from Natural Life
Magazine, July/August 2003
Serve Up a Smile With Watermelon
 Nothing
says summer like watermelon. Sweet, refreshing, delicious and healthy, it always
seems to make people smile.
In China and Japan, watermelon is a
popular gift to bring to a host. The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred
nearly 5,000 years ago in Egypt and is depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphics on the
walls of their ancient buildings. Watermelons were often placed in the burial
tombs of kings to nourish them in the afterlife. From Egypt, watermelons spread
throughout countries along the Mediterranean Sea by way of merchant ships, and
found its way to China, which is now the world’s number one producer of
watermelons. The United States currently ranks fourth in worldwide production of
watermelon, out of 96 countries that grow this popular fruit. It has become a
staple in households the world over.
A one-cup (250 ml) serving of watermelon has just 51 calories
and provides a quarter of the daily recommended allowance of Vitamin C. It is
also rich in Vitamins A, Thiamin and B-6, as well as a good source of magnesium
and potassium. Watermelon also contains high levels of lycopene, higher, in
fact, than tomatoes. A number of studies have drawn a correlation between
lycopene – which is part of a class of antioxidant plant compounds called
carotenoids – and the possible prevention of cancer, heart disease and stroke.
Watermelons are easy to grow in the home garden, given enough
space. In fact, they’re known to sprout up from discarded seed. They also need
warm soil to germinate, a long growing season (100 to 150 days) and loamy soil.
There’s a bit of an art to knowing when a watermelon is ripe to
pick or, for that matter, to purchase or use. A watermelon is generally ready to
harvest when the tendril nearest that fruit is dried up and brown in color. Some
people swear by the thumping method, but each type of melon will have its own
distinctive sound. In the store, choose a firm, symmetrical watermelon that is
free of ...
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