would be classified as a "berry," right? I mean, I couldn't have been the only one to fall to assumption here. Well, I was browsing online, looking up interesting food facts, and I stumbled upon this eye-opener: strawberries are not actually berries. But cucumbers, blueberries and kiwi are. Hmmmmm, interesting. Needless to say, my mind is blown.

So, I asked the experts, and here's what they have to say.

It's About the Ovaries

Recipe pictured above: Strawberry Fruit Salad

To be a "berry," the food must have just one ovary. And berries as we know them, like strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, have more than one ovary.

"Botanically, strawberries are actually a fruit. The difference is in the way the fruit comes from a single flower that has more than one ovary; for this reason they're actually called 'aggregate fruits,'" says Ginger Hultin, Seattle-based registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She explains, "Berries actually come from one flower with one ovary."

Recipe pictured above: Mascarpone & Berries Toast 

So, technically, fruits like strawberries and raspberries aren't really berries at all (yet, blueberries actually are, because they have one ovary! Confusing, yes.) Because they're aggregate fruits, they're classified as such due to their several ovaries. They still the same nutrition, flavor and versatility as you'd normally expect, just with a different classification and technical term.

Related: Try Our Healthy Berry Recipes

And Actually "Berries" Are Surprising, Too

Recipe pictured above: Cucumber & Avocado Salad

So, what are berries? "Berries" include blueberries (the one non-surprising, but now probably surprising one!), bananas, avocado and kiwi, as these are fleshy fruits that come from one flower with one ovary, says Kelly Jones, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN.

Cucumbers are another type of berry, even though they seem more like a veggie! "Cucumbers are 'pepos'— interestingly, pumpkins, zucchini, oranges, tangerines, lemons, limes, cantaloupes and watermelons are also pepos," says Hultin. And they are berries, as they have one single ovary. She says, "This type of berry has a hard rind for an outer layer and a fleshy middle. The outer rind helps protect the ovary which holds all the seeds within."

Stone fruits are not berries, though. "A berry is technically a fleshy fruit, but it has to be without a stone—like apricots, plums or peaches—and produced from a single flower with just one ovary," Hultin adds. So, when we call those stone fruits, that's what they are. Let's simplify some things over here in fruit world!