WATER MELON
The watermelon fruit is considered as a type
of melon and it has smooth exterior rind(green,yellow sometimes white) and a juicy sweet interior
flesh(usually deep red to pink sometimes orange,yellow and even green if not
ripe).Watermelon(citrullus lanatus) from family Cucurbitaceae,is a vine like
flowering plant originally from south Africa.There are about 120 genera and 735
species of cucurbitaceae worldwide with 18 genera and 76 species native to
southern Africa.Botanists referred the watermelon as pepo(derived from an
inferior ovary and are characteristic of cucurbitaceae),a berry which has a
thick rind(exocarp) and fleshy center(mesocarp and endocarp).The taste of watermelon is vary with sweet,bland and
bitter forms.It has 92% water content mostly water is weight in the fruit.
Watermelon seeds have been found at
Twelth Dynasty sites and in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.Evidence of its
cultivation in the Nile valley was found from the Second Millenium
BC.Watermelon also mentioned in the Bible as food eaten by the ancient
israelities while they were in bondage with Egypt.In 10th
century,china were being cultivated watermelon and today,china is the largest
watermelon producer.In 13th century,Moorish invaders had introduced
watermelon to Europe.Watermelon were grown by Native Americans in the 16th
century.Early French explorers found the fruit being cultivated in the
Mississipi Valley.Southern Food historian John Egerton believed that African
slaves helped to introduce the watermelon in United states.Texas Agricultural
Extension horticulturalist Jerry Parson lists African slaves and European
colonists distributed watermelons to many areas of the world.Charles Fredric
Andrus,a horticulturist at the USDA Vegetable Breeding laboratory in
Charleston,South Carolina,set out to grow a disease resistant and wilt
resistant watermelon.Its oblong shape and hard rind make it easy to stack and
ship.It produced high yields and was resistant to the watermelon diseases such
as anthracnose
and fusarium wilt.
Watermelon is considered as both
fruit and vegetable.According to Webster’s dictionary and Wikipedia,watermelon
is a large oblong roundish fruit(20042006).Consumers use watermelon as a fruit
because of sweet flavor and refreshing qualities used in many recipes or
sliced and eat with enjoyed.Again when we look into Webster’s dictionary,a
vegetable is anything made or obtained from plants.Watermelon is related to the
cucumber,hubbard squash,butternut,sweet melons and pumpkin.It is planted from
seeds,harvested and then cleared from the field like other vegetables.Since
watermelon is grown as a vegetable crop using vegetable production
systems,watermelon is considered a vegetable(It is stir fried,stewed and
pickled and used for vegetable recipes).
A smaller,round varieties of
watermelon,both red and yellow fleshed are sometimes called icebox
melons.Seedless hybrid variety of watermelon have a longer period to grow other
than gardening plants and can taken up to 85 days of growing to mature.More
than 1200 varieties of watermelon(eg – Carolina Cross,Yellow
Crimson,Orangeglo,Moon and stars,Cream of Saskatchewan,Melitopolski,Densuke)
range in weight (one to more than 200 pounds) and the flesh can be
red,orange,yellow or white.
Watermelon prevent the cancer
because it’s the coolest third quencher.It’s also packed with packed with dose
of glutathione,which helps to boost our immune system and it acts as a key
source of lycopene – the cancer fighting oxidant.Other nutrients found in
watermelon are vitamin C & Potassium.It is the major part of curing and preventing
some illness such as kidney stone,cancer,Intestinal problems and helps
for glowing skin due to presence of vitamin C..