when was watermelon discoveredwhen was watermelon discovered

In the late 1800s, a German botanist wrote that it might be a progenitor of the modern watermelon. But once lead study author Susanne S. Renner and her co-authors started sequencing the DNA of wild plants in the watermelons genusCitrullusa different picture emerged. Where did watermelons come from? [21] After the Civil War, black people were maligned for their association with watermelon. is a synonym of C. amarus Schrad. Instead, the results of this genetic study suggest the origins of the watermelon are in northeast Africa in the Kordofan region of southern Sudan. By purposefully breeding many generations of plants with certain characteristics, the gene for bitterness was eliminated. Mark Twain once wrote that tastinga watermelon is to know "what the angels eat.. | Where did this melon come from? Watermelons have a longer growing period than other melons and can often take 85 days or more from the time of transplanting for the fruit to mature. When was the watermelon discovered? Scientists agree that the watermelons progenitorthe ur-watermelon, if you willwas cultivated in Africa before spreading north into Mediterranean, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. In what year was the watermelon discovered? Choosing a Ripe Watermelon and Keeping It Fresh, 13 Juneteenth Drinks by Black Food Bloggers: A Celebration of Heritage and Unity. Cookie Settings, Washington University St. Louis / Renner et al. [61], Flower stems of male and female watermelon blossoms, showing ovary on the female, Watermelon and other fruit in Boris Kustodiev's Merchant's Wife, Watermelon out for sale in Maa Kochilei Market, Rasulgarh, Odisha, India, Article 23.4 "The specific epithet, with or without the addition of a transcribed symbol, may not exactly repeat the generic name (a designation formed by such repetition is a tautonym).". In fact, they were cultivated for hundreds of years before they began to taste like something worth plating. Meanwhile, the parts of a watermelon that was considered edible are the rind, flesh, and seeds. Is Watermelon Healthy? | Food Revolution Network Her lab has long focused on honey melons and cucumbers, but for the past 10 years she has turned to watermelons and bitter gourds. Watermelon paintings and seeds have been found dating back at least 5,000 years. About 4,300 years ago, someone drew a melon on the wall of a tomb in Egypt. Share Your Experiment Results On Social Media & We'll Send You A Free Gift As A Thank You! All rights reserved. Native to Africa, it was a valuable and portable source of water for desert situations and when natural water supplies were contaminated. Matsum. But a paper published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences finds that the small, round Kordofan melon, native to the Kordofan region of Sudan, is much more closely genetically related to our modern watermelon. A Southern favorite in the USA is pickles made from the watermelon rind. Spanish settlers were growing it in Florida in 1576. Who discovered the watermelon? [8], The sweet watermelon was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and given the name Cucurbita citrullus. C. naudinianus (Sond.) The North American state of Maine, where the gem was first discovered at a mine in Newry in 1902, is renowned for its stunning watermelon tourmaline. [9] ( How is a natural watermelon different from the watermelons we enjoy today? Reproductive cells contain half that amount, so when they join the other plants reproductive cells from the opposite sex, they form a new combination of 22 chromosomes for the new plant. ; Potassium. [60], In 2020, global production of watermelons was 101.6 million tonnes, with China (mainland) accounting for 60% of the total (60.1 million tonnes). Pain evolved as a warning system to keep your body safe from serious harm. When possible, the use of genetically resistant varieties is the best way to combat diseases. The Moors introduced the fruit into the Iberian Peninsula, and there is evidence of it being cultivated in Crdoba in 961 and also in Seville in 1158. New evidence of decapitations point to this predators fatal flaw. In June 2008, one of the first harvested watermelons was sold at an auction for 650,000 yen (US$6,300), making it the most expensive watermelon ever sold. But there is wide genetic diversity among the wild species, which gives them great potential to contain genes that provide them with tolerance to pests and environmental stresses.We want to see if we can bring back some of these wild disease resistance genes that were lost during domestication.. Or get a Premium Subscription to access the best of Nat Geo - just $19, Rare octopus nursery found, teeming with surprises, Animals trapped in war zones find a second chance here, How extreme heat affects our petsand how to help them, This place may have the highest density of great white sharks, Controversial oil drilling paused in Namibian wilderness, Dolphin moms use 'baby talk' with their calves, Earth's shifting magnetic poles don't cause climate change, This ancient society tried to stop El Niowith child sacrifice. PLEASE . Although bitter tasting, the watermelons were like miniature water storage tanks. Watermelon's history dates back 5000 years to southern Africa where the tough, drought-tolerant ancestor of watermelon thrived. Watermelon's history dates back 5000 years to southern Africa where the tough, drought-tolerant ancestor of watermelon thrived. As unappetizing as that sounds, people did it and there was a reason for that. Since pollination is necessary for the enlargement of the melon, a pollinator variety must be interplanted with seedless varieties to insure melon set. It was found growing in Florida as early as 1576 and in Massachusetts by 1629. & Nakai (syn. If your nighttime lows drop below 50, you may still be . Proteomics, the study of proteins present in our genetic makeup, is a cheaper and easier method than using ancient DNA to determine sex. Chomicki, Guillaume & Renner, Susanne S. 2015. "Origin and emergence of the sweet dessert watermelon, "Watermelon origin solved with molecular phylogenetics including Linnaean material: Another example of museomics", "The 5,000-Year Secret History of the Watermelon", "Understanding the evolution of today's watermelon", "On eating watermelon in front of white people: "I'm not as free as I thought", "Determination of citrulline in watermelon rind", "CBC News Health Watermelon the real passion fruit? An excellent example of watermelon tourmaline jewelry is a brooch piece (1969, gold, watermelon tourmaline, diamonds) by Andrew Grima (British, b. In southwest Libya, 5,000-year-old seeds were excavated, and watermelon remnants from 1500 B.C. Most members of the watermelons genus, Citrullus, have bitter flesh. Placing the watermelons roots in nearby Sudan helps explain what this melon might have been doing in Egypt. In southwest Libya, 5,000-year-old seeds were excavated, and watermelon remnants from 1500 B.C. What does the term selective breeding mean? this type is called watermelon tourmaline and is prized in jewelry. Another indicator of ripeness is when the tendril located across from where the melon is attached to the vine turns from green to brown. Nature 20 September 2018 By Tanya Lewis, Business Insider (Warut Roonguthai/Wikimedia) Next time you bite into a slice of watermelon or a cob of corn, consider this: these familiar fruits and veggies didn't always look and taste this way. Watermelon is also an excellent choice for those with an artistic flair who enjoy making edible sculptures. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. (Yes, it has three sets of chromosomes). First, they were quite difficult to get into. These uniquely shaped fruits are created not by a particular set of genes but by the environment. Where did watermelons come from? | Live Science Watermelons had arrived in Greece by the 1st century where they were prized as both a diuretic and as a way to treat heat stroke (place the wet rind on the heads of the suffer). People have been eating watermelons for millennia. It has a light green rind with jagged dark green stripes. Enslaved Africans are credited with distributing watermelon seeds widely throughout the eastern part of North America, the West Indies, and Brazil. While scientists believed that watermelons wild ancestors came from the African continent, no one knew of a wild watermelon anywhere near the Nile Valley. What is Watermelon Tourmaline? How it Formed? - Geology Page Guo, S., Zhang, J., Sun, H. et al. A beginner's guide to extracting flavors from herbs and flowers. & Nakai are not closely related to each other. It was originally brought to. Taking an environmentally sensitive approachtopestmanagement, David Trinklein Luckily, a single gene in watermelon,CIVST1, strongly influences its taste by redirecting sugar from the leaves to the fruit. The fruit can be eaten raw or pickled, and the rind is edible after cooking. But to place these domestications in space and name is much more difficult than I thought 10 to 15 years ago. 1. [6], As of 2017, farmers in approximately 44 states in the United States grew watermelon commercially, producing more than $500 million worth of the fruit annually. Matsum. Kordofan melons from Sudan are the closest relatives and may be progenitors of modern, cultivated watermelons. C. rehmii De Winter, and They were also difficult to open. THE BIGGEST WATERMELON DISCOVERED IN LONDON - YouTube The Russians make a hearty beer from watermelon juice. The watermelon is an annual that has a prostrate or climbing habit. Watermelon: A Brief History - University of Missouri Because of its great water content, early explorers used watermelons as canteens. The flesh of this succulent fruit is over 90 percent water. 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The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred in Egypt nearly 5000 years ago. In 2017, China produced about two-thirds of the world's total of watermelons. Please be respectful of copyright. Her recipes range from Grandmas favorites to the latest food trends. The first written record of North American cultivation dates from 1629 in Massachusetts. By the 17th century watermelon was widely planted throughout Europe and had become a familiar garden crop in warmer parts of the continent. Young growth is densely woolly with yellowish-brown hairs which disappear as the plant ages. Printed from: https://ipm.missouri.edu 5. This elusive treat lives up to its nickname. Where do watermelons originate from? | Kew Recent studies revealed that, when combined with a healthy lifestyle, watermelon consumption can reduce the risk of both cancer and diabetes. Earth just set a heat record. From a usage standpoint, watermelon is consumed as a fruit, but it still is classified as a vegetable. Bailey in 1930. More: Our bodies need to experience pain here's why. The study corrects a 90-year-old mistake that lumped watermelons into the same category as the South African citron melon. In the early 1970s, a large pocket of some of the finest watermelon tourmalines ever seen was unearthed at the nearby Plumbago Gem Pit. Many cultivars are no longer grown commercially because of their thick rind, but seeds may be available among home gardeners and specialty seed companies. And though it still was far from the modern-day melon, it was well on its way to becoming something sweeter. [49] The largest recorded fruit was grown in Tennessee in 2013 and weighed 159 kilograms (351 pounds). When did humans start eating watermelon? In 1987, we envisioned how the emerging area of biotechnology could inspire students to choose a career in science. In addition to being thirst-quenching, watermelon contains vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other beneficial phytonutrients good for one's health. Stems are up to 3 metres (10 feet) long and new growth has yellow or brown hairs. It can grow well in cool climates. Which trees will live and which ones will die? A popular American line dance honors the watermelon called the Watermelon Crawl. [24], A melon from the Kordofan region of Sudan the kordofan melon may be the progenitor of the modern, domesticated watermelon. Watermelon is grown in favorable climates from tropical to temperate regions worldwide for its large edible fruit, which is a berry with a hard rind and no internal divisions, and is botanically called a pepo. Thus, watermelon was slowly transformed from a source of water to an enjoyable food. [54], Major pests of the watermelon include aphids, fruit flies, and root-knot nematodes. [6], The US Department of Agriculture recommends using at least one beehive per acre (4,000m2 per hive) for pollination of conventional, seeded varieties for commercial plantings. Where Your Watermelon Came From - The New York Times A fruit or vegetable without seeds is a failure on the plants part. Paintings of increasingly pink watermelons. Ready to read more and dive into the DNA details? Using DNA from greenhouse-grown plants representing all species and hundreds of varieties of watermelon, scientists discovered that watermelons most likely came from wild crop progenitors in northeast Africa. Watermelon: A natural form of Viagra? - Medical News Today Watermelon breeders discovered that crossing a diploid plant (bearing the standard two sets of chromosomes) with a tetraploid plant (having four sets of chromosomes) results in a fruit that produces a triploid seed. 1930. Then came the taste. The latter contains a number of familiar garden vegetables including cucumber, squash, pumpkin and musk melon. Because of its great water content, early explorers used watermelons as canteens. Another indicator? No. Our analysis clearly shows that the Kordofan melon has more disease resistant genes, and different versions of those too. Some smaller, spherical varieties of watermelonboth red- and yellow-fleshedare sometimes called "icebox melons". 1850. The more than 1,200[32] cultivars of watermelon range in weight from less than 1 kilogram (2+14 pounds) to more than 90kg (200lb); the flesh can be red, pink, orange, yellow or white. Likely, the entombed rulers included these items on their afterlife pack list not because of their sweet taste, which was still lacking, but because they were a great way to rehydrate. Its big, fat, green and generously striped: Everything youd expect a watermelon to be. The sentiment evolved into a racist stereotype where black people shared a supposed voracious appetite for watermelon, a fruit long correlated with laziness and uncleanliness. To see where it fell in the watermelon family tree, the researchers behind the current paper sequenced the genomes of seven Citrullus species. [15] The bitter wooly melon was formally described by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1794 and given the name Momordica lanata. Although we don't know the exact identity of this plant, we do know it was prized for its ability to store water and was used by indigenous people in the Kalahari Desert region. Fortunately, five thousand years of human ingenuity has transformed this species into the bright red centerpieces of summer that we know and love. It won't be its last. Released in March 1916 by Columbia Records, it was written by actor Harry C. Browne and played on the familiar depiction of black people as mindless beasts of burden greedily devouring slices of. The edible part of a watermelon is known as a pepo, which is a ripened ovary (fruit) with watery flesh and a hard rind. Both seeds and paintings of watermelon have been discovered in Egyptian tombs more than 4,000 years old. History: Watermelon's Backstory Has Deep Roots More than 5,000 years worth of human work went into your enjoyment of a sweet, seedless watermelon. The discovery required digging into forgotten corners of African botany, said Guillaume Chomicki, a botanist at the University of Sheffield in England and an author of the new paper. Sweet dessert watermelons spread across the Mediterranean world during Roman times.[4]. Its bright red color comes from the pigment lycopene which is a powerful antioxidant. This requires planting pollinizer rows of varieties with viable pollen. Therefore, watermelons were not harvested for their taste they were harvested for their water. [17], Watermelons were originally cultivated for their high water content and were stored to be eaten during dry seasons, not only as a food source, but as a method of storing water. And the watermelons in the paintings changed over time. But Harry Paris, a horticulturalist at the Agricultural Research Organization in Israel, has spent years assembling cluesincluding ancient Hebrew texts, artifacts in Egyptian tombs, and medieval illustrationsthat have enabled him to chronicle the watermelons astonishing 5,000-year transformation. [27][28], A number of cultivar groups have been identified:[29], (syn. Although early farmers would not have known about the physiology or DNA origins of sweetness, they would have been able to trace its relatively simple pattern of inheritance. [33], Charles Fredrick Andrus, a horticulturist at the USDA Vegetable Breeding Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, set out to produce a disease-resistant and wilt-resistant watermelon. & Nakai var. Detected by studying rapidly spinning dead stars, these giant ripples of spacetime likely came from merging supermassive black holesand they may reveal clues about the nature of the universe. Firm, seedy, and pale green on the inside, they were characterized by their bland or bitter taste. 2. The Jerusalem Post Customer Service Center can be contacted with any questions or requests: Telephone: *2421 * Extension 4 Jerusalem Post or 03-7619056 Fax: 03-5613699 E-mail: subs@jpost.com The most common usage of watermelon is to chill the melon and slice or cut into cubes for a quick cold snack or dessert. Another innovation from Japan is cubical and pyramid watermelons. 3 June 2021 Where do watermelons originate from? [5] Wild plants have fruits up to 20cm (8in) in diameter, while cultivated varieties may exceed 60cm (24in). It may also be consumed as a juice or an ingredient in mixed beverages. lanatus. But by the first few centuries A.D., posits Paris, the watermelon had likely sweetened up. Watermelon's history dates back 5000 years to southern Africa where the tough, drought-tolerant ancestor of watermelon thrived. It was reassigned to the genus Citrullus in 1836, under the replacement name Citrullus vulgaris, by the German botanist Heinrich Adolf Schrader. Archeologists even found evidence that King Tuts tomb had watermelons placed in it, as he would need some water for his journey into the afterlife. Nature really is good medicine. Terms of Use Kordofan melons measure about six inches across and have white, sweet flesh and a bright, somewhat striped green exterior, reports Veronique Greenwood for the New York Times. All rights reserved. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. For example, Numbers 11:5 from the Bible references watermelon as one of the foods the Israelites longed for after leaving Egypt. Because Kordofan is not far from Egypt, it may also suggest an origin for the mysterious ovoid green fruit painted on that tomb wall. Even varieties that are closer to the source, as the Kordofan melon may be, can help. Other studies indicate watermelon consumption might be helpful in reducing the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. Your Privacy Rights This taxonomy originated with the erroneous synonymization of the wooly melon Citrullus lanatus with the sweet watermelon Citrullus vulgaris by L.H. Why Is This Lake in Australia Bright Pink? The first cookbook published in the United States in 1796 contains a recipe for pickled watermelon rinds. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Hebrew tax records from 200 AD show watermelon grouped with other sweet fruits like grapes, figs, and pomegranates. What is the origins of watermelon? Researchers still dont know, however, who took this wild melon ancestor and turned it into whats on the tomb wall in Saqqara, or set it on the path to what we eat today. It was first discovered at a mine in Newry, Maine in 1902. A seedy slice of history: Watermelons actually came from northeast Africa (Photo: Shutterstock) By Talia Ogliore May 24, 2021 Just in time for picnic-table trivia, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences rewrites the origins of domesticated watermelons. In plants, this is done by mixing male and female genes through the process of pollination and fertilization. During this long phase of global expansion, watermelon itself was transforming. Watermelon is one of the most aptly named fruits. This might explain why watermelons were found in pharaohs tombs, as Paris told National Geographic, such as that of King Tut. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. C. vulgaris Schrad.)". Watermelon origin solved with molecular phylogenetics including Linnaean material: Another example of museomics. This detail of a painting in the tomb of Khnumhotep in Saqqara was a puzzle. have been discovered in the foundational deposits beneath walls of a Sudanese temple. Its adaptability meant it could be grown over a wide geographical area. Seeds and Bulbs/Internet Archive/Public Domain, group the watermelon with other sweet fruits, Sign up for our email, delivered twice a week. Answers will vary, but mightinclude: keeping you from seriously burning yourself, keep you from eating poisonous foods, alerting you to something wrong inside your body, and a warning to take care of your body in general. And there is your seedless watermelon and a fascinating history, artand science lesson. These are also created by the environment.