A vegetable is any part of a plant likes seed, root, tuber, bulb, stem, leaf, bud, fruit or flower, which can be eaten as food. Some common vegetables are beans, eggplant, potato, onion, capsicum, tomato, cauliflower, peas, cucumber, etc. Mushrooms and other edible fungi are also categorised as vegetables but they are not green plants.
Most vegetables are eaten after cooking while a few are eaten raw. Nutritionally, vegetables are low in fats and carbohydrates, but high in vitamins, minerals and fibres. Vegetables are called protective foods because the vitamins and minerals in them help improve the immunity of the body.
