Fruit Warehouse

Fruit Warehouse | Watermelon  ( Citrullus lanatus ) | Watermelon is thought to have originated in southern Africa, where it is found growing wild, Because It Reaches maximum genetic diversity there, resulting in sweet, bland and bitter forms. Alphonse de Candolle, in 1882, already Considered the evidence sufficient to PROVE That watermelon was indigenous to tropical Africa. By the 10th century AD, watermelons were being cultivated in China, the which is today the world's single largest watermelon producer.


Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.), family Cucurbitaceae) is a vine-like (scrambler and trailer) Flowering plant originally from southern Africa. The watermelon fruit, loosely Considered a type of melon - although not in the genus Cucumis - has a smooth exterior Rind (green, yellow and white Sometimes) and a juicy, sweet flesh interior (usually pink, but Sometimes orange, yellow, red and Sometimes green if not RIPE).



Museums Online South Africa list watermelons as having been introduced to Native Americans in the 16th century. Early French explorers found Native Americans Cultivating the fruit in the Mississippi Valley. Many sources list the watermelon as being introduced in Massachusetts as early as 1629. Southern food historian John Egerton has said he Believes African Slaves helped introduce the watermelon to the United States.


Texas Agricultural Extension horticulturalist Jerry Parsons lists African Slaves and European colonists as having distributed watermelons to many areas of the world. Other early watermelon sightings include the Midwestern states (1673), Connecticut (1747) and the Illiana region (1822). Charles Fredric Andrus, a horticulturist at the USDA Vegetable Breeding Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, set out to Produce a disease-resistant and wilt-resistant watermelon. It produced high yields and was resistant to the most serious watermelon diseases: anthracnose and fusarium wilt.


Georgia, Florida, Texas, California and Arizona are the USA's largest watermelon producers. This now-common watermelon is large enough That Often Often groceries sell half or quarter melons. There are also some smaller, spherical varieties of watermelon, both red-and yellow-fleshed, Sometimes called "icebox melons".


In Japan, farmers of the region found a Zentsuji way to grow cubic watermelons, by growing the fruits in glass boxes and letting them naturally Assume the shape of the Receptacle. Pyramid shaped watermelons have also been developed and any polyhedral shape may also be used Potentially.