Watermelons: They were once eaten for seeds

l’watermelon or watermelon, as it is called, is eaten in large quantities because the flesh is thirst-quenching. Whoever ate it always threw away the one seeds. This has not always been the case as we have been eating watermelons for over 6000 years. Previously, we looked for them for other reasons, ignoring the pulp with the interest only in the seeds.

This is evident from research into archaeological remains found in Libya that date from 6000 years ago. This study shows how the first watermelons were different from the modern ones. At the time, they were grown precisely for seeds. Taking a step back, watermelon was the first food used for the first time in Africa. The past and ancient history of the fruit is clear, but the part we least know is that in a modern key. That is, what we eat for the rich pulp.

It originated two thousand years ago in the Nile Valley. However, there are even more previous testimonials regarding watermelon consumption. It is precisely the seeds, the only part of the fruit that can become petrify. Observing a fossilized watermelon seed is not enough to understand whether it is a seed of Citrullus lanatus. Or maybe if it belongs to one of the other six species of the genus Citrullusall with harder and bitter pulp.

So there had to be agenetic analysis on seeds found in Libya and they date from 6000 years ago. So not about today’s modern domesticated watermelon. This ancient genome had a comparison with today’s and discovered that the seeds do not belong to it Citrullus lanatus but one Citrullus mucosospermus. The latter is a species found only in West Africa today.

The surprising discovery is that watermelon seeds i signs of human teeth and they belonged to cultivated, unharvested fruits. But if the ancestral watermelon had no nutritious pulp, why was it grown? The answer is that seeds like those of modern watermelons are nutritious and very flavorful. At that time, they were roasted, boiled, or air-dried. A nice snack or snack. It was only discovered later edibility of the pulphere everything has changed.