Fruits and Vegetable Facts

Its name is a derivative of a Mayan word for "hair" and by the looks of it you can see why. But how do you eat a rambutan and what does it taste like?

By Patty Rasmussen

You may see a recipe for Key lime pie and wonder how important it is to use Key limes rather than regular Persian limes. What's the difference between them anyway?

By Caroline Eubanks

Yeah, anybody can hack up a watermelon, but what's the best way to cut one into presentable, uniform slices without cutting off your fingers at the same time?

By Jeremy Glass

You might have seen lychees at an international farmers market and not known they were lychees. The dark red tropical fruit looks a little like raspberries and are packed with potassium - and sugar.

By Stephanie Vermillion

Shallots belong to the same family as onions, leeks, scallions and garlic. They look like small, elongated onions but have a sweeter, milder flavor.

By Tara Yarlagadda

Capers are actually the flower buds of the caper bush. So where does all that flavor come from?

By Stephanie Vermillion

Heart of palm, with a similar taste and texture to artichoke heart, is a staple in Central and South America and a healthy addition to almost any menu.

By Tara Yarlagadda

The Chicken of the Woods mushroom is jam-packed with protein and easy to spot with its bright orange color and ruffled edges.

By Katie Carman

This starchy, staple fruit that grows in the tropics has the potential to provide food security to millions. So what exactly is it and who's eating it?

By Stephanie Vermillion

Sure, eating prunes can help you have regular bowel movements, but these sweet dried plums can also help you build - and maintain - strong bones.

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

The U.S. banned the gooseberry back in the early 1900s because it was a host for white pine blister rust disease. But now few states prohibit the tart berry, so eat up!

By Stephanie Vermillion

Yes - it could happen to you, good person. KABOOM! It's fairly rare, but a potentially catastrophic rind failure lurks under the green-striped shell of every seemingly innocent watermelon in the produce aisle.

By Carrie Tatro

Sometimes referred as the 'queen of fruit,' the mangosteen has a soft white interior, a mild taste and is notoriously difficult to find in the U.S. Here's why.

By Alia Hoyt

If bananas are berries and strawberries and raspberries are not, what in the world is a berry anyway?

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Its smell is notorious. But get past that and the jackfruit is versatile, easy to grow and packs a nutritional punch that's hard to beat.

By Adina Solomon

This tropical fruit, grown all over the tropics, has lots of health benefits. Even its leaves get in on the act.

By Alia Hoyt

This banana has soft, sweet flesh and tastes a lot like vanilla custard or ice cream. One scoop or two?

By Tara Yarlagadda

We throw out tons of perfectly good parts of vegetables and fruits often because we don't know what to do with them. But there's a lot of treasure in the trash.

By Alia Hoyt

Peppers are getting hotter these days. But which one is the hottest of them all? And why do we keep searching for ever-hotter peppers?

By Shaun Chavis

Little tiny vegetables seem to pop up everywhere these days, but where do they come from?

By Laurie L. Dove

Don't let 'seedless' watermelons fool you - even though they may not prompt constant spitting, they really do have seeds.

By Kate Kershner

If peanuts are technically not nuts, what are they?

By Debbie Swanson

Kale is a descendant of ancient cabbage. Learn more about kale in this humorous video from HowStuffWorks.

Kale has become the little black dress of the culinary world: chic, understated and perfect for nearly every occasion. But it comes with a not-so-elegant side effect. We'll - ahem - get to the bottom of why kale makes you so gassy.

By Laurie L. Dove

Discerning between a fruit and a vegetable may seem simple: Fruits have seeds and vegetables don't. This works great if you're a botanist, but not so well if you're not. We'll finally tell you which category tomatoes fall into (or maybe we won't).

By Laurie L. Dove