Watermelon

Over 100 million tons of watermelon are produced annually.

Four types of watermelon are cultivated – dessert, citron, egusi, and colocynth.

Only the dessert watermelon is widely cultivated as a fresh fruit. Citron watermelons are typically eaten cooked or preserved, egusi watermelons are grown for their seeds, and colocynths are used for traditional medicine and to produce oil.

Domesticated dessert watermelons are thought to originate in north-eastern Africa.

A sweet white-fleshed melon called Kordofan, from Sudan, is the closest relative of domesticated watermelons. Drawings of this melon were found in Egyptian tombs and documents.

Watermelons have mutations in the pathways that produce cucurbitacins and β-carotene – this is why the pulp is sweet and colourful, instead of bitter and white.

Sources:

Statistica.com

Renner et al. (2021) PNAS 118(23): e2101486118. DOI:10.1073/pnas.2101486118

Paris (2015) Annals of Botany 116(2): 133–148. DOI:10.1093/aob/mcv077

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Image: Unsplash - Richard Burlton